THERE is optimism within the two-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) about that nation’s chances during FIFA World Cup Qualifying (WCQ) matches.

T&T’s senior men’s national football team, referred to as the Soca Warriors, advanced to the final round of qualifying and have been drawn in Group B with Jamaica, Curacao, and Bermuda. To advance to the FIFA World Cup next year, the winner of the group following games against each team — home and away, and in the September, October, and November FIFA match windows — receives an automatic qualifying spot for the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next year.

The two best second-placed teams from the three groups will advance to a FIFA Intercontinental Play-Off, to take place in March 2026.

Jamaica has been widely considered favourites to advance from the group automatically but T&T-based journalist Dennis Allen, of TTGameplan, fancies that country’s chances because of how former Soca Warrior Dwight Yorke has set up the team since his appointment as head coach last year.

One of the players who has since captured the imagination is 22-year-old striker Dante Sealy, who plays for Canadian club CF Montreal in Major League Soccer. Sealy, who represented the United States at the youth level, made his debut for T&T on June 6, scoring twice in a 6-2 win over St Kitts and Nevis in Port of Spain.

“I think Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica are two closely matched teams but if we go forward with the kind of pace that we’ve been building, if a Dante Sealy gets connected, if we connect all the attacking moments that we’ve built and we stay solid in defence but without trying to ‘park the bus’, I think we could beat anybody, honestly,” Allen said during Antigua Observer Radio’s Good Morning Jojo sports show on Friday. “I think it could just be me being a cheerleader but I think we play good football. It’s really good football that we’re playing now.”

Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz and the Soca Warriors have been familiar foes over recent years as they have faced each other eight times in international friendly matches since 2023. Trinidad was unbeaten in two friendlies in March 2023 as Angus Eve guided them to a 1-0 win in Montego Bay then a 0-0 draw at the National Stadium three days later, as he and his Jamaica counterpart Heimir Hallgrimsson experimented with their squads ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup that summer. There, Hallgrimsson got the most important win, 4-1, in the group stage.

The teams met again the following March, this time in T&T and with Jamaica winning 1-0, then a 0-0 stalemate followed days later. Both Hallgrimsson and Eve departed their roles, and Jamaica and T&T then hired Steve McClaren and Yorke, respectively.

They met again in March this year, with Jamaica winning 1-0 in Montego Bay followed by a 1-1 draw at Sabina Park in Kingston. However, the teams met again last month when the Reggae Boyz beat the Soca Warriors 3-2 to advance to the Unity Cup final during which they lost on penalties to Nigeria. The Soca Warriors lost the third-place match 4-0 to Ghana.

Allen loves the rivalry between both teams and expects a full crowd at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain when the Reggae Boyz visit.

“It’s going to sell off,” he said.

Trinidad-based journalist, Dennis Allen.