Haiti qualified for the 2026 World Cup under extraordinary circumstances – manager Sébastien Migné was never able to visit Haiti in person due to the security situation and managed the team remotely. The home matches were played in Curaçao. Despite all the adversity, Haiti secured its place at the World Cup. A story of determination and passion.

Coach Sébastien Migné has named three goalkeepers for Les Grenadiers: Johny Placide, Alexandre Pierre and Josué Duverger. The trio represent a Haitian diaspora scattered across several continents – from France’s Ligue 2 to Germany’s Oberliga. Haiti is taking part in a World Cup for the first time since 1974, 52 years after their last attempt.

Placide, aged 38, is the undisputed leader of this team. Born in Montfermeil, near Paris, to Haitian parents, he holds dual French-Haitian nationality but chose to represent Haiti – and has become the face of a national team that has reinvented itself over the decades. With over 79 international caps, he is by far the most experienced player in the entire 26-man squad. His career took him from Le Havre, Stade de Reims and Guingamp in Ligue 1 to Oldham Athletic in England and on to Tsarsko Selo in Bulgaria, before he moved to SC Bastia in Ligue 2 in 2021, where he has since established himself as a club legend. In the 2025/26 season, he featured in 23 league matches and was described by fans and teammates alike as a “rock in goal”.

The 2026 World Cup is his first major tournament following a career that has spanned almost every CONCACAF cycle. At 38, it is almost certainly his last. No player in this squad represents Haiti more than he does.

Pierre, aged 25, was born in Aubervilliers near Paris and joined FC Sochaux in the French Championnat National, the third tier of the league, on a free transfer in 2024. Prior to that, he came through the academies of Stade Laval, Angers and Racing Strasbourg, where he developed in the reserve team. With 14 caps for Haiti and appearances in the CONCACAF Nations League and the 2023 Gold Cup, he is by far the most internationally experienced backup. This season, he has made 20 league appearances for Sochaux, keeping two clean sheets. Pierre embodies the new generation of Haitian goalkeepers – technically trained in France, with his national roots in Haiti.

Duverger is arguably the most unlikely World Cup story of the entire tournament: aged 25 and born in Montreal, he currently plays for FC Cosmos Koblenz in the German Oberliga – the fifth tier of German football. Trained in Portugal at Belenenses, Sporting and Vitória Setúbal, he went on to play in the Campeonato de Portugal and the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol before moving to Koblenz in 2024. His path to the World Cup squad involved sporadic international appearances since his debut in 2017, as well as a strong performance in the qualifier against Costa Rica. The fact that Migné selected him despite his current league situation is a sign of confidence in his character and development – and makes his story one of the most human of the entire tournament.