Haiti has qualified for the FIFA World Cup, breaking a drought that lasted since their last appearance more than half a century ago.
The Haitian men’s national team, nicknamed the Grenadiers, clinched their spot after a surprising campaign. They beat Nicaragua 2-0 on Tuesday to win its group over favorites Honduras and Costa Rica, which was a quarterfinalist at the 2014 World Cup.
Haitian players Louicius Don Deedson and Ruben Providence led the scoring, each netting a goal in Haiti's victory.
The island-nation's last World Cup appearance was in 1974, where they finished last in Group 4 of the FIFA World Cup in West Germany.
READ MORE: Haiti's women's soccer team to make history at World Cup
For the Haitian diaspora, including Florida — which has the largest Haitian population in the U.S — last night's World Cup qualifying win is symbolic as well as historic.
That's because the victory landed on Nov. 18, which is a significant date in the Haitian calendar. It marks the Battle of Vertières of 1803, the last major fight of the Haitian Revolution, when Haitian leader Jean-Jacque Dessalines’ forces beat Napoleon’s French army. The victory paved the way for Haiti’s independence on Jan. 1, 1804.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19, hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Miami Gardens is one of the host cities — the scheduled matches will be played at Hard Rock Stadium, which will be temporarily renamed “Miami Stadium” for the tournament.
Curaçao makes history
Meanwhile, the tiny Caribbean island nation of Curaçao also made history Tuesday night. They will go to the 2026 World Cup as the smallest nation by population ever to qualify for the marquee event in men's soccer.
An autonomous territory of about 156,000 people within the Netherlands kingdom, takes the record from Iceland which, with a population of just over 350,000, was the previous smallest country to reach the World Cup when it qualified for Russia 2018.
A team relying heavily on players born and raised in the Netherlands rode its luck Tuesday to take a 0-0 draw in Jamaica and finish top of a four-team group. Its other opponents were Trinidad and Tobago and last-place Bermuda.
Curaçao has actively recruited from its diaspora, getting permission from FIFA within world soccer's rules to change the national-team eligibility of players who once represented the Netherlands at youth or Under-21 level, including five since August.
Defender Joshua Brenet even played a World Cup qualifying game for the Netherlands in 2016.
Tahith Chong, a former Manchester United youth player, is one of the few squad members born in Curaçao, which was called Netherlands Antilles until getting its autonomy 15 years ago.
A storied Dutch coach has led Curaçao on to the elite stage for the first expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Dick Advocaat, at age 78, is set to lead his third team at a World Cup, and his second in the U.S. He took his native Netherlands to the quarterfinals at the 1994 edition and coached South Korea at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Curaçao's adventure is set to put players from unheralded clubs on the biggest stage. The squad that clinched qualification included players from Rotherham in England's third-tier league, Bandırmaspor in the Turkish second division and Abha in Saudi Arabia.
Curaçao got the historic result despite not having Advocaat on the bench. He missed the match in Jamaica because he had to return to the Netherlands last weekend for family reasons.
His team saw Jamaica strike the woodwork three times in the second half in Kingston. A potentially decisive penalty kick awarded to the home team in stoppage time was overturned after a video review.
Panama also joins the party
Curaçao and Haiti will be joined by regional neighbor Panama, which also booked their World Cup spots Tuesday.
Panama advanced to its second World Cup after defeating El Salvador 3-0 on first-half goals from César Blackman and Erick Davis, plus Jose Luis Rodriguez late in the game.
Panama's only previous World Cup appearance was in 2018. It overtook Suriname, another Dutch-influenced team, which started play atop the group before losing 3-1 against Guatemala.
The Caribbean and central American results Tuesday also finalized the six teams which will take part in the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico in March.
Two teams will qualify from the playoffs, which includes Jamaica and Suriname, plus Iraq from Asia, Congo from Africa, Bolivia from South America and New Caledonia from Oceania.
Additional reporting from the Associated Press.
