Almost half a century after their only previous appearance at football’s biggest global stage, Haiti is gearing up to make a historic return to the FIFA World Cup, with head coach Sebastien Migne announcing an ambitious goal to reach the knockout rounds as he unveiled his final 26-player squad for the tournament on Friday.
The Caribbean nation, which last qualified for the World Cup finals back in 1974, has been drawn into one of the competition’s toughest groups: Group C, where it will face off against five-time world champion Brazil, 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, and European side Scotland. Migne acknowledged that securing the country’s first-ever World Cup point would be a key milestone, but argued that setting this as the team’s sole limit would fail to push his squad to reach their full potential.
“The primary objective will, of course, be to secure our first-ever point in the World Cup finals. However, setting that as the sole goal would provide too little motivation for my players,” Migne explained in Port-au-Prince. “Our new roadmap includes reaching the Round of 32; that is what we will strive to achieve, by focusing on our style of play rather than solely on the high stakes involved.”
Haiti’s journey to this World Cup has been nothing short of remarkable, played out against a backdrop of severe instability at home. The small, impoverished Caribbean nation has been grappling with widespread gang violence that has spiraled into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, making the team’s qualification all the more meaningful for the country. Migne emphasized that the World Cup represents a rare, invaluable opportunity to put Haitian football on the global map.
“This is a tremendous showcase for Haiti — opportunities like this don’t come along very often,” Migne said.
In his final squad selection, Migne included two surprise uncapped call-ups: Slovakia-based midfielder Dominique Simon and forward Lenny Joseph, who plies his trade with Hungarian top-flight side Ferencvaros. The full roster draws talent from across 12 different countries, with a large contingent of players based in European and North American leagues, alongside one homegrown midfielder from Haitian side Violette.
To prepare for the tournament, Haiti will travel to Florida for a pre-World Cup training camp starting May 24. The team will play two warm-up friendlies ahead of the group stage: first against New Zealand on June 2, followed by a final test against Peru three days later on June 5.
Haiti’s group stage campaign gets underway with an opening match against Scotland on June 16, before taking on Brazil three days later, and wrapping up group play against Morocco on June 24.
The full 26-man squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Johnny Placide (Bastia, France), Alexandre Pierre (Sochaux, France), Josue Duverger (Koblenz, Germany)
Defenders: Carlens Arcus (Angers, France), Wilguens Pauguain (Waregem, Belgium), Duke Lacroix (Colorado, USA), Martin Experience (Nancy, France), Jean-Kevin Duverne (Ghent, Belgium), Ricardo Ade (Quito, Ecuador), Hannes Delcroix (Lugano, Switzerland), Keeto Thermoncy (Berne, Switzerland)
Midfielders: Leverton Pierre (Vizela, Portugal), Carl-Fred Sainthé (El Paso, USA), Jean-Jacques Danley (Philadelphia Union, USA), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolverhampton, England), Pierre Woodenski (Violette, Haiti), Dominique Simon (Presov, Slovakia)
Forwards: Louicius Deedson (Dallas, USA), Ruben Providence (Almere, Netherlands), Josue Casimir (Auxerre, France), Derrick Etienne (Toronto, Canada), Wilson Isidor (Sunderland, England), Duckens Nazon (Esteghlal, Iran), Frantzdy Pierrot (Rizespor, Turkey), Yassin Fortune (Vizela, Portugal), Lenny Joseph (Ferencvaros, Hungary)