The U.S. government has given Woodensky Pierre, the only member of Haiti’s national soccer team living in the Caribbean country, a visa to travel and participate in the World Cup, an official said Tuesday.
Thecieux Jeanty, spokesman for the Haitian Football Federation, told The Associated Press that Pierre will travel to Florida on Tuesday.
“It was a great moment for him, a moment of happiness,” he said.
Teammates arrived in Florida last week to prepare for the World Cup. It is the second time that Haiti has qualified. The last time it appeared on football’s biggest stage was more than half a century ago.
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Pierre had been training with local players in an upscale area of Port-au-Prince while waiting for the visa. The team’s stadium in Haiti’s capital was deemed too dangerous, so Haiti was forced to play its «home» World Cup qualifiers in Curacao.
Pierre comes from Cite Soleil, a coastal neighborhood that has long struggled with hunger and gang violence.
Haiti plays World Cup warm-up matches against New Zealand on Tuesday and against Peru on Friday.
Haiti opens World Cup play against Scotland on June 13 in Foxborough, Mass., before playing five-time champion Brazil in Philadelphia on June 19 and Morocco on June 24 in Atlanta.
Published on June 2, 2026
