MIAMI, Florida – This Friday at 7:00 PM ET, Concacaf will be airing a re-broadcast of two Concacaf Gold Cup classics, the first being the 2013 Gold Cup group stage match between Panama and Mexico, followed by the 2019 Gold Cup quarterfinal between Haiti and Canada. Both matches will be shown on Concacaf’s Facebook and YouTube pages, plus the Concacaf App.
Of the 16 Gold Cup tournaments that have been played, Haiti have appeared in seven, with their first participation coming in 2000. Les Grenadiers earned their first ever Gold Cup point in a 1-1 draw with South American invitee Peru in which Sebastien Vorbe scored the first Haiti Gold Cup goal in the 61’ of that match.
While Haiti were on the wrong end of the tiebreaker to advance to the knockout round, they made up for it two years later at the 2002 Gold Cup.
Drawn into a group with Canada and South American invitee Ecuador, Haiti picked up their first ever Gold Cup victory with a 2-0 result over the Conmebol side. Good fortune went their way this time in the tiebreaker, as they reached the knockout round for the first time in Gold Cup history, narrowly falling to Costa Rica in the quarterfinals in extra time, 2-1.
Five years later at the 2007 Gold Cup, Haiti found themselves in what one the most competitive Gold Cup groups in recent memory. Draws with Guadeloupe and Costa Rica set the stage for a win-or-go-home scenario against Canada, and two first half goals from Canada sealed Haiti’s fate in a 2-0 defeat.
But once again Haiti would rebound from group stage disappointment in their next Gold Cup in 2009, overcoming an opening loss to Honduras to claim a 4-0 win over Grenada and a 2-2 draw with eventual finalists United States to punch their quarterfinal ticket. In the final eight, Haiti went up against Gold Cup heavyweights Mexico and were unable to stop the El Tricolor attack in a 4-0 defeat.
The 2013 Gold Cup ended in frustration for a Haiti side that collected a 2-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago thanks to a Jean-Eudes Maurice brace, but were unable to advance due to losses to Honduras and El Salvador.
Redemption came two years later, however, at the 2015 Gold Cup with FW Duckens Nazon playing the role of hero in scoring the lone Haiti goal in a 1-1 draw with Panama and then in the 1-0 win over Honduras, avenging their 2013 defeat to the Catrachos.
It was an all-Caribbean affair in the quarterfinals against Jamaica, and the Reggae Boyz would score early and hang on for a 1-0 win to eliminate Les Grenadiers.
2019 was a different story all together as Haiti won all three matches in the group stage, with comebacks wins against Bermuda and Costa Rica, followed by a dramatic rally from 2-0 down to beat Canada 3-2 in the quarterfinals.
Haiti’s dream run in the 2019 Gold Cup ended with a heartbreaking 1-0 extra time loss to Mexico, but after previously bouncing back and forth between group stage and quarterfinal finishes, 2019 showed that Haiti’s Gold Cup future is trending upward.
