Scotland kick off their ninth World Cup against Haiti in Foxborough this weekend.
Here, we run the rule over the Scots’ Caribbean opponents.
World Cup pedigree
Haiti’s only previous World Cup appearance was more than half a century ago, at the 1974 tournament in West Germany. They were eliminated at the group stage after losing 3-1 to Italy, 7-0 to Poland and 4-1 to Argentina, with all three matches played in Munich.
Players
Haiti’s squad is predominantly made up of European-based players, with Sochaux, Gent, Lugano, Auxerre and Ferencvaros among the clubs represented. Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and French-born Sunderland forward Wilson Isidor, who switched allegiance to Haiti in March, are the two most recognisable names in the 26-man pool. Duckens Nazon, who plays for Esteghlal in Iran, is Haiti’s record scorer with 44 goals since his debut in 2014.
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Head coach
A 53-year-old Frenchman who had brief stints on the books of English clubs Hoxton, Boreham Wood and Leyton Orient in the 1990s, Sebastien Migne was appointed head coach of Haiti in June 2024. After beginning his managerial career in the lower echelons of French football, he has had spells in charge of the Congo, Kenya and Equatorial Guinea national teams. Migne went to the last World Cup in Qatar as assistant to Cameroon boss Rigobert Song.
Form
A day after Scotland secured World Cup qualification in November, Haiti did likewise by beating Nicaragua 2-0 to finish top of the four-team Group C in the third round of CONCACAF qualifiers. They defeated Nicaragua twice, took four points from their two meetings with Costa Rica and one point from their two clashes with Honduras. Since qualifying, they lost 1-0 to Tunisia and drew 1-1 with Iceland in their March friendlies and this month they defeated New Zealand 4-0 before going down 2-1 to Peru in their tournament warm-up matches. They are currently 83rd in the FIFA rankings, 41 places below Scotland.
