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The good news is that there will definitely be a Caribbean team at the 2026 Fifa World Cup. And Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach Dwight Yorke could feasibly book his team’s place there without having to defeat a single team from outside the region.
The bad news is that two of the Caribbean teams in his way are the formidable Jamaica and Curaçao.
(via TTFA Media.)
The Concacaf draw for the third and final World Cup qualifying round was held this evening, and former Panama star Blas Pérez did not do the Soca Warriors any favours, as he pulled unmarked balls in a blind draw.
And Trinidad and Tobago ended up in Group B, alongside seeded Jamaica, with Curaçao and, finally, Bermuda, who stunned Cuba on the final qualification day to squeeze into the final round.
Exactly how Curaçao ended up in Trinidad and Tobago’s group is another story.
The 12 Concacaf nations were, according to tournament rules, to be grouped in four pots according to ranking. And Haiti are 83rd in the world while Curaçao are 90th.
Trinidad and Tobago and Curaçao should have both been in Pot 3, which would have made it impossible for them to play each other.
However, Concacaf appear to have used a “live” updating rankings system, which put Curaçao one spot above Haiti—with the nations ranked at 85th and 86th respectively—on the back of the Dutch-speaking islanders’ 5-1 rout of Haiti, earlier this week.
It could be a crucial pivot for the Warriors, and a potentially controversial one too.
If Fifa says its current rankings will not be updated until 9 July, did Concacaf clarify to member nations that it would use a projected rankings rather than the official one?
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/ TTFA Media.)
Perhaps Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron Edwards should call Concacaf president Victor Montagliani for clarification.
Curaçao whipped Trinidad and Tobago 5-3 in the last meeting between the two nations in 2023. And the Dutch-speaking islanders, led by renowned ex-Netherlands national coach Dick Advocaat and with 17 Europe-based players in their squad, are a better shape at present—as Haiti would testify.
The group winner advances directly to the World Cup, which is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, while the best two from the three runners-up have a second chance in a Fifa Play Off next March.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868.
The other two groups are:
- Group A: Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and Suriname;
- Group B: Jamaica, Curaçao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda;
- Group C: Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti and Nicaragua.
Jamaica are group favourites and, arguably, Trinidad and Tobago’s toughest opponents.
(Foto: Jaime Lopez/ Jamaica Media.)
It has been 24 years since the Soca Warriors defeated the Reggae Boyz in a competitive match, which was in the 2001 Caribbean Cup.
And, although Trinidad and Tobago troubled Jamaica at times before falling 3-2 in last month’s Unity Cup, Jamaica were comfortable 4-1 winners in the last serious clash between the regional rivals at the 2023 Gold Cup.
Bermuda, ranked 168th in the world, are the lowest of all the nations still alive in Concacaf. However, remarkably, Bermuda and Trinidad have two wins apiece in head-to-head meetings in World Cup qualifying action.
Jamaica won 4-1.
Photo: TTFA Media.
And the Bermudans’ 2-1 win over the Soca Warriors in 2011 led to a group stage elimination for a Trinidad and Tobago team that included a young Kevin Molino in their ranks.
So, on the one hand, Yorke’s troops avoided an in-form Panama and landed in an all-Caribbean group. But it will still be a tough slog to advance from it.
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
FIFA permit again that Concacaf manipulate the ridiculous draw system in order to put a Caribbean team automatically in the world cup. this procedure need to be investigated. If money under table is present in one Caribbean Team when the rest of the competitor are considering this unfairly fix play draw.