Haiti to host USA Nations League quarter-final first leg in Miami on 14 November
Concacaf approved Haiti’s request on Thursday to move their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final first leg against the United States to Miami on 14 November amid the country’s ongoing gang violence crisis.
Haiti have been unable to stage nominal home matches inside their borders since July 2021, with the United Nations estimating that 90% of Port-au-Prince — including the national stadium — is controlled by violent gangs. The tie had initially been booked in Kingston, Jamaica, after the Nations League schedule left Haiti displaced by Curaçao and Jamaica hosting matches on the same night, which forced Haiti to Sabina Park for previous fixtures. Sabina Park, a cricket ground that served as the Jamaica national team’s home until their current venue opened in 1962, hosted two of Haiti’s Nations League qualifiers. The Grenadiers have previously played World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao, Aruba and Barbados.
Concacaf described the arrangement as an “exceptional hosting arrangement” and approved the move to Miami’s Nu Stadium, where Haiti previously played the venue’s first international friendly — a pre-World Cup match against Peru — in front of a sold-out crowd of 26,700. Miami’s Haitian community is by far the largest outside Haiti, with nearly half a million people concentrated predominantly in South Florida, and the attendance figures at Nu Stadium dwarf the crowds Haiti drew at Sabina Park, where their two matches averaged 297 fans.
The fixture is the first leg of a home-and-away quarter-final series against the United States. Haiti historically ended the United States’ World Cup qualifying run in 1969; in this century the United States have won four of their six clashes with Haiti, with the other two matches ending in draws. This trip will be Haiti’s first return to the United States since the 2026 World Cup, where they lost all three group games against Morocco, Scotland and Brazil and received strong support from fans in Massachusetts, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Concacaf added that “this flexibility will remain in place for as long as the security situation in Haiti persists”. The confederation said Haiti, as well as clubs based in Haiti, will need to seek approval from Concacaf for each match they look to play in “the territory of its opponents”, a separate arrangement from the neutral sites they have previously booked. The confederation closed by stipulating that the measure “may be amended or withdrawn by the Concacaf Council at any time”.
The Grenadiers will face the United States in the Nations League quarter-final first leg at Nu Stadium in Miami on 14 November under the approved exceptional hosting arrangement.