Qualification for the 2026 World Cup resumes in various parts of the globe this month – meet five English managers hoping to steer their adopted nations to unlikely success
CHRIS KIWOMYA
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
Huddersfield native Kiwomya is best known for stints with Ipswich and QPR, either side of a spell at Arsenal in the mid-90s. Years later, he took charge of Notts County, where he loaned in a teenage Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, but left after just eight months.
Then, in 2021, Kiwomya was sounded out by the British Virgin Islands – one of the lowest-ranked teams in world football. “I like a challenge,” he said. “It also helps that they have beautiful islands.”
This isn’t a holiday, though: he took the side to a first win in 11 years in November. That CONCACAF Nations League victory over the Turks & Caicos Islands earned a visit from the nation’s Chief Minister.
Now, to repeat the trick against the US Virgin Islands (the Richard Branson Derby?) in World Cup qualifying. May the best Virgin win…
RICKY HILL
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
The Luton Town legend’s passport has more stamps than a postbox, its owner having coached in England, USA, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica prior to landing the Turks & Caicos Islands job last year, suffering that defeat to Kiwomya’s men early on. In World Cup qualifying, they face Anguilla – second from bottom of the FIFA rankings, above only San Marino.
Further English bosses are scheduled to join the region’s bunfight for CONCACAF’s next round of qualifying in June: former Wolves gaffer Terry Connor, now in charge of Grenada, Montserrat coach Lee Bowyer and Puerto Rico supremo Charlie Trout, an ex-Gainsborough Trinity player who later moved into coaching in the US, having previously worked as a postman. He’ll need to deliver once again (sorry).
ASHLEY WESTWOOD
AFGHANISTAN
“The same Ashley Westwood who made 286 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa and Burnley?” we hear you ask. Nope: the other one, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday and Wrexham (confusingly, they both played for Crewe).
Westwood’s managerial career took him from Kettering to Kolkata, then he took charge of Afghanistan in November. He has found it tough so far in Asia’s second round of World Cup qualifying: an 8-1 hammering in Qatar in their first group game preceded a 4-0 defeat at home to Kuwait.
The Shropshire native will hope his previous
