The Home Team Won
Chase Stadium, the home of MLS’s Inter Miami (and currently, Leo Messi), was the site of Tuesday night’s World Cup warm-up friendly between Haiti and New Zealand. But it felt like much, much more than that for the fans who packed into the available three of four main sections of the ground.
Per the American Community Survey roughly 129,000 Haitian immigrants or people of Haitian ancestry call the North Miami/Fort Lauderdale area home. That community represented the overwhelming majority of the over 16,000 attendees who cheered, sang, and danced their way through the entirety of a resounding 4-0 Haiti victory.
And when I say “entirety” I do mean into and through the halftime break. They danced in their seats, in the aisles, and even on the way to the restrooms as the in-house DJ spun Compas and Rasin-inspired beats and remixes to the delight of the beaming masses.
For the red-and-blue clad fans, it was a night of pure football magic that resembled a non-stop neighborhood block party of epic proportions. And for a community faced with daily trials and concerns that many can’t begin to fathom, it felt like a much-needed breath of fresh air and a tremendous expression of well-earned national pride.
Haiti’s surprise run to the World Cup saw them top their group dramatically on the final day of the final round of Concacaf qualification; a group which included former World Cup mainstays Costa Rica (whom they defeated) and Honduras. Le Rouge et Bleu had not even reached that final round of qualification since 1982.
Throughout this entire run, Haiti have been unable to play a single true home match, their last such match having been played in July of 2021. Since then, their home stadium, Stade Sylvio Cator, has been deemed unsafe by FIFA due to its location in Haiti’s gang-controlled and ravaged capital, Port-au-Prince.
The woman sitting next to me said that she had grown homesick, having not visited her family in Haiti since 2016. With Haiti’s lack of a functioning central government since 2024 following the forced resignation of its last prime minister, travel to and from the country safely has become exceedingly difficult, if not impossible for many.
These facts reflect a sad reality that for her, and many of the fans who were in attendance, home has become an increasingly dangerous place. But on Tuesday night, for at least a few hours, home came to her and to them. With a defiant spirit and a deep passion, Tuesday night was a shining example of how the beautiful game played by Le Rouge et Bleu can always provide a reason to celebrate.
Whether or not the fans who filed into Chase Stadium will be able to represent their team in similar numbers throughout the World Cup remains to be seen.
One woman I spoke to Wednesday said she was grateful she’d had the opportunity to see Les Grenadiers in person, but expressed serious doubt she’d be able to attend any of the official World Cup matches due to the hefty price tags on remaining tickets.
For reference, the standard lowest available option on Ticketmaster.com on the day of Tuesday’s match was $72 USD after fees. The lowest options on popular ticket resale site Gametime.com sit, at the time of writing, at $603 for the match vs. Scotland, $833 vs. Brazil, and $288 vs. Morocco.
It’s that Brazil match, she explained, which carries a special cultural significance as Seleção are the unofficial favorite national team of Haiti.
That connection and inspiration shone brilliantly through the attacking style on display from Haiti against the All Whites. Players in the build-up and in the final third were often not shy in their attempts at flair and trickery to embarrass the defense to the raucous approval of the crowd.
If that flair, which was combined with a gritty determination in other necessary areas of the pitch, continues, it could make Haiti, at least in my opinion, a must-watch during the World Cup. That said, they will no-doubt be running the gauntlet in Group C, one of the toughest draws they could have possibly received.
As daunting as that task may be, you’d be hard-pressed to find a group as battle-tested and up to the challenge as this Haitian side.
One fan walking out of the match proudly proclaimed that he expected at least one win in group play. That would be Haiti’s first in the history of the tournament, as they failed to record a point in 1974, the last and only time they played on the game’s greatest stage.
Whether or not that achievement is reached, it would be nigh impossible to see this current moment and this current run by Les Grenadiers as anything short of an absolute win for Fort Lauderdale’s other home team.
