The trauma and hope behind Haiti's rare World Cup appearance
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- Haiti's national team is preparing for their first men's World Cup since 1974, drawn in Group C with Brazil, Scotland, and Morocco, with their opener against Scotland on 14 June (02:00 BST) in Boston.
- Sebastien Migne, the French coach, has never set foot in Haiti; 16 of the 26-man squad were born abroad across five countries, and the team has not played a home match for five years due to gang control.
- Woodensky Pierre, the only domestic-based player in the squad, was raised in the Cite Soleil slum and plays for Violette AC, whose Stade Sylvio Cator home was seized by gangs two years ago.
- Hannes Delcroix, a 27-year-old former Burnley defender born in Haiti and adopted by a Belgian family at age two, pledged his international allegiance to Haiti in 2025 after only recently re-establishing contact with his biological mother and sisters.
- Haitian fans face US travel bans from the Trump administration and prohibitive costs that put in-person World Cup attendance out of reach, with local organizations distributing solar-powered television kits so residents can follow the tournament.
- Haiti's FA was forced to change their kit design days before the World Cup after FIFA ruled the planned image of the 1803 Battle of Vertieres slave revolt violated rules banning 'political, religious, or personal messages' on kit.
- Amnesty International reported 5,600 people killed in Haiti in 2024 alone, with the population estimated at 11.5 million and the country playing its 'home' matches 500 miles away in Curacao.
Why it matters: For a nation of 11.5 million where 5,600 were killed in 2024 and the coach has never visited, this first World Cup since 1974 is a rare unifier — but US travel bans and cost bar the estimated two-million-strong diaspora from filling stadiums, leaving 16 foreign-born players to carry Haitian pride largely on their own.
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