Wilmer Cabrera

Wílmer Cabrera Linares (born September 15, 1967) is a Colombian former football defender who was most recently the head coach of El Paso Locomotive in the USL Championship. He previously coached for Chivas USA and Houston Dynamo, as well as the United States men's national under-17 soccer team. During his playing career, Cabrera played as a right back for clubs in the Colombian league and the Colombia national team, representing the country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Club career Cabrera, born in Cartagena, Colombia, and raised in Bogotá, made his professional debut at the age of 17 for Santa Fe. His 18-year playing career

International career Cabrera was capped 48 times and scored 3 international goals for Colombia between 1989 and 1998. He was an unused substitute during the 1990 FIFA World Cup but played in all of the country's three matches in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also played in four Copa América competitions in 1989, 1991, 1995 and 1997.

Coaching career After retiring, Cabrera settled permanently in the United States to pursue work as a helicopter pilot in the New York City area. He began working with the Major League Soccer front office as a community development manager working on Hispanic grassroots and youth programs. He also worked as an assistant coach for the Suffolk County Community College men's soccer team as well as top-ranked youth soccer club B.W. Gottschee, based in Queens, New York.

Cabrera earned his United States Soccer Federation A Coaching License in 2005 and became an assistant coach with the United States men's national under-18 soccer team in 2007.

In January 2014, Chivas USA appointed Cabrera as head coach. The club was dissolved by the league at the end of the season, with Cabrera's team finishing seventh in the Western Conference, the highest finish for Chivas USA in their final five seasons.

Cabrera was named head coach of the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros of the United Soccer League on December 2, 2015.

Cabrera was named head coach of the Houston Dynamo on October 28, 2016. He and the Dynamo parted ways on August 13, 2019.

Cabrera became head coach of the Montreal Impact on August 21, 2019. On October 24, 2019, the Impact announced that his contract would not be renewed for the 2020 season.

Cabrera was named head coach of El Paso Locomotive on May 20, 2024. The announcement came just days after El Paso announced that they had parted ways with then-manager Brian Clarhaut. On November 3 2025, El Paso announced that his contract would not be renewed for the 2026 season.

Managerial statistics

Honours Player

Independiente Santa Fe Copa Colombia: 1989

América de Cali Categoría Primera A: 1990, 1992, 1996–97

Coach

Houston Dynamo U.S. Open Cup: 2018

Montreal Impact Canadian Championship: 2019