With a solitary goal by Frantzy Pierrot, the Haitian national team took a big step towards the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 victory over a faded Costa Rica, which with this result remained on the brink of elimination.
With this victory and only one game left to play, Haiti took the lead in Group C of the CONCACAF qualifying round with 8 points, the same as Honduras after losing 2-0 on Thursday to Nicaragua, which has 4 points. Costa Rica has 6 points. Only the first place in the group will qualify to the World Cup and everything will be defined next Tuesday in the last matchday when Haiti receives Nicaragua and Costa Rica receives Honduras.
Costa Rica’s shortcomings exposed
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Pierrot’s goal was enough for Haiti to beat Costa Rica.
Under Mexican coach Miguel Herrera, the Ticos have shown very little soccer in the qualifying round, a pattern that was repeated on Thursday and forced them to look for a goal with aerial balls in the final minutes.
Haiti, with quick transitions and possession of the ball, was better in the first half than a Costa Rican team with little clarity in midfield, little possession and that looked slow on the artificial pitch of the Ergilio Hato stadium in Curaçao, where the Haitians play their home games.
Keylor Navas made a diving save to deny Haitian Wolverhampton midfielder Jean Bellegarde’s angled drive from England’s Wolverhampton.
But he could do nothing in the 44th minute when Frantzy Pierrot scored 1-0 from close range in the six-yard box after finishing off a good team move down the right.
Placide shuts down Costa Rica
Costa Rica’s only chance in the first half came from a run into the box by New York City striker Alonso Martinez.
His shot was saved by a saving hand from goalkeeper Johnny Placide, who was the star of his team in the second half.
With his saves, Placide denied Manfred Ugalde twice and Alonso Martínez on another occasion.
At a time when Costa Rica had already sent most of its players into the box in a desperate search for an equalizer.
Lacking in soccer development, Costa Rica tried to close the game with aerial balls in search of the lanky defender Kendall Waston.
He ended up playing as a striker, but failed to get the equalizer that would have left him depending on himself to qualify.
Technical data
Haiti: Johnny Placide; Carlens Arcus, Ricardo Ade, Hannes Delcroix, Markhus Lacroix; Jean Bellegarde, Leverton Pierre, Danley Jean; Ruben Providence, Frantzdy Pierrot (Duckens Nazon, m.74) and Josue Casimir (Don Louicius, m.60).
Coach: Sébastien Migné.
0. Costa Rica: Keylor Navas, Haxzel Quiros (Carlos Mora, m.59), Kendall Waston, Juan Pablo Vargas, Alexis Gamboa (Orlando Galo, m.72), Francisco Calvo; Aaron Murillo (Joel Campbell, m.59), Celso Borges, Josimar Alcocer (Alvaro Zamora, m.72), Kenneth Vargas (Manfred Ugalde, m.46); Alonso Martinez.
Coach: Miguel Herrera.
Goal: 1-0, minute 44: Pierrot.
Referee: American Joseph Dickerson. Yellow cards for Haiti’s Pierre and Jean.
Incidents: Match played at the Ergilio Sato Stadium, in Curaçao, corresponding to the fifth matchday of Group C of the final phase of the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
With information from EFE
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