Scotland’s World Cup Preparations and the Challenge of Haiti
As Steve Clarke begins to analyze his team’s recent home defeat by Japan, it’s likely that some of his support staff are also examining similar results from one of Scotland’s World Cup opponents. Less than 24 hours after Junya Ito’s late goal secured a 1-0 win for Japan at Hampden Park, which tempered the excitement around Scotland’s qualification, Group C rivals Haiti faced a similar outcome in a friendly against Tunisia.
At BMO Field in Toronto, Haiti lost 1-0 to Tunisia thanks to an early goal by Sebastian Tounekti. The Celtic winger scored by latching onto a defense-splitting pass and slotting a right-foot shot past the goalkeeper. Although Tounekti had another chance seven minutes later, he fired over the bar, and Haiti remained in the game. They then grew into the match, applying intense pressure as they searched for a late equalizer.
Despite Danley Jean Jacques being sent off for a second yellow card, the performance was a spirited one, showing that Haiti will be a competitive opponent for Scotland in their World Cup opener. More importantly, it served as a reminder that victory in Boston on June 14 will not be straightforward.
Tunisia is ranked 44th in the world, just four places below Scotland. Even with the many variables that can make friendlies misleading, this result highlighted that Haiti will be a tough challenge.
A new face in the Haitian squad made his debut in the match—Wilson Isidor. The Sunderland striker came on for the second half, marking his first appearance since pledging himself to Haiti earlier this month. Born in France to Haitian and Malagasy parents, Isidor brings a level of quality that Haiti has lacked in recent years.
Although Isidor has had a mediocre season in the Premier League, he is a quick and powerful forward who adds to the small group of Haitian players performing at a high level for their clubs. Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Jean Ricner-Bellegarde and Auxerre’s Josue Casimir played crucial roles in Haiti’s qualifying campaign. Both born in France and Guadelpe respectively, they recently switched allegiances and have inspired hope that Haiti can hold its own this summer.
This is only the second time in Les Grenadiers’ history that they have reached the World Cup finals. Having made it there in 1974, they failed to maintain those standards due to internal strife, which led to player defections. The political situation in Haiti remains precarious, with gang violence, famine, and the collapse of state institutions forcing them to contest their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign entirely on foreign ground.
All of Haiti’s home games were held in other countries. French coach Sebastian Migne, who led them to the finals without even a play-off, has yet to set foot in Haiti. Only one of the squad members picked for this week’s warm-up is with a Haitian club. Midfielder Woodensky Pierre helped Violette to the title last month. The rest are based in Europe and North America, where many of them struggle for game time.
Haiti don’t face many top-tier sides or indeed many from outside the Concacaf region, which is why they are trying to make the most of this international window. As well as playing Tunisia, who were selected for their similarity to Morocco, they will also face Iceland, seen as closer in style to Scotland.
That game, in Toronto on Tuesday, will be behind closed doors, which isn’t much help to SFA performance analyst Mark McKenna. These weeks are what might be described as the phoney war. While Haiti are playing Iceland, Scotland will be taking on Ivory Coast, and Morocco will be up against Paraguay, having drawn 1-1 with Ecuador on Friday.
Brazil, the Group C giants, face Croatia on Wednesday, having lost to France last week. While fans obsess over Scotland’s performances in a warm-up schedule that also includes a match against Curacao in May, gathering information about this summer’s opponents is just as important if Clarke is to maximize his team’s chances.
Brazil will be a free hit, Morocco potentially decisive, but realistically, Haiti is the game that must be won if Scotland are to fulfill their ambition of going beyond the group stage for the first time. The rank outsiders might be an unknown quantity to the rest of the world, but Clarke will be poring over every detail of their warm-up games. At least, we hope he is.
