On November 14, 2026, the opening leg of the highly anticipated 2026/27 CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal unfolded at Miami’s Nu Stadium, where the United States men’s national football team delivered a lopsided 6-0 triumph over Haiti’s Grenadiers, who entered the fixture ranked 84th in FIFA’s global standings. Leading Haiti for the first leg was newly appointed Spanish head coach David Badia, who opted to integrate a cohort of fresh talent into his starting lineup, handing senior international debuts to prospects Patrick Emeka Nwadike and Kayden Pierre, alongside first-time call-up starters Josué Casimir, Leverton Pierre, and Lenny Joseph. The full Haiti starting XI featured players plying their trade across top European and North American leagues: goalkeeper Alexandre Pierre (FC Sochaux, France), defenders Carlen Arcus (Angers SCO, France), Kayden Pierre (Jong Genk, Belgium), Patrick Emeka Nwadike (FC Spartak, Slovakia), midfielders Martin Experience (Dender EH, Belgium), Josué Casimir (Dynamo Moscow, Russia), Leverton Pierre (Académica de Coimbra, Portugal), Louicius Deedson (FC Sochaux, France), Jean-Jacques Danley (Philadelphia Union, USA), and forwards Lenny Joseph (Ferencvárosi TC, Hungary) and Wilson Isidor (Sunderland AFC, England). Badia rolled out five targeted substitutions across the second half to inject fresh energy, bringing on Dominique Simon for Leverton Pierre and Ruben Providence for Louicius Deedson in the 63rd minute, Yassin Fortuné for Lenny Joseph in the 81st, Dany Jean for Josué Casimir in the 82nd, and veteran Fafà Picault for Wilson Isidor in the 88th. From the opening whistle, the U.S. side imposed total control over the contest, posting staggering statistical dominance: 71% of total possession, a 90% pass completion rate across 515 total completed passes, 303 successful passes in the final third, and 36 total touches inside Haiti’s penalty area. By comparison, Haiti notched just 168 total completed passes (74% completion), 89 final-third passes, and only 5 touches inside the U.S. box. The American onslaught kicked off as early as the 10th minute, when defender Auston Trusty converted a set piece delivery from Sebastian Berhalter to fire home from the center of the penalty area and put the U.S. up 1-0. After a tightly contested stretch of second-half opening play, the U.S. doubled its lead in the 52nd minute, as left-back Antonee Robinson sparked a rapid counterattack, playing a low cross to teenage forward Julian Hall, who controlled cleanly before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of the Haitian net. Haiti carved out a handful of rare threatening chances in the intervening period, with Danley Jean-Jacques seeing his close-range effort smothered by U.S. goalkeeper Diego Kochen, and a fierce strike from Lenny Joseph blocked by U.S. defender Chris Richards to keep the Caribbean side off the scoreboard. The match slipped completely out of Haiti’s grasp midway through the second half, as star U.S. attacker Christian Pulisic scored back-to-back goals just 60 seconds apart: he converted a 62nd-minute penalty awarded after a foul by Carlen Arcus, before latching onto a pass from Alex Freeman and firing a blistering 18-yard strike into the bottom left corner to push the score to 4-0. Just three minutes later, Weston McKennie extended the lead further, rising to meet a Malik Tillman corner kick with a powerful headed finish to make it 5-0. In the 81st minute, Folarin Balogun put the finishing touches on the rout, bursting into open space behind the Haitian defensive line onto a deep through ball from Tillman, dribbling around onrushing keeper Alexandre Pierre, and tucking the ball home with a right-footed strike to seal the 6-0 final score. The two sides will reconvene for the decisive return leg on November 17 at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium, with the winner advancing directly to the final knockout stage of the 2026/27 CONCACAF Nations League. For Haiti, the 6-goal deficit leaves the squad facing a nearly insurmountable uphill battle to overturn the result and keep their tournament ambitions alive, requiring a historic, record-breaking performance to overcome the far more heavily favored U.S. side on its home turf.
Nations League 1/4 final : The USA inflicts a heavy defeat on Haiti [6-0] (video)
