Haiti's last World Cup was in 1974 in West Germany. Emmanuel Sanon scored against Italy, ended Dino Zoff's 1,142-minute clean-sheet streak, and Haitians still talk about that goal the way Americans talk about the moon landing. Then Haiti lost every group match, went home, and didn't come back for 52 years.
In the time between Haiti's two World Cups: François Duvalier dying, his son fleeing, a dozen coups, the 2010 earthquake that killed somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 people, cholera, Hurricane Matthew, the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, and a multi-year gang takeover of Port-au-Prince so severe that much of this qualifying campaign's "home" matches had to be played in Curaçao. That is the context for what Sebastien Migne — a Frenchman who took the head coaching job in 2024 — has just done.
The squad is a diaspora. Nazon in Iran, Bellegarde at Wolves, Etienne in Columbus, Pierrot in Turkey, Adé in Ecuador, Sunderland's Wilson Isidor. Most of them were born in France, Canada, or the United States to Haitian parents who left. The draw gave Haiti the brutal assignment of Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland. Nobody expects them to get out of Group C. They already did the impossible part. They got back.
The 32-year-old striker who is Haiti's all-time leading scorer and the joint-top scorer in CONCACAF qualifying with six goals — including a hat-trick off the bench in a 3-3 draw at Costa Rica that effectively saved Haiti's campaign. Nazon has spent his career bouncing: Coventry, Oldham, St Mirren on loan, a decade of lower-division English and Scottish football, now at Esteghlal in Tehran. He has never scored a Premier League goal. He may score a World Cup goal this summer.
The 29-year-old winger born in New Jersey to Haitian parents, raised in the New York Red Bulls academy, now at the Columbus Crew in MLS. Chose Haiti over the United States youth teams — part of the diaspora pipeline that has rebuilt Les Grenadiers. If you watch MLS, you know his game: direct, left-footed, likes to cut inside and shoot. One of the few Haitian players who plays his club football close enough to DFW that he might actually be familiar to Dallas soccer fans.
The 27-year-old midfielder at Wolverhampton Wanderers — born in Paris to Haitian parents, developed at Lens, moved to Strasbourg, then to the Premier League in 2023. The squad's most technical passer and the closest thing to a tournament-ready central midfielder Haiti has ever had. Bellegarde's decision to commit to Haiti rather than chase a France call-up is, in many ways, the whole story of this squad.
Griot is the national dish — pork shoulder marinated in sour orange, lime, and epis (the green seasoning paste of Haitian cooking — parsley, thyme, scotch bonnet, scallion, bell pepper, garlic), braised until tender, then fried hard until the outside lacquers. It's served with diri ak pwa (rice and red beans cooked in coconut milk) and pikliz — a cabbage-and-carrot slaw pickled with scotch bonnet that will clear your sinuses in about four seconds. On January 1, Haitian Independence Day, every Haitian household eats soup joumou — a pumpkin-squash soup enslaved Haitians were forbidden from eating under French rule and declared their own at independence. It's recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
Perle des Antilles in Arlington (1522 E Abram St) — a Black-owned, women-owned Haitian restaurant and Caribbean market in a stretch of Arlington you might not expect. The griot is the order: tender pork in homemade epis, fried to order, with rice and beans and pikliz on the side. Also: tasso (fried goat), bouyon (the weekend soup), legume. Closed Mondays, open through dinner the rest of the week. If you're making one Haitian food trip this summer, make it this one.
A soundtrack for the matches, the pregame, and the afterparty.
A Haitian supporter section is a wedding and a political rally at the same time. The blue and red flag goes up everywhere — the same flag Haitians raised on January 1, 1804, when they became the first Black republic in history. Expect kompa from portable speakers: slow, hip-forward, syncopated, the country's defining genre since the 1950s (Sweet Micky, the former president who sang before he was elected, is on the playlist). Expect rara horns — bamboo trumpets that sound like nothing else on Earth — if anyone has flown one in. Expect tears. For a country that has been through the 2010 earthquake, cholera, political collapse, and gang rule of Port-au-Prince, this qualification is not just a soccer story. Ask a Haitian what this tournament means and have a tissue ready.
Haiti's only previous World Cup was in 1974, in West Germany, where striker Emmanuel Sanon scored the first goal Italian legend Dino Zoff had conceded in 1,142 minutes of international football. Haiti lost that match 3-1 and all three group games. They have waited 52 years for the next one.