Exclusive: Captain-turned-coach Dwight Yorke leads Trinidad and Tobago’s football World Cup dream

Dwight Yorke knows a thing or two about making it to the FIFA men’s World Cup.

In his playing days, the former Manchester United footballer led Trinidad and Tobago to their first appearance at the tournament, back in Germany in 2006.

Yorke was then captain, winning the man of the match award in their 0-0 debut match draw with Sweden. They were eliminated in the group stage without scoring a goal, in what was their first and only participation – for now.

Almost 20 years on, the 53-year-old is back leading the Soca Warriors, this team as head coach, but with the same motivation: bring the islands to the World Cup.

“Football is a sport that really unites our country, we know how important it is,” Yorke tells Olympics.com at a training session in London during the 2025 Unity Cup. “We have a really good opportunity to try and qualify for the World Cup, although we still have some unfinished business to do.

“I'm quietly confident that we can get it done and really give [ourselves] a good foundation and platform to try to qualify. I'm not going to get ahead of myself. There's still a lot of work to be done.”

Trinidad and Tobago have returned to the top 100 in the FIFA men’s world rankings under Yorke – can he now steer them towards a first World Cup finals in two decades?

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