Haiti shines brightly after qualifying for the World Cup

Haitians of all ages are smiling from ear to ear, as the Caribbean island has secured a place in the World Cup of the FIFA 26™. Despite playing all their home matches on neutral ground, Haiti defied the odds and managed to qualify for next year’s world tournament after defeating Nicaragua 2-0 on the last day of Group C of the third round of Concacaf qualifying. Les Grenadiers were not intimidated by more famous rivals, such as Costa Rica, quarter-finalist of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, Honduras, who has participated on three occasions, and a rising Nicaragua. Haiti prevailed over all of them and will play in its second World Cup, the first since 1974. Haiti did enough to secure second place in the second round of qualifying and advance to the decisive phase, finishing ahead of Saint Lucia, Aruba and Barbados, but suffering a sad 4-0 defeat to Curaçao.

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Things were looking bad at the start of the third round. After a home draw against Honduras, a poor first half against Costa Rica followed, and a 2-0 deficit at halftime. It was at that moment that Haiti’s campaign changed. Duckens Nazon came off the bench and a very rapid hat-trick from the emblematic striker ended up giving a 3-3 draw on the final scoreboard. Even so, by the time the November window arrived, Haiti was outside the classification, but once again, in the face of adversity, responded and defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in the final. Honduras’ stumbles in Nicaragua and Costa Rica paved the way for this triumphant end. Nazon, who is only five goals away from becoming the top scorer in Haitian history, was the star of the qualifiers with six goals, the most among all Concacaf players. And now all of Haiti will have the opportunity to shine next year in North America.