Overview:
Haiti’s under-20 girls’s soccer staff triumphed over Belize 4-0 in its second World Cup qualifying match on Sunday, Feb. 23. Nevertheless, followers should not satisfied by the staff’s performances to date and are questioning their skill to qualify for the World Cup. Haiti is lacking its star participant, Lourdjina Etienne, which can be why the staff’s degree has dropped a bit.
Haiti’s under-20 girls’s soccer staff secured its second consecutive victory within the World Cup qualifiers, blanking Belize 4-0 at ABFA Technical Heart in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday morning, Feb. 23. Regardless of the victory by a fairly massive margin, a number of followers have been closely dissatisfied with Les Grenadières efficiency.
“This staff isn’t good,” wrote Dakenson Louissaint, a fan of the staff in a comment section of a team photo on Facebook. “They’re not organized to make performs. Their photographs are weak. They get drained simply. They don’t have what it takes.”
The Concacaf U-20 Girls’s Championship serves because the qualifying match for the FIFA U-20 Girls’s World Cup, which can happen in Poland subsequent yr. The match is split into a number of rounds, with groups vying for 4 spots within the remaining World Cup match. Haiti should first high Group A on this preliminary part to advance to the ultimate spherical, the place the competitors turns into considerably more durable. Nations like Canada, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic might stand of their method. Given Haiti’s historical past in youth girls’s soccer—together with its breakthrough qualification for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Girls’s World Cup—followers have excessive expectations. Nevertheless, the staff’s lackluster performances towards much less sturdy opponents have raised issues about its skill to compete on the subsequent degree.
Néhémie Sainvilus, a 16-year-old ahead, was on the right track twice towards Belize. Briannah Crevecoeur and Pierreline Nazon additionally contributed to the scoresheet, with every scoring a objective. This marked Nazon’s third objective in two video games, as she discovered the web twice throughout Haiti’s opener within the Concacaf Girls’s U-20 Championship, which additionally serves because the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In that match on Friday, Feb. 21, Haiti defeated Antigua and Barbuda 3-1.
“This staff is not any good! If Lourdjina doesn’t come, there’s no hope in any respect. We don’t have to misinform ourselves. Belize isn’t good in any respect. We should always’ve given them a minimum of 10-0.”
Manno O’Gustin, Haiti soccer staff fan
Belize was a a lot weaker opponent than Haiti, which is why Les Grenadières have been capable of safe a win regardless of their comparatively poor efficiency. The identical story performed out in Haiti’s first World Cup qualifier match. The staff didn’t play properly however nonetheless managed to defeat Antigua and Barbuda 3-1. Resulting from these two back-to-back lackluster performances, followers have questioned Haiti’s skill to compete towards stronger groups and qualify for the World Cup.
“This staff has quite a lot of work to do to qualify,” Liam Belizaire, one other fan who lives in Port-au-Prince, commented on Facebook.
Haiti must high Group A to advance to the second and final spherical of the qualifiers. It’s presently sitting in first place with six factors. It can play its final sport of the primary spherical towards Guyana—one other weak opponent on paper—on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Guyana is positioned second within the group with 4 factors, following a draw towards Belize and a 5-0 win towards Antigua and Barbuda. A draw towards the younger Guyanese shall be sufficient for Haiti to advance to the second and remaining spherical.
Six groups will qualify for the second spherical, however solely 4 will qualify for the World Cup to be held in Poland subsequent yr. If Haiti advances to the second spherical, it could encounter more durable opponents like Canada, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
One among Haiti’s major weaknesses to date is that the gamers lack chemistry and vitality within the attacking third. The staff’s starlet and formidable striker, Lourdjina Etienne, couldn’t make the journey from Europe to Antigua and Barbuda because of administrative points.
Many followers imagine that Etienne’s absence may very well be one of many major causes for the staff’s underperformance. Though she is just 17, Haiti’s qualification for the World Cup closely depends on Etienne. She is a quick, highly effective striker with eyes for objectives.
Etienne made a reputation for herself through the 2024 Concacaf Beneath-17 Girls’s Championship final February, profitable the match’s high participant award. She later traveled to France for trials with Paris St. Germain after which with Olympique Lyonnais. She didn’t handle to impress in Paris, and the standing of her trial with Lyon stays unknown.
Haitian followers hope their starlet will return to motion through the second part of the qualifiers.
“This staff is not any good!” Manno O’Gustin commented on Fb. “If Lourdjina doesn’t come, there’s no hope in any respect. We don’t have to misinform ourselves. Belize isn’t good in any respect. We should always’ve given them a minimum of 10-0.”