Haiti national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Haiti

Nickname

Association

Fédération Haïtienne
de Football

Head coach

Luis Armelio Garcia

Most caps

Top scorer

Emmanuel Sanon (13)

FIFA code

HAI

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

72 (December 2002)

Lowest FIFA ranking

155 (April 1996)

Elo ranking





Home kit





Away kit

First international

Haiti 1 - 2 Jamaica

(Haiti; March 22, 1925)

Largest win

Haiti 12 - 1 USVI

(Port-au-Prince, Haiti; April 10, 2001)

Haiti 11 - 0 USVI

(Kingston, Jamaica; November 24, 2004)

Worst defeat

Mexico 8 - 0 Haiti

(Mexico City, Mexico; July 19, 1953)

Brazil 9 - 1 Haiti

(Chicago, USA; August 30, 1959)

Costa Rica 8 - 0 Haiti

(San José, Costa Rica; March 19, 1961)

World Cup

Appearances

1 (First in 1974)

Best result

Round 1, 1974

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Appearances

2 (First in 2000)

Best result

Quarterfinals, 2002

The Haiti national football team is the national team of Haiti and is controlled by the Fédération Haïtienne de Football. It has made one World Cup, in 1974, when they were outscored by a total of 12 goals by Italy, Poland, and Argentina.

Haïti finished second in the Caribbean Cup in 2001.

1 History
- 1.1 The Golden Age
2 World Cup record
3 Gold Cup record
4 Continental titles
5 Selected famous players

[edit] History

Haiti has one of the longest football traditions in the Caribbean and was an early participant in World Cup qualifying.

[edit] The Golden Age

The period from the mid-1960s to early 1980s could be considered a golden age for Haitian football. With Antoine Tessy as coach for much of this period, Haiti would emerge as one of the strongest teams in the CONCACAF zone. By 1965, players like Henri Francillon, Philippe Vorbe and Guy St-Vil were already playing in the team and would be stalwarts of the side in the coming years.

The team developed sufficiently to reach the final round of qualifying for 1970, where they faced El Salvador. After losing the first leg at home, Haiti pulled off a 3-0 win away but the rules of the day dictated a play-off on neutral ground which El Salvador won to secure a place in the 1970 World Cup.

In the 1974 qualifiers, Haiti once again reached the final round in a qualifying tournament completely played at home. Haitian military rule of the time would make sure Haiti qualified at all costs. This time, with all odds on their favor, they would top the group and qualify for the 1974 World Cup. In West Germany, they would be drawn in an extremely tough group with Italy, Argentina and Poland. However, they surprised the football world in their debut game when star forward Emmanuel Sanon scored to give Haiti a lead over Italy. They eventually lost 3-1, and would lose to Poland (7-0) and Argentina (4-1), but their brave display against Italy is forgotten by few.

Haiti would reach the final rounds of 1978 and 1982 qualifiers, but failed to make the cut. The years since have seen Haiti's footballing status decline markedly.