For the first time in 52 years, Haiti has a team playing in the World Cup. Members of the Montreal Haitian community are getting ready to watch the games together. Soccer fans and players from the island nation are excited about their home country fielding a team at the World Cup for the first time in more than five decades. Sports analyst Meeker Guerrier says the expanded 48-nation World Cup helps, and that the players were pulled from the diaspora. “People that were born outside of Haiti from Haitian roots like myself, that have Haitian parents, for instance, or grandparents, but they were not born in the country,” said Guerrier. ”There’s a sense of pride to represent the country of your parents.” Guy Benoît fell in love with soccer playing as a youth in Haiti decades ago. At 77, the longtime Dorval resident still plays soccer regularly and sounds cautiously optimistic about the 2026 team. “They are confident,” he said. ”As a soccer coach, you’re ready for the reality of the game today... But we have confidence and this is what will bring the maximum out of those young guys.” The Bureau de la Communauté Haïtienne de Montreal (BCHM) is setting up big watch parties at the Maison France Montreal at Viger Avenue and Berri Street. Tickets are only $5 each because they want everyone to attend. Thierry Carries Naar is on the Board with the BCHM and says they have room for 500. “We’re probably going to have to go a little bit overboard so there won’t be too many chairs or nothing like that; it is going to be a party,” said Naar. “We have a RaRa Jazz that’s going to be there. That’s like music that we play in the street. That’s like street music.” Guerrier says the positive vibes from these matches are especially important since Haiti has been going through very challenging times. “It’s going to be a party for the whole World Cup, for the whole two weeks of the first group stage to see Haiti at the World Cup is already a win for the country,” said Guerrier The first World Cup match in 52 years for Haiti is Saturday, June 13, against Scotland.
