On Thursday, Concacaf announced that it had approved Haiti’s request to relocate their Nations League quarter-final first leg on 14 November from Kingston, Jamaica, to Miami in an “exceptional hosting arrangement”. Haiti have been unable to play nominal “home” games within their borders since July 2021, with the United Nations estimating that 90% of Port-au-Prince – including the national stadium – is controlled by violent gangs.
Initially, Haiti’s match, the first leg of a home-and-away series against the United States, had been booked in Kingston. The Grenadiers had previously played their World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao, Aruba and Barbados. However, the Nations League format slated Curaçao and Jamaica to host their matches on the same night as Haiti’s, shunting Haiti to Sabina Park, the home of the Jamaica national team until their current venue opened in 1962. Now a cricket ground, Sabina Park hosted two of Haiti’s Nations League qualifiers.
While the shuffle sends Haiti within their opponents’ borders, they couldn’t have found a more hospitable home away from home. Miami boasts by far the largest population of Haitians and their descendants, with nearly half a million concentrated predominantly in South Florida. They’ll play at Nu Stadium, where they played the venue’s first international friendly – a pre-World Cup clash with Peru – in front of a sold-out crowd of 26,700. That support dwarfed the crowds they drew at Sabina Park, where their two matches attracted an average of 297 fans.
Haiti once dominated their series with the United States, ending the US’s World Cup qualifying run in 1969. The US have won four of their six clashes this century, with the other two matches ending in draws.
This will be Haiti’s first trip back to the United States since the 2026 World Cup, a hero-making turn for the Caribbean nation in their first tournament appearance since 1974. The Grenadiers were handed a difficult group, losing all three games against Morocco, Scotland and Brazil. Nonetheless, they enjoyed fantastic support from Haitian fans at their matches in Massachusetts, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Although a rebooking, this could give the national team a chance to play in front of a considerable number of compatriots.
Concacaf added that “this flexibility will remain in place for as long as the security situation in Haiti persists”. Haiti, as well as clubs based in Haiti, will need to seek approval from Concacaf for each match they look to play in “the territory of its opponents”, a separate arrangement from the neutral sites they’ve previously booked. The confederation closed by stipulating that the measure “may be amended or withdrawn by the Concacaf Council at any time”.
