Two goals, 52 years of waiting: Haiti's World Cup farewell in Atlanta

Haiti’s first World Cup in 52 years ended in Atlanta with a 4-2 defeat to Morocco, and the two most celebrated goals in the modern history of Haitian football.

It took ten minutes for the wait to end. Jean-Kevin Duverne worked the byline, Lenny Joseph flicked the cross goalward, and Morocco’s Yassine Bounou could only help it into his own net. Fifty-two years after Manno Sanon beat Dino Zoff, Haiti had scored at a World Cup again.

Then, two minutes before the break, Wilson Isidor lashed a shot from distance into the roof of the net, a strike that will be replayed at Haitian gatherings for a generation. Twice, Les Grenadiers led the 2022 semifinalists.

A stadium that sounded like home

Already eliminated after narrow defeats to Scotland and Brazil, Haiti played in front of thousands of Haitians in Atlanta who met every attack with deafening noise. Morocco’s class eventually told: Ismael Saibari leveled before halftime, and late goals from Soufiane Rahimi and Gessime Yassine completed the comeback, but the night belonged to the men in blue.

Haiti leaves the tournament without a point but with something harder to measure: proof, broadcast to billions, that Haiti’s story is still being written by its own people.