"We could not be any more proud... I'm touching history right now." That's Guy Ernst Phillipe, a Haitian fan who showed up at Port-au-Prince airport on Tuesday just to hug a defensive midfielder. That's the kind of story Woodensky Pierre carries with him to the United States.
Pierre, the only home-based player in Haiti's 26-man World Cup squad, has finally been granted a US visa after days of genuine uncertainty. Trump's expanded travel restrictions had placed Haiti on a list of affected nations, leaving Pierre in limbo while all 25 of his overseas-based teammates had already arrived in Florida to begin preparations. He boarded his flight Tuesday. The wait is over.
Where he's coming from matters
Pierre plays for Violette AC and grew up in Cite Soleil — a neighborhood in western Port-au-Prince where gangs control roughly 70% of the surrounding capital and the national team's own stadium was deemed too dangerous to use. Haiti played their home World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao, over 1,000 kilometers away, because the security situation left them no choice.
While waiting for his visa, Pierre trained with local players in one of Port-au-Prince's safer districts. That's the reality he's coming from. Not an academy. Not a training center with GPS vests and sports scientists. A makeshift setup in a city under siege.
Haiti's football federation spokesperson Thecieux Jeanty confirmed Pierre had boarded his flight and described it simply: "It was a great moment for him, a moment of happiness."
What Haiti face in Group C
Pierre won't have long to settle in. Haiti open their campaign on June 13 in Foxborough against Scotland, then face five-time world champions Brazil on June 19 in Philadelphia, before closing out group fixtures against Morocco on June 24 in Atlanta. That is a punishing group by any measure — Haiti's World Cup odds to advance reflect exactly that.
This is only Haiti's second-ever World Cup appearance. Their first was in 1974 — more than half a century ago. Most of their own supporters won't be in the stands either, with travel bans and visa restrictions blocking the majority of Haitian fans from attending.
Pierre's mother hugged him several times before he walked through departures. Airport workers stopped to take photos. An entire country packed into one terminal send-off.
