AUCKLAND – Haiti qualified for football’s Women’s World Cup for the first time with a 2-1 win over Chile on Wednesday at a play-off tournament in New Zealand.
They join England, Denmark and China in Group D of the July 20-Aug 20 competition, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
Haiti, ranked 55th in the world, will face European champions England in their opening match in Brisbane on July 22.
“In Haiti, there is nothing easy,” said their French coach Nicolas Delepine. “To qualify, the girls fought hard and made huge sacrifices, because the conditions are tough there.
“It’s a great reward for them.”
Teenage midfielder Melchie Dumornay, who plays for French club Reims, gave Haiti the lead just before half-time in Auckland.
But there was drama in the closing stages. Haiti missed a penalty with full-time approaching when captain Nerilia Mondesir saw her weak spot kick palmed away.
However, the 19-year-old Dumornay doubled Haiti’s lead when she calmly slotted past Chile goalkeeper Christiane Endler in added time.
Substitute Maria Jose Rojas scored a consolation for Chile at the death.
Haiti’s players could not stop their tears from flowing at the final whistle, reflecting on qualification in difficult circumstances for the past year or so.
In January, there were police riots which trapped Ariel Henry, the nation’s prime minister, in the airport. They were protesting against a slew of killings of fellow officers by gangs.
Wealthy citizens had been exposed for financing these gangs, which have taken over the country, while many children are still in need of humanitarian support to survive.
In an ESPN report, it was also highlighted that Haiti has not recovered from past crises, like “a presidential assassination, the 2010 earthquake and the cholera outbreak that followed”.
Before the play-off tournament, midfielder Danielle Etienne told ESPN that “there’s a lot of unhappiness in the country and football is the joy”.
“Being able to qualify to the World Cup would be major,” she said at the time. “We want that for the country as a whole, to have a breath of fresh air and kind of step aside from anything going on.”
The match was the first of three finals at the play-off tournament to decide the last World Cup spots. This is the first edition to feature 32 teams, up from 24 from the 2019 competition.
Portugal beat Cameroon 2-1 and will join reigning world champions the United States, 2019 finalists Netherlands and debutants Vietnam in Group E.
The last qualifying spot will go to Paraguay or Panama, who meet on Thursday. The winners will join France, Jamaica and Brazil in Group F. AFP
