Haiti make historic World Cup run with no-show coach

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Haiti have sealed a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their first in more than 50 years, under a coach who has never been able to visit the country he leads.

The Caribbean nation beat Nicaragua 2–0 this week to book only their second-ever World Cup appearance, but their French coach Sébastien Migné has managed the entire campaign from afar due to the extreme violence plaguing Haiti.

“It’s impossible because it’s too dangerous,” Migné explained. “I usually live in the countries where I work, but I can’t here. There are no more international flights landing there.”

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Appointed 18 months ago, the 52-year-old has been unable to set foot in Haiti as armed gangs control most of the capital Port-au-Prince, forcing more than 1.3 million people from their homes. With famine-level hunger and daily violence, travel advisories warn against entering the country under any circumstances.

As a result, Haiti have been forced to play their “home” matches 500 miles away in Curaçao, relying on neutral venues and a fully foreign-based squad to keep their qualification dream alive.

Migné said he had no choice but to coach creatively. “I relied entirely on federation officials to give me information about local players by telephone,” he said. “They gave me information, and I managed the team remotely.”

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That remote management has produced history. Haiti’s qualification run featured standout performances from their diaspora contingent, including Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who was born in France. The federation is also hoping to convince Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor, another France-born talent with Haitian heritage, to commit before the World Cup.

Their return to the global stage comes 52 years after their only previous appearance, in 1974, when they were eliminated in the first round after facing Italy, Poland and Argentina.

Haiti will join Panama and debutants Curaçao as Concacaf’s latest qualifiers, marking a triumph of resilience under circumstances no other World Cup team has ever faced.

Photo: Ron Jenkins/USSF/Getty Images

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Dylan Johnson