Overview:
Haiti’s U-17 ladies’s soccer staff will face america, Puerto Rico and Bermuda within the closing spherical of Concacaf qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup. The younger Grenadières should end first or, as the perfect second-place staff total, to clinch qualification for the competitors in Morocco between October and November.
MIAMI — Haiti’s under-17 ladies’s soccer staff now is aware of its opponents for the ultimate spherical of qualification for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup in Morocco. All qualifying matches shall be performed from March 17 to 22 in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
A draw was held on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at Concacaf headquarters in Miami. Haiti was positioned in Group B alongside the heavyweight United States and two lower-ranked Caribbean rivals—Puerto Rico and Bermuda.
Twelve nations superior to this closing qualifying stage, divided into three teams of 4. Group A contains Canada, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Nicaragua, whereas Group C options Mexico, Panama, Jamaica and Costa Rica.
The U.S., Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica certified mechanically for this closing section because the confederation’s prime four-ranked groups. Eight nations from fifth place to decrease—together with Haiti—superior after profitable their respective teams within the first section, whereas Bermuda and Nicaragua progressed as the 2 greatest second-place finishers total.
“After advancing comfortably by way of the primary section, the younger ladies now carry the accountability of securing one other World Cup berth for Haiti,” the Haitian Soccer Federation (FHF) posted on Facebook after the draw.
“Don’t ever let a rustic make you lose your self earlier than you even step on the sector,” a Fb person stated beneath the Danny Lambi profile. “Keep targeted in your coaching and provides 120% of your power.”
With the U.S. staff the favourite to prime Group B, Haiti faces a tricky battle, followers say. However Les Petites Grenadières’ aim is obvious: end first within the group or safe the perfect second-place spot total to qualify. Solely 4 of the 12 groups will advance to the World Cup.
Within the earlier version of the Concacaf Ladies’s U-17 Last Spherical, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the U.S. secured the 4 Concacaf berths for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup, additionally held in Morocco.
For Haiti’s younger Grenadières, this yr’s closing spherical affords an opportunity to compete on the worldwide stage on this class for the primary time. Earlier ladies’s World Cup participations embrace France 2018 on the U-20 degree and Australia/New Zealand 2023 on the senior degree. A qualification would mark Haiti’s eighth World Cup look throughout all age teams and genders.
Of the seven World Cup {qualifications}, the under-17 boys alone account for 4 tickets— together with clinching in 2007, 2019, 2025 and 2026. After enjoying in Qatar final November, the staff certified to return to the match subsequent Fall, attaining a historic back-to-back look two weeks in the past.
Les Petites Grenadières will open the ultimate spherical towards Puerto Rico on Tuesday, March 17, at 2:36 p.m. EST on the FIFA Proyecto Objective complicated in Alajuela, Costa Rica. They may face america on March 19 at 3 p.m. EST and shut group play towards Bermuda on March 22 at 10 a.m. EST.
The U-17 ladies’s marketing campaign comes amid a busy interval for Haitian soccer. The lads’s U-20 staff will start its personal World Cup qualifying marketing campaign later this month, whereas the senior ladies’s nationwide staff continues preparations for upcoming matches in March and April. The aspect just lately acquired a lift with the appointment of famend Swedish coach Pia Mariane Sundhage as head coach, aiming to emulate the senior males’s staff by qualifying for a second World Cup.
Because the qualifiers strategy, hopes are excessive amongst followers in Haiti and overseas that the nation’s younger skills can rise to the problem and preserve its World Cup ambitions alive.