For years Pascal Marcellus has watched the Haiti national soccer team with trepidation, waiting for this moment. In 2015 the team played against Jamaica in a quarterfinal for the Gold Cup in Baltimore, and Marcellus was cheering from the stands. The team lost 0-1.
The team had been in a longtime slump. Until now.
On Saturday, Haiti will hit the World Cup stage for the second time in its history, becoming the only Caribbean nation to qualify for the World Cup twice.
The team looks good, said Marcellus. Like they are hungry. And ready for the biggest stage in the world.
“This is literally the start of a new era,” said Marcellus.
Haiti’s first match in the Cup will be against Scotland in Boston on June 13. Then, on June 19 – Juneteenth, marking the day when US slaves were freed – Haiti will take on Brazil in Philadelphia.
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Philadelphia is not one of the top cities when it comes to the Haitian diaspora. But for that one day this summer, the City of Brotherly Love will be the epicenter of Haitian culture. Marcellus, who lives in the city, aims to be there.
“It’s three days after my 40th birthday so that would probably be the best way to start the new decade and it’ll be part of one of the most historic moments at least from a sporting perspective for Haiti and for the Haitian diaspora,” said Marcellus.
The event will be especially important for the diaspora because Haitians in Haiti are subject to a federal travel ban that President Trump put in place last year.
Marcellus hopes that Haitian businesses in the city benefit from the match. He hopes that other members of the diaspora fall in love with the city and decide to move here.
“It’s going to be the greatest Haitian event that Philadelphia has probably ever seen,” he said. “If we win that match on Juneteenth in Philadelphia, it’s going to be epic. It’s going to be like – basically Eagles energy. Like the Eagles won a football game, but for Haitians and everybody.”
There is no equivalent of Miami’s Little Haiti in Philadelphia, one central neighborhood where Haitians live. But in North Philly there are Haitian bakeries, restaurants and barber shops, interspersed with those of other Caribbean and African countries.
Kennedy Achille is the owner of Joyeuse Bakery & Restaurant, and he also owns Joyeuse's Caribbean Creole Cuisine & Bar, a Haitian restaurant in Broward County. He sells medicinal herbs and religious objects as well as food.
For the World Cup, he’s planning to sell special t-shirts to make some extra cash.
Achille said many Haitians might be conflicted on the Brazil match, since Brazil has become an adopted national team for many Haitians during the long slump.
“Some Haitian really love Brazil - yes. But that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna go for Haiti. I’m Haitian. I’m proud to be Haitian,” he said.
At Haiti’s first World Cup appearance in 1974, its first match was against Italy. To start the match, Emmanuel Sanon scored against legendary Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff, breaking a 19-game stretch in which Zoff conceded no goals.
That goal put Haiti up against Italy — one of the iconic World Cup teams, which had finished in second place four years earlier. But Italy came back and won 3-1.
Haiti then lost 0-7 to Poland and then 1-4 to Argentina. Again, Haiti’s goal in that match came from Sanon.
This time around, Haiti is led by the likes of striker Duckens Nazon, Haiti’s all-time goalscorer for the national team, alongside forward Frantzdy Pierrot and right winger Louicius Deedson, whose goals against Nicaragua late last year helped seal the deal on reaching the World Cup.
Rachelle Leger runs an Instagram page called Haitians in Philadelphia and she told WLRN the small community in Philadelphia is activating to welcome Haitians from all over the diaspora.
“From Boston, from Canada — from Montreal — from Florida, everyone is planning to come up here to Philly,” she said. “Whatever happens, I do think it’s just gonna be a time to remember.”
The final match Haiti is set to play in the group stage is on June 24 against Morocco in Atlanta.
Evans Boisard works at a barber shop in Philadelphia and he’s trying not to be optimistic about Haiti’s chances in the tournament. But it’s a forced kind of pessimism because, he said, there's so much riding on it. If his team does well it could mark a shift in momentum for his beleaguered country, battered by rampant poverty, unending gang violence and ineffective governance.
“If we do good it’s good for the country,” he said. “If they lose, that’s me lose.”
