Costa Rica’s quest for a place at the 2026 World Cup heats up on Thursday, when they face Haiti. La Sele currently sits in second place, which would see them qualify for the inter-confederation play-offs, but with a home game against table-topping Honduras after this, they have their sights firmly set on snatching top place and qualifying for the World Cup automatically.
To do so, they will first need to overcome third-placed Haiti. No easy feat, as they are breathing down Los Ticos’ necks in third spot, and just one point behind, with serious World Cup aspirations themselves.
Haiti Profile
Situated in the Caribbean Sea, occupying the western portion of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, Haiti is the most populous Caribbean country, with an estimated population of 11.9 million.
The football team is nicknamed Les Grenadiers, a nod to the country’s strong military revolutionary history — specifically, the soldiers who fought in the 1804 revolution, which gained independence from France, making them the first sovereign state in the Caribbean.
Haiti has a rich football history, having been a member of FIFA since 1934 and a founding member of CONCACAF since 1961. The country’s golden era was undoubtedly the 1970s, led by national icons such as Emmanuel Sanon and Henri Françillon. During this period, Haiti won their only CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1973 and qualified for their sole FIFA World Cup appearance a year later, in 1974 (though they lost all three group games).
Mass corruption, political instability and national chaos have severely stunted their progress since, even leading them to fall to a lowly 155th place in the FIFA World Rankings back in 1996.
However, proceedings have slowly improved in recent years; they reached the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2019 (their best placing since 1973), now sit 88th in the world ranking, and have a genuine chance of reaching their first World Cup in a generation.
Les Grenadiers boast a highly talented squad, including influential captain and goalkeeper Johny Placide, defender Hannes Delcroix and midfielder Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde, who are plying their trade in the Premier League for Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively, and the nation’s all-time leading goalscorer Duckens Nazon, who has an impressive 44 goals in 76 caps, and tops the current qualifying campaign with four goals. And after scoring a memorable hat-trick against Costa Rica back in September, Nazon will be well known to Tico players and fans!
Experienced Frenchman Sébastien Migné is the head coach, having been at the helm since March 2024, and his positive, attacking style of football has yielded impressive results, recording 10 wins and four draws in his 18 matches in charge, scoring 44 goals in the process. However, that open approach can also leave them vulnerable at the back, especially against quality opposition, as shown in their last game —a crushing 3–0 defeat away to Honduras.
Due to the ongoing political instability plaguing the nation, Haiti currently have to play their home fixtures abroad, with the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad, Curaçao serving as their de facto home ground for this campaign.
Costa Rica Team News
Coach Miguel Herrera is set to stick with his customary 5-3-2 formation, and after the last game’s emphatic 4-1 victory over Nicaragua, would like to name a similar team. Herrera has already confirmed that talismanic striker Manfred Ugalde won’t start as he joined the squad late after arriving from Russia, with Joel Campbell, Carlos Mora and Warren Madrigal battling it out to take his place.
Legendary midfielder Celso Borges has sensationally announced he is coming out of international retirement in recent weeks to help drive the side to World Cup qualification, and he could be in line for a start.
Possible Starting 11
Navas; Quirós, Watson, Vargas, Calvo (C), Mora; Galo, Borges, Alcocer; Martínez, Madrigal.
Head-to-Head History
You don’t have to go back far for the last fixture between the two nations — a thrilling 3-3 in Costa Rica back in September, with defender Juan Pablo Vargas snatching a fortuitous draw for Los Ticos in the closing moments.
Since their first encounter in 1950, the sides have met 17 times, with Costa Rica winning eight, Haiti twice, and the remaining seven ending in draws. Notably, Haiti’s joint heaviest defeat was an 8–0 thrashing to Costa Rica in 1961.
Kick-off is at 22:00 UTC−4 tonight at the Ergilio Hato Stadium.
With only two qualifying matches remaining and a point separating the two teams, this promises to be a thrilling encounter. ¡Vamos Costa Rica!
