MIAMI – The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup resumes with Nicaragua hosting Haiti in Group C on Thursday at Estadio Nacional de Fútbol in Managua, Nicaragua.
Nicaragua eyes its first win after a draw and a loss in its opening stretch of the Final Round. La Azul y Blanco will look to bounce back after falling 2-nil against Honduras in its previous match.
Haiti will also aim for its first win after two consecutive draws. In the Caribbean nation’s past encounter, Les Grenadiers drew 3-3 on the road in Costa Rica with a historic hat-trick from Duckens Nazon.
At 31 years, 5 months, and 2 days old, Nazon became the oldest Haitian player to score a hat-trick in World Cup Qualifiers and just the third overall to accomplish the feat. The forward also reached five goals in the current Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers and is now tied in first place amongst the top scorers.
The meeting will be the second between the nations in World Cup Qualifiers and 10th overall in their history. Haiti leads the series with six wins to one for Nicaragua, while two matches resulted in draws.
Historical series
Nicaragua and Haiti to meet again in Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers
Nicaragua and Haiti will face off for the second time in the Concacaf Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, and for the first time in the Final Round.
It will be the 10th all-time meeting between the two nations, with Haiti leading the series with 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.
Their only previous World Cup qualifying encounter ended in a 1-0 win for Haiti on June 8, 2021, in Group E of the First Round for Qatar 2022, at Stade Sylvio Cator in Port-au-Prince, with Derrick Etienne Jr. scoring the lone goal.
For Haiti, this will be the 10th time facing a Central American side in the Final Round. They’ve earned 5 wins and suffered 4 losses. However, in their last two such meetings, Haiti fell 4-0 to Honduras on November 3, 1981, and 1-0 to El Salvador on November 19, 1981, both during the Hexagonal for Spain 1982. Notable scorers from those matches included David Bueso, Jorge “El Indio” Urquía, Eduardo “La Aguja” Laing, and José Roberto “Macho” Figueroa for Honduras, and Norberto “Pajarito” Huezo for El Salvador.
Nicaragua will face a Caribbean team in the Final Round for the first time in its history. Previous meetings against Caribbean teams in earlier rounds include:
· Loss 0-1 to Haiti (Qatar 2022)
· Draw 2-2 and loss 1-4 vs. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Germany 2006)
· Wins 1-0 and 2-0 vs. Dominica (Brazil 2014)
· Win 3-2 and loss 0-2 vs. Jamaica (Russia 2018)
All-Time Series: 9 matches
1-win Nicaragua (9 goals)
2 draws
6 wins Haiti (16 goals)
