Haiti coach Migne leads the country he has never been to

Haiti has a good chance to secure World Cup qualification on Tuesday, but the situation in the conflict-torn Caribbean country is such that the coach has never actually been there.

Armed gangs have taken control of almost all of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in a conflict that has driven some 1.3 million people from their homes and fueled famine.

Travelers are being warned not to visit the country of 12 million people due to the risk of kidnappings, crimes, terrorist activities and civil unrest, the US State Department says.

All this means that Haiti’s 52-year-old French coach, Sebastien Migne, has never set foot there since his appointment 18 months ago. «It’s impossible because it’s too dangerous. Normally I live in the countries where I work, but here I can’t. International flights no longer land there,» he told France Football magazine.

Migne relied on telephone information about local players from officials of the Haitian Football Federation. “They gave me information and I led the team remotely.”

PLAYERS VIOLATE TO PLAY FOR HAITI

But he has also worked hard to add players with Haitian roots to the roster from outside. He convinced former France Under-21 international Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, AJ Auxerre winger Josué Casimir and former Belgian centre-back Hannes Delcroix to join their cause.

They all played in last Thursday’s crucial 1-0 win over Costa Rica in their penultimate Concacaf qualifier. «I feel like I’m representing my family,» Bellegarde told the website of his club, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“It’s a small country, but now we have the chance to play in the World Cup, so my family tells me this is a good time to play for Haiti, and I think it’s a big opportunity for me.”

Migne hopes to convince Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor, but the player remains undecided.

«I would like to set myself the goal of going to the World Cup; it will always remain a dream,» Isidor told French sports daily L’Equipe.

«I have two options: France and Haiti. Haiti has already approached me, but I have not made a decision yet. I am currently concentrating on my club. In the French national team I know the boys, I have played with and against them.»

Haiti’s squad is now entirely based abroad, but it still has the handicap of having to host its home games at neutral locations. They use Curaçao as a base, where they will host Nicaragua on Tuesday.

HAITI’S LAST WORLD CUP WAS 1974

Haiti will qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 if Costa Rica beats Honduras at the same time. Honduras leads Group C on goal difference over Haiti, with both on eight points, two more than Costa Rica.

Nicaragua has already been eliminated.

Migne, who was assistant coach for Cameroon at the last World Cup in Qatar, has repeatedly praised his players’ attitude despite the country’s difficulties.

His captain, veteran goalkeeper Johny Placide, said qualifying could offer a new perspective to the struggling Haitians.

“It would be a huge source of pride for an entire nation – and not just for us players,” he told FIFA.com on Monday.

“For young people it would be a showcase, a new perspective. To be honest, I wouldn’t know how to describe it because we’re not there yet and I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

«Right now the difficulty is not knowing if we will make it, but we know we are only one step away from it. We must remain calm and leave ourselves without regrets.»

Published on November 17, 2025