Ex-Harambee Stars Coach Details 18-Month Absence from Haiti Despite Guiding Team to 2026 World Cup

Haiti secured its place in the World Cup for the second time in its history on Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over Nicaragua. The qualification offers a moment of celebration for a nation grappling with a severe humanitarian and security crisis.

As the poorest country in the Americas, Haiti has just punched its ticket to the 2026 World Cup. This remarkable feat is largely credited to the tireless efforts of its French coach, Sebastien Migne, who built a competitive team amidst major political, security, and humanitarian turmoil.

"I saw some clips on social media; it was madness in Haiti," the coach said enthusiastically to Le Telegrame. "Everyone was out in the streets. My players will be fantastic ambassadors for a country that desperately needs them. Haiti is not an easy place, with a suffering population that doesn't have many opportunities to celebrate."

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Indeed, this qualification comes as the country is plunged into chaos. For years, the nation, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, has been ravaged by the violence of criminal gangs who commit murders, rapes, looting, and kidnappings amid chronic political instability.

An estimated 5.7 million people are suffering from malnutrition, and over 1.4 million have been displaced in 2025, more than half of whom are women and children.

Against this backdrop, the Haitian team's celebration on the pitch at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad, Curaçao—where their home games are played for security reasons—brought a welcome wave of happiness.

At the final whistle of their 2-0 win against Nicaragua, the players and staff gathered in the center of the field, eyes glued to their phones, awaiting the result of the Costa Rica vs. Honduras match. A 0-0 draw in that game was exactly what Haiti needed to qualify for its second World Cup, the first being in 1974 in Germany.

"Alexandre Pierre (the substitute goalkeeper) shouted, 'It's over!' and then it just exploded, everyone went wild," Migné recounted. The players in their blue jerseys sprinted across the pitch, celebrating with the Haitian supporters in the stands.

Faced with the country's immense challenges, the coach had to build a team that played all its games away from home. Over the past year and a half, he has been on a mission "to convince dual-nationality players to join the adventure."

"Before signing, I had scouted them. I identified the potential of players like Ruben Providence and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde," explained Migné, who previously served as an assistant to Claude Le Roy for several seasons. "I tried to persuade them, and I also challenged the veteran players, pushing them out of their comfort zones. I even had to drop some. I just felt there was something special we could do."

The former coach of Congo, Kenya, and Equatorial Guinea also recruited from Ligue 1, bringing in Auxerre winger Josué Casimir, "who joined us during the last training camp."

To bring all these dual-nationality players on board, Migné's efforts were extensive. "Sometimes I traveled, other times I used modern communication like video calls. I often spoke with their families, sometimes with a brother acting as an agent. It was a long-term effort," he said.

The allure of the World Cup may attract others to join the cause, such as Wilson Isidor (Sunderland) and Odsonne Édouard (Lens).

The coach also successfully brought back veterans who "weren't really in the national team picture anymore, like Leverton Pierre (Vizela, Portugal) and Stéphane Lambese (Fleury, National)."

"I also had to convince my federation that we needed to improve certain things to attract these players, particularly the quality of travel and the medical staff," he added.

Highlighting the unique nature of his role with a country ravaged by violence and poverty, the coach admitted he has "unfortunately not yet been able to visit" Haiti in person. However, he plans to discover the country in January for the opening of the domestic league to scout local talent.

"The Haitian people are waiting for a sign," Migné promised. "We are going to show them that we are here for them."