Haiti’s World Cup journey came to an end following a 3-0 defeat to Brazil, but coach Sebastien Migne believes his players have proven they deserve to compete on football’s biggest stage.
Migne admitted Haiti were punished for costly mistakes that led to Brazil’s opening two goals and felt the match became increasingly difficult once the South American giants took control.
“Maybe we were a little bit naive with the first two goals, and after that it’s done and set and it gets trickier and trickier by the minute,” he said.
Despite the defeat and confirmation of Haiti’s elimination from the tournament, Migne praised his squad for their efforts throughout a campaign that marked the country’s first World Cup appearance in 52 years.
“They showed that they deserved to be here at the World Cup,” he said. “Unfortunately, today we played against Brazil and there was too much of a gap. If you want to perform well, everything needs to be aligned, and today we made two mistakes.”
Haiti’s hopes of reaching the knockout rounds were also ended by Morocco’s victory over Scotland, leaving the Caribbean nation unable to advance from Group C.
While disappointed by the outcome, Migne stressed that Haiti’s return to the World Cup after more than five decades should be viewed as an important achievement and a platform for future progress.
“It has been 52 years since we took part in the World Cup. It’s something that we need to keep in mind,” he said. “That’s it, they were better than us. We need to learn lessons from that and we need to come back stronger.”
Haiti will conclude their campaign against Morocco, with Migne determined for his players to produce a performance that will make their supporters proud before heading home.
