David Badía unveils first Haiti squad ahead of Nations League opener

New Haiti head coach David Badía named his first squad on Tursday for the Grenadiers’ opening matches of the 2026-27 Concacaf Nations League, a 24-player roster mixing Ligue 1 and English Championship regulars with a wave of Haitian-American college and lower-division talent.

The Haitian Football Federation (FHF) announced the list on its Facebook page, calling on supporters to rally behind the team as it opens a new competitive cycle following Haiti’s return to the World Cup this summer. “We are all Grenadiers!” the federation wrote, urging fans to stand behind the squad as it heads into the tournament.

The roster leans on familiar faces up front, including Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor, Atlanta FC’s Fabrice “Fafà” Picault, AEK Athens forward Frantzdy Pierrot and Sochaux striker Louicius Deedson. Wolverhampton’s Jean Ricner Bellegarde anchors the midfield alongside Philadelphia Union’s Jean-Jacques Danley, while the back line is built around Angers’ Carlens Arcus, FC Lugano’s Hannes Delcroix and goalkeepers Alexandre Pierre of Sochaux and Josué Duverger of FC Cosmos Koblenz.

Badía, a 51-year-old Spanish coach, was hired last month to replace Frenchman Sébastien Migné, who left the federation in mid-July after guiding Haiti to its first World Cup appearance since 1974. His first assignment drops him straight into a group stage that pits Haiti against Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Curaçao, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, with the top two finishers advancing to the quarterfinals.

The Grenadiers open the campaign on Sept. 24 against Trinidad and Tobago, followed by a Sept. 27 meeting with Costa Rica, both at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, since Haiti’s ongoing security crisis rules out matches at home. Haiti then travels to face the Dominican Republic on Oct. 1 in Santo Domingo before closing the window on Oct. 4 against Costa Rica in San José.