This past week marked the beginning of the World Cup, the largest and most watched sports tournament on the planet. Over one billion people worldwide watched the opening match between Mexico and South Africa, while the 2022 final had over 1.5 billion viewers in an all-time classic between holders France and Argentina, with Lionel Messi finally adding the World Cup trophy to his storied career. It’s a tournament that, despite Trump’s best efforts, brings the world and its countless cultures to the host nations in a festival of life, food, music and football. The teams all faced a long and gruelling qualificaiton process to get to North America, with Iraq playing 21 qualifying matches over a 28-month period to book their spot. One team that qualified for this year’s tournament, though, faced a journey like no other.
Just after midnight on 7th July 2021, masked gunmen stormed the home of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, assassinating him and injuring his wife Martine. The killing of the president came against the backdrop of economic and social unrest, rampant corruption and widespread gang warfare across the country, with over 90% of the capital, Port-Au-Prince, under the control of rival gangs as of 2023. The presidency has not been filled since Moïse’s assassination, and whilst a rolling door of acting prime ministers have served, the government has effectively collapsed to warring gangs. Gang presence has been widespread in Haiti since the 1950s, when paramilitary groups were established under former dictator Francois Duvalier to attack political opponents. While the groups were officially disbanded in 1986 following the removal of Duvalier’s son, Jean-Claude, the groups merely reorganised as vigilante groups vying for control and power. Years of unrest have resulted in a complete breakdown of government control and public services, with hospitals closed and attacked by the gangs. A humanitarian crisis has inevitably unfolded as a result of the violence and chaos, with the UN reporting that over 50% of the population require humanitarian assistance, with over 1.5 million – 12% of the population – internally displaced, with widespread reports of sexual violence, including a 163% surge in 2025.
It’s for this myriad of reasons, then, that Haiti’s relative footballing success during this period is so surprising. Often the highest rated Caribbean team in the FIFA world rankings, they are currently ranked 84th – two places behind fellow Caribbean team Curacao – and are the only Caribbean team to win a major tournament. Reaching three consecutive CONCACAF Gold Cup finals in the 1970s, they won the 1973 edition on home soil, and reached the semi-finals back in 2019, a year after the current turmoil in the country began. A large reason for this success is the impact of Haitian diaspora. Of the 26-man squad for the tournament, only ten were born in Haiti, with 12 of the players born in France with Haitian parents, a legacy of Haiti’s past as a French colony, and the consequence of heavy Haitian migration as a result of conditions at home. Incredibly, Haiti’s manager, Frenchman Sebastien Migné, has never even been to the country having taken over in 2024. They faced a tough qualification process – having to play all their ‘home’ games in neutral countries due to the lack of control of the capital, while the national stadium, the Stade Slyvio Cator, was heavily damaged in the 2010 earthquake and consequent unrest and is currently in the hands of local gangs. They haven’t played in Haiti since a 2021 defeat to Canada.
Their road to the tournament began in June 2024, kicking off with a 4-1 over Saint Lucia at ‘home’ in Curacao, 800km from home. Further wins against Barbados and Aruba sealed their progress from CONCACAF Second Round Group C, before losing the final group game to Curacao in Aruba, their other ‘home’ game of the group. With eleven goals, and eight different scorers across their four group games, they showed their offensive capabilities, albeit against fairly weak opposition; Curacao were the only other team to progress from the group, and also made it to the World Cup. They then advanced to the Third Round, where they topped a group including Honduras, Costa Rica (who have played in six World Cups, including the five of the previous six, reaching the quarter-finals in 2014) and Nicaragua. Again playing their home games in Curacao, they won three of the six games, suffering only one defeat, a 3-0 loss to Honduras leaving them three points behind their opponents with two games to go. Needing to win their final two games, and for Honduras to drop points along the way, qualification was out of their hands. Although Costa Rica were the firm favourites for the match, Haiti held firm defensively and claimed a historic 1-0 victory. This, paired with Honduras’s 2-0 defeat to Nicaragua, put the two teams level on points going into the final game.
That final qualification game, at ‘home’ to Nicaragua on 18th November 2025, came on the 222nd anniversary of the Battle of Vertières, the fight which saw French troops leave the then-colony of Saint-Domingue for the last time. Led by enslaved African labourers, who made up approximately 90% of the colony’s population, Haiti became the first black republic in the world, and the Haitian Revolution was the only slave revolt to lead to independence. Playing once again in Curacao, in front of 1500 supporters, Haiti took an early lead, with Don Louicius of FC Dallas giving them the lead, before Ruben Providence heading in from a corner in first-half stoppage time to give the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead. Their second-half showing saw them sitting deeper, surrendering more possession to their opponents, and standing firm defensively to see out the game with a clean sheet. At the same time, Honduras played out a 0-0 draw in Costa Rica. Haiti were back at the World Cup after 52 years. The fighting in the streets of Port-au-Prince was temporarily halted, as people, and rival gangs, came together to celebrate Haiti’s remarkable achievement.
After the game, Migné told French publication RFI, “everyone was out on the streets. My players will be wonderful ambassadors for a country that sorely needs them. Haiti is not an easy place, with a people who are suffering and don’t have many opportunities to celebrate.” Migné’s impact on the success of the squad cannot be understated. He played a key role in bringing through a new generation of Haitian players, leaning on the diaspora for players, as previously mentioned, with 11 of the World Cup squad making their international debuts under him, all but one of them born overseas. The diaspora’s impact won’t just be felt on the pitch, but also in the stands: Boston, with a 70,000 strong diaspora, hosted their first match, a 1-0 defeat to Scotland; Philadelphia, with a 30,000 strong diaspora, hosts their second match against five-time world champions Brazil; whilst there are 15,000 Haitian-born residents in Atlanta, where Haiti conclude the group against 2022 semi-finalists Morocco. The fans back in Haiti, however, won’t be able to travel to the U.S. to support the team in person. Donald Trump’s government introduced a travel ban in 2025 that has prevented all Haitian citizens from obtaining a visa to enter the United States. The only Haitian given a visa was Woodensky Pierre, the only member of the team who was both born in and resides in Haiti. It’s not the only problem the team has faced; just two days before the start of the tournament, Haiti were told they would have to change the design of their kit, which included a reference to their independence, as FIFA does not allow “political, religious, or personal messages or slogans”.
The story of Haiti’s remarkable World Cup qualification highlights the history of the nation, it’s journey from colony to republic, through dictatorship, natural disasters and turmoil and revolt against the government. Through all of it, football has become the nation’s escape from the problems of day-to-day life in the nation, with communities pooling together to rent generators to watch the games. In a world where so much media attention is on immigration, refugees and asylum seekers, Haiti’s inspiring qualification story highlights the strength of a nation’s people through turbulent times. A country, and a people, decimated and destroyed by violence will, for a few weeks at least, be united by their national team’s journey to the United States for their three group games.
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