PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – Legendary Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Shaka Hislop believes a win over Curacao in T&T’s opening World Cup Qualifier is critical if the team is to have a chance at booking its spot at the 2026 World Cup.
T&T head coach Dwight Yorke on Friday named a 35-man provisional squad for their first Group B match against Curacao at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on September 5.
Following that match, they will clash with Jamaica four days later at the National Stadium in Kingston.
Hislop, 56, who represented T&T from 1999 to 2006 and was between the uprights in the 2006 World Cup, said two wins in those first two matches would all but almost guarantee them qualification to the 2026 World Cup.
“It is absolutely vital [that we win against Curacao]. I think that we have to start in September and if we can come out of September with four points, I will start booking flights for the World Cup in 2026.
“We have to get the better of Curacao at home. If we can go to Jamaica and pick up a point in Jamaica, and that’s no easy feat… but that would give us an incredible amount of momentum, but at the very least we need to beat Curacao just to start with,” Hislop maintained while speaking on i95.5 FM’s 6 to 26 World Cup podcast.
“If we get that done then I think we give ourselves the start, we give ourselves the momentum this qualification campaign needs.”