The Haitian Soccer Federation (FHF) has appointed Spaniard David Badía as the brand new head coach of the boys’s nationwide soccer staff, placing him in command of Les Grenadiers squad two months after Haiti returned to the World Cup for the primary time in 52 years and entered a brand new aggressive cycle.
Badía, 51, succeeds French coach Sébastien Migné, who parted methods with the federation in mid-July. His first aggressive match is scheduled for Sept. 24 in opposition to Trinidad and Tobago within the Concacaf Nations League.
An FHF spokesperson confirmed Badía’s appointment to The Haitian Occasions on Aug. 22, earlier than an official announcement video was posted in a while the federation’s Fb web page.
“It’s with nice delight that the Haitian Soccer Federation broadcasts the brand new coach of the Grenadiers,” the federation’s communications staff mentioned.
“[The year of] 1974 was a milestone. 2026 was a passage. The dream is tomorrow,” it added in Haitian Creole.
The announcement described Badia as a coach whose expertise matches Haiti’s ambitions and launched him as “the brand new captain of the ship.”
No particulars can be found concerning the phrases and circumstances of the contract between the Spaniard and Haiti. The FHF didn’t instantly reply to The Haitian Occasions’ request for info.
From Barcelona’s academy to Haiti, a coach identified for participant growth
Badía arrives with greater than a decade of teaching expertise spanning youth growth {and professional} membership soccer in a number of European leagues. His profession contains work with FC Barcelona’s academy, golf equipment in Turkey and Spain, and head-coaching roles in Cyprus and Poland. Nevertheless, he has no expertise teaching a nationwide staff.
A former defender, Badía started his teaching profession within the FC Barcelona growth system after incomes his UEFA Pro License, the place he labored with youth groups from 2012 to 2016. He later served as director of the FC Barcelona Escola in Istanbul, Turkey.
His expertise then expanded into skilled soccer. Nonetheless in Turkey, he labored as an assistant coach at Antalyaspor and later at Fenerbahçe, alongside coaches together with Dutch Phillip Cocu and Erwin Koeman.
He additionally served as an assistant at Spain’s second-tier membership UD Almería alongside former Actual Madrid participant José María Gutiérrez Hernández, referred to as Guti. Through the 2019-2020 season, Almería reached the promotion playoffs.
Badía subsequently moved into head-coaching roles in Cyprus, the place he managed Ethnikos Achnas, AEK Larnaca and Akritas Chlorakas. He additionally coached Polish membership Lechia Gdańsk within the Ekstraklasa.
Probably the most notable achievements highlighted in his skilled profile got here throughout his time at AEK Larnaca in 2021-2022, when the membership certified for the UEFA Champions League for the primary time in its historical past.
His most up-to-date teaching expertise got here at top-flight membership Ethnikos Achnas in Cyprus in the course of the 2024-2025 season. In accordance with his skilled profile, he was named the Cypriot league’s coach of the month as soon as and guided the membership to eighth place, its greatest end in a decade.
Badía’s background is especially centered on participant growth, teaching methodology, tactical group and constructing cohesive groups — areas that can be examined as he takes over a Haitian facet that has just lately reached one of the vital milestones in its historical past.
Blended response to the appointment
The appointment has drawn blended reactions from Haitian soccer followers and observers, with some being dissatisfied that the federation didn’t rent a extra established identify.
Others, nonetheless, mentioned they’d not decide Badía prematurely. They added that, given Haiti’s soccer governing physique’s monetary and operational limitations, anticipating it to rent a coach with a better pedigree was unrealistic.
“I’d moderately comply with the staff beginning in September underneath his management to see what system he makes use of and whether or not he manages the gamers to attain success with Haiti’s gifted squad,” sports activities analyst Merlyne Pierre Louis wrote on her Fb web page Merlyne Haiti Promo.
“In the end, outcomes on the sphere will present whether or not selecting David Badía was the suitable determination,” she added.
Badía turns into the second supervisor of Spanish origin to be named to the helm of Haiti’s males’s nationwide staff lately. Spanish-Argentine coach Gabriel Calderón Pellegrino managed Les Grenadiers in 2023 in a disappointing spell earlier than Migné changed him in March 2024 after a six-match stretch with just one win.
From World Cup breakthrough to a brand new cycle
Badía inherits a staff that ended a 52-year World Cup absence this summer time however struggled in opposition to stronger opponents in its return to the event.
Haiti misplaced 1-0 to Scotland in its opening Group C match, then fell 3-0 to Brazil and have become the primary staff eradicated from the event. The Grenadiers completed their marketing campaign with a 2-4 loss to Morocco.
The World Cup marketing campaign adopted a interval of serious progress underneath Migné. The Frenchman guided Haiti by an unbeaten six-match Concacaf Nations League marketing campaign, helped the staff qualify for the 2025 Gold Cup after which secured Haiti’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup — its first look since 1974.
However Haiti’s World Cup participation additionally uncovered the hole between Les Grenadiers and among the area’s strongest groups and intensified questions on tactical choices, defensive group, participant choice and the staff’s skill to translate its expertise into outcomes in opposition to elite opposition.
The federation and Migné subsequently agreed to separate. The federation in the end thanked Migné for his professionalism and his function in taking Haiti again to the World Cup.
Badía now takes over a staff coming into a unique part: getting ready not for World Cup qualification, however for the subsequent cycle of regional competitors and the continued growth of Haiti’s senior nationwide program.
No time for a protracted adjustment
Badía is not going to have a lot time to settle in.
Haiti’s first aggressive task underneath the brand new coach is scheduled for Sept. 24 in opposition to Trinidad and Tobago within the 2026-2027 Concacaf Nations League. Haiti is in League A, Group A, alongside Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Curaçao, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
The group-stage format offers every staff 4 matches — two at dwelling and two away — with the highest two groups advancing to the quarterfinals. The competitors may also function a qualifier for the 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Haiti’s opening schedule is demanding. After internet hosting Trinidad and Tobago on Sept. 24, the Grenadiers are scheduled to play Costa Rica on Sept. 27. Each video games can be performed in Jamaica as a result of Haiti can not host at dwelling as a result of safety disaster. The staff will then go to the Dominican Republic on Oct. 1 and play away to Costa Rica on Oct. 4.
The Nations League due to this fact presents Badía an instantaneous alternative to ascertain his taking part in philosophy whereas competing in opposition to groups Haiti might want to beat or problem if it hopes to stay amongst Concacaf’s prime nationwide applications.
Constructing past the World Cup
The federation’s determination means that it sees Badía’s expertise in participant growth as a part of a longer-term challenge moderately than merely a short-term response to the World Cup disappointment.
His years working with younger gamers at Barcelona and later expertise managing skilled groups might show necessary for a Haitian program searching for to strengthen its pipeline between youth growth and the senior nationwide staff.
That process additionally comes as Haiti’s soccer federation continues to function underneath tough circumstances. Safety considerations in Haiti have made it tough for the nationwide staff to frequently play and put together at dwelling, forcing gamers and workers to rely closely on coaching camps and matches overseas.
Badía will due to this fact inherit greater than a staff coming off a World Cup. He takes cost of a nationwide program trying to show a historic qualification into sustained competitiveness.
The FHF’s announcement captured that ambition within the Spaniard’s introduction message: “Grenadye Alaso. Males mwen” — Haitian Creole for “Warriors, let’s go. I’m prepared.”
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