Haiti loses to Morocco in World up finale, but fans say it’s not the end
The first goal came just 10 minutes into the match.
Lenny Joseph, wearing No. 16, scored Haiti’s first-ever goal in this year’s World Cup, bringing the crowd inside Atlanta Stadium to its feet. Moments later, with fans still celebrating the breakthrough, goalkeeper Johny Placide made the first of several saves.
Placide, who has announced this will be his final international tournament, seemed determined to end his career on a high note. Morocco finally scored in the 38th minute when Achraf Hakimi brought the equalizer before the sold-out crowd of 68,239.
Haiti’s second stunner was then delivered by Wilson Isidor as he matched the two goals of the country’s 1974 World Cup team and made history in the process. It marked the first time Haiti had scored twice in a half in a World Cup.
The momentum, however, would not last. Morocco would rally to a 4-2 victory, advancing to the next round as Haiti’s journey ended.
“There were no surprises here. We knew the team well, we knew their intentions,” said Morocco national men’s soccer team coach Mohamed Ouahbi. “It’s not because they were eliminated, they were going to be all in.... They didn’t win, but it was a great game.”
Haiti, he said, played a great first half. “We were better the second half.”
Afterward, Haiti coach Sébastien Migné said the result was disappointing, but he praised his players for competing until the final whistle despite entering the match already eliminated.
The people of Haiti, he said, are individuals “who don’t surrender; who don’t give up. The boys were like the image of Haiti. Simply, put, they represented Haiti highly.”
It had been 52 years between Haiti’s first and second World Cup qualification, Migné emphasized, and the country landed in a difficult group that included Morocco, Brazil and Scotland.
“It was a lot for us,” he said adding that despite the difficulty the draw presented they managed to deliver competitive performances.
Nevertheless, the team had hoped to write a new chapter in Haiti’s soccer history. One where the country’s World Cup team scored a point during the tournament.
“We were very close to making history in this World Cup. In case we didn’t win we wanted to leave Haiti with our heads high,” Migné said.
Not the end but beginning, fans say
It may have been Haiti’s final game of the 48-nation tournament, but for fans of Les Grenadiers it felt like it was the beginning of something bigger.
With the pressure of winning or even reaching the knockout rounds off gone, Haiti had only one thing to prove Wednesday as it faced Africa’s reigning: It belonged.
For the thousands of Haiti supporters who filled Atlanta Stadium to watch their national team face Morocco in its final match before exiting the World Cup, it was about more than the result. It was about representing their country — and showing that Haiti could compete on soccer’s biggest stage.
“It’s not about winning or losing,” said Alex Francois, 60, who attended all three of Haiti’s World Cup matches. “It’s about the pride and being Haitian.”
The 6 p.m. kickoff began with loud cheers as Haiti’s starting lineup took was introduced. But the mood quickly changed when team coach Migné’s name was announced, and the crowd responded with boos.
After losses to Scotland and Brazil in the first two matches, frustrations with Migné’s lineup and substitution decisions had spilled over to social media with fans calling for his dismissal under the hashtag Mignéout.
Against Morocco, Migné finally sent leading scorer Duckens Nazon onto the field after he did not appear in Haiti’s first two matches.
Asked about his future, Migné directed questions to the Haitian Football Federation. As for his personnel decisions, he said they reflected broader considerations, including managing a squad in transition.
“We have a whole squad to manage, not just a few individual players,” he said.
And contrary to what some Haitians’ critics may think, he said, he prefers to focus on other impressions.
“For instance, hearing a coach say he was surprised by our performance and quality, and noting the areas where we caused them trouble, that’s what matters to a true soccer expert,” he said.
Francois, who runs a medical rehabilitation in New York and brought his adult kids to see Les Grenadiers, said Haiti’s qualification, achieved amid extraordinary circumstances, was itself cause for celebration.
“We don’t even have a playing film. You understand most of these players have never been to Haiti,” he said. “What you’re realizing is there is a pride and joy that this generation have that we didn’t have.
“When we first came here, we were hiding,” he added. “This generation has no fear letting the world know who they are.”
That pride was visible throughout the team’s three matches in Boston, Philadelphia and then Atlanta. In airports, outside hotels and inside stadiums, Haitians wore their national colors and proudly waved their flags.
At the Morocco match, some donned the jersey from the team’s qualifying campaign. Others wore the original World Cup jersey featuring an illustration of the Battle of Vertières, Haiti’s decisive victory over France and the day the team learned last November it had qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 52 years. But ahead of Haiti’s opening match against Scotland in Boston, FIFA would bar players from wearing the jersey because of its rules.
Even Rhum Barbancourt, the country’s oldest distillery, brought its own Team Haiti jersey to Atlanta, where it hosted a pregame event featuring singers Paul Beaubrun and J. Perry, DJ Michael Brun, and Haitian-American actors Jimmy Jean-Louis and Bechir Sylvain, among others.
Miami-based Rara Lakay was also at the game. The band had been denied the opportunity to perform during Haiti’s pre-World Cup friendly against Peru, despite the presence of a Peruvian band. This time, the Haitian Football Federation and the Haitian Ladies Network flew the group to Atlanta.
“We wanted the Rara in Atlanta because it brings the heartbeat of Haiti into the stadium. It energizes the team, unites supporters and reminds the world that Haiti is a country of strength, creativity, imagination and a remarkably powerful culture,” Haitian Ladies Network said in a statement. “The Rara is more than entertainment. It is cultural diplomacy in action and a celebration of the spirit, pride and talent of the Haitian people.”
Moroccan supporters, who had arrived in force, marching toward the stadium amid pounding drums and chants, celebrated their team’s victory and advancement.
It’s a momentum, the team’s coach said could well take them all the way.
San Franciso resident Faycal Al-aryf agrees. He predicted a Moroccan win even before the kickoff. “It’s a big game for us,” he said.
“We’re just waiting for the whistle of the referee.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 8:24 PM.
