Brazil was left out: Haiti exchanges old passion for the national team and dreams big in the 1st World Cup in 52 years

Brazil takes on Morocco, Haiti and Scotland in the World Cup
For decades, football fans in Haiti have gathered in front of televisions and radios to cheer for Brazil in every World Cup. But not this year.
✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp
Haiti qualified for the global tournament for the first time since 1974, and excitement swept the country. Impromptu football matches appear on dusty grounds, while shirts printed with Haitian national team players are sold on an increasing number of street corners.
Haiti's national team - known as the "Grenadiers" - will compete in Group C alongside Morocco, Scotland and... Brazil. The team will face their former football idol at Philadelphia Stadium on June 19.
"My favorite team is Brazil, but my country is in the World Cup. Brazil took a backseat," said 16-year-old Guerier Lima, smiling.
A pedestrian walks next to flags and football shirts for sale on a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph
Recently, Guerier was playing football on a potholed street in the capital, Port-au-Prince, wearing a sneaker on one foot and a plastic flip-flop on the other, trying to score goals between stones that served as goalposts.
He was wearing a Brazilian team shirt with the number 10, a replica of the uniform worn by football stars like Pelé, Neymar and Ronaldinho.
"I would like to be Duckens Nazon, representing Haiti in tournaments," he said, referring to the Haitian national team's top scorer. "My family can't afford to put me in a club to pay for my training, but I'm trying to join one anyway."
Guerier said he likes Kaká, a former Brazilian national team player, but his favorite athlete is Nazon, a striker for Esteghlal, from Iran.
"Brazil is good," he said. "But I will support my Haitian brothers."
'Grenadiers' bring hope to a nation in crisis
Haiti's Louicius Don Deedson watches the ball closely during a CONCACAF Gold Cup match against the United States in 2025
AP Photo/Jessica Tobia
Widespread hunger, persistent violence and concerns about the spread of gangs are being set aside, albeit temporarily, as Haiti supports its selection.
Prophète Ismeus, a 52-year-old broker, looked at the football shirts sold on a dusty corner in Port-au-Prince. Unable to buy a US$13 (R$65) shirt, he opted for a US$1 (R$5) plastic bracelet in the red and blue colors of the Haitian flag.
"I'm showing my support for Haiti in the best way I can," he said. "I hope Haiti beats Brazil."
Ismeus said he will return to the tent when he has more money to buy a small flag "so he can wave it in the air when Haiti scores against Brazil."
Fitho Joseph, a street vendor selling football shirts, said he stopped supporting Brazil as soon as Haiti secured a place in the World Cup.
"Even if a family has ten people, everyone should wear a national team shirt," he said.
Wilkerson Daromain, 33 years old, agrees.
"Wearing the shirt is a message of hope that I send to each of the Grenadiers who will fight for us and for Haiti. A message that there is still life here and that we need to move forward", he said.
"We live in very difficult circumstances, but the Grenadiers gave us hope, and we also need to give them hope."
The Haitian fans' war cry is "Grenadye, alaso!" - which means "Troops, attack!" - and has its origins in the revolutionary period in which Haiti became the first black republic in the world.
Mario Etienne, 15, said that it will be the first time that he will see his country compete in a World Cup, as the last Haitian participation took place in 1974.
"It's a national meeting", he said. "If there's no electricity, I'll watch it on the street or at a friend's house."
Claudy Denis, 14, intends to do the same. "We can't be at the stadium with them, but we'll watch them on television," he said, with a broad smile. "Of the three games they will play, I won't miss any."
A lasting love for Brazil
A group of children play football with a plastic ball in the Pétion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti
AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph
Haitians have long revered the Brazilian team. For many, this passion began at the 1982 World Cup, when captain Sócrates led a team that also included Zico, Falcão and Toninho Cerezo.
Support for Brazil increased further in 2004, when the country led a UN peacekeeping force in Haiti. At the time, he organized a match to promote peace in the Caribbean country, which was still suffering the effects of a violent rebellion that overthrew then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Thousands of Haitians ran alongside an armored convoy carrying Brazilian stars, such as Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, to a stadium in Port-au-Prince.
"It was impressive to see people all the way, from the airport to here, all shouting: 'Brazil! Brazil!'", Roberto Carlos told the Associated Press that day.
Haiti lost 6-0, but that didn't matter. Haitian fans waved Brazilian flags and celebrated the match.
That was just one of the few clashes between Haiti and Brazil. In another of them, at the 2016 Copa América, the South American team beat the Caribbean team 7-1.
Yvenson Luxama, a 34-year-old street vendor, said he expects Haiti to attack Brazil "like a tiger."
"I'm going to watch the game, for sure," he said, adding that he will still close his eyes whenever Brazil attacks Haiti. They mean a lot to Jean-Paul Jean Pierre, a 29-year-old street vendor who recently started selling team shirts and flags.
"I'm here to make a living, not to love any team," he said.
Pierre is among the more than 1.4 million Haitians displaced by gang violence and lives in a cramped, makeshift shelter with his partner and two children, who he has difficulty feeding.
"Making money, that's what interests me," he said. "I wish there was a World Cup every year, so I could keep surviving."
VIDEOS: now on g1
Now on g1

Source: G1