Haiti’s World Cup return stirs pride and worry in New York
Haitian fans in New York celebrated rare World Cup goals while travel and immigration limits shadowed the tournament.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Haiti’s return to the men’s World Cup gave Haitian communities in New York a rare public celebration, even after the team’s elimination from Group C. Al Jazeera reported that the joy was tempered by visa barriers, a Trump administration travel ban and wider immigration uncertainty affecting Haitian families.
The team scored twice against Morocco on Wednesday, ending a 52-year wait for Haitian World Cup goals, according to Al Jazeera. Haiti entered that final group match already out of contention after losses to Scotland and Brazil, but supporters treated the goals as a landmark moment.
Murielle Lodvil, 52, watched from New York’s Little Haiti, where Al Jazeera reported that bars and restaurants filled with fans following the match. Lodvil had also bought tickets for herself and her 41-year-old sister, Barbara Albert, to see Haiti play Brazil as a birthday gift.
“Every moment of this experience counts, ending with two goals, even with the outcome,” Lodvil told Al Jazeera. Albert said the Brazil match showed how strongly Haitian supporters valued the team’s presence on the global stage.
New York watch parties draw crowds
At UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, Haitian fans packed a watch party for the Brazil match, Al Jazeera reported. The arena, which seats 19,000, was nearly sold out, with red and blue Haiti colors far outnumbering Brazil’s yellow and green.
New York has the second-largest Haitian community in the United States, with about 113,000 Haitian residents in 2024, according to the US Census Bureau figures cited by Al Jazeera. At the arena, Haitian flags handed out at the entrance ran out before kickoff, while Brazil flags remained on tables.
Maude Schwartz, a 58-year-old Pilates studio owner who moved from Haiti to the United States in 1990 on a student visa, attended the watch party while her twin sons went to the match, according to Al Jazeera. She said the crowd felt like family, but added that a niece had repeatedly been denied a US visa.
Al Jazeera reported that a travel ban imposed by the Trump administration last year and expanded in January prevented some Haitian supporters from attending World Cup events in the United States. Defensive midfielder Woodensky Pierre, who lives in Haiti, was also unable to enter the US to join the national team until 10 days before Haiti’s June 13 opener against Scotland, according to the report.
Jean-Marc, a 55-year-old former Long Island Football League player born in the US to Haitian parents, told Al Jazeera that people should not be barred from entering the country for a global sporting event. He described Haiti’s participation in the US-hosted tournament as a major occasion for Haitians.
Celebration amid uncertainty
In Flatbush, the Brooklyn neighborhood many call Little Haiti, restaurant owner Nadege Fleurimond opened her Haitian-Caribbean restaurant, BunNan, for each Haiti match, Al Jazeera reported. The gatherings gave fans who could not afford stadium tickets another place to watch.
Fleurimond, who came to the US from Haiti at age 7, told Al Jazeera that immigration uncertainty has touched nearly every Haitian family she knows. She said Haiti’s World Cup appearance reflected both her Haitian roots and her American life.
“It’s a reminder that immigrants don’t have to choose one identity over the other,” Fleurimond said, according to Al Jazeera. She said the team’s presence at the tournament was proof that Haitians belonged on stages where they are often counted out.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.