The Caribbean Roots Running Through Team USA At The 2026 World Cup

By NAN Sports Editor | NewsAmericasNow.com

News Americas, FORT LAUDERDALE, Fl, Mon. June 22, 2026: As the United States Men’s National Team continues its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign on home soil this week, two of its key Team USA players carry something that connects them directly to the Caribbean – and to the diaspora communities across South Florida, New York, and beyond that have been watching this tournament with particular pride this Caribbean American Heritage Month.

Tim Weah and Sergino Dest both carry Caribbean roots that have shaped who they are – and that place them squarely within the extraordinary story of Caribbean heritage defining the 2026 World Cup.

Tim Weah – The Jamaican Connection

Timothy Weah was born on February 22, 2000, in Brooklyn, New York, to Liberian football legend George Weah and his Jamaican wife Clar. The story of Tim Weah’s mother is one of the most remarkable and least-told in American soccer. Clar Weah is a Jamaican citizen by birth who became a naturalized American citizen after moving to the United States. She is a professional nurse, businesswoman, and philanthropist — and was Timothy Weah’s first football coach, teaching him how to play the game.

She owns a Caribbean restaurant and a grocery store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida – placing her firmly within South Florida’s vibrant Caribbean community even as her son plays on the world’s biggest stage.

Clar spent nearly 16 years volunteering as a soccer coach and helped launch a youth soccer program in Queens, New York. When her husband George Weah was elected the 25th President of Liberia in 2018, she moved to Monrovia to serve as First Lady – and was appointed Ambassador and Champion for Women’s Football by the Confederation of African Football.

Tim Weah’s story carries the full weight of the Caribbean immigrant experience. His mother — a Jamaican woman who came to the United States, worked as a nurse, built businesses, raised children in Brooklyn and South Florida, and coached youth soccer for 16 years — is the foundation on which his World Cup career was built.

Timothy could have chosen to represent France, Jamaica, or Liberia internationally. He chose the United States. But the Jamaican heritage his mother brought with her from Kingston to Brooklyn to Fort Lauderdale runs through everything he is.

Sergino Dest – Suriname’s Connection To Team USA

Sergino Dest #2 of the United States walks out for the warm up before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Australia at Seattle Stadium on June 19, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. His father was born in Suriname. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

Sergino Dest was born in the Netherlands to a Surinamese father and an American mother. Like Eloy Room – who chose Curaçao over the Netherlands – Dest faced a choice about which nation to represent internationally, and chose the United States.

Suriname – a South American nation with deep Caribbean cultural ties, a Dutch colonial history, and a large diaspora community in the Netherlands – contributes its DNA to one of Team USA’s most versatile defensive players. Dest’s story mirrors the broader narrative of Dutch-Caribbean heritage that has defined not just the US squad but the Netherlands’ own World Cup team where Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries, and Jorrel Hato all carry Surinamese or Caribbean roots.

The Bigger Picture

Tim Weah and Sergino Dest add two more threads to the Caribbean tapestry running through the 2026 World Cup.

Jonathan David – born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents – scored a hat trick as Canada recorded their first-ever World Cup win, 6-0 over Qatar. Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries and Jorrel Hato carry Caribbean roots for the Netherlands. Eloy Room – born in the Netherlands of Curaçaoan descent – made 15 saves to give Curaçao their first ever World Cup point.

And now Tim Weah and Sergino Dest add the United States to the list of World Cup nations whose Caribbean DNA runs deep. The Caribbean is helping to carry this World Cup. And Team USA is no exception.

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