The regional football confederation confirmed on Thursday that it had accepted Haiti’s request to move the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final against the United States on 14 November from Kingston, Jamaica, to Miami under an “exceptional hosting arrangement”. Haiti have not been able to stage designated home fixtures in their own country since July 2021. According to United Nations estimates, armed gangs control around 90% of Port-au-Prince, including the national stadium.
The opening match of Haiti’s two-leg tie with the US was initially scheduled to be held in Kingston. The Grenadiers staged their 2026 World Cup qualifying fixtures in Curaçao, Aruba and Barbados. However, because Curaçao and Jamaica were due to host Nations League games on the same evening, Haiti were assigned Sabina Park. The ground served as the Jamaican national team’s home before its present stadium opened in 1962 and is now primarily used for cricket. It also hosted two of Haiti’s Nations League qualifiers.
Although the relocation means Haiti will play inside their opponents’ country, Miami offers a welcoming alternative. The city has the largest Haitian and Haitian-American community in the United States, with almost 500,000 people living mainly across south Florida. Haiti will compete at Nu Stadium, where they took part in the venue’s inaugural international friendly against Peru in June ahead of the World Cup. That match attracted a capacity crowd of 26,700, far exceeding the attendance at Sabina Park, where Haiti’s two fixtures averaged only 297 spectators.
The United States have defeated Haiti in four of their six meetings during this century, while the remaining two encounters finished level.
The match will mark Haiti’s first return to the United States since their memorable World Cup campaign this summer, when the Caribbean side made their first appearance at the tournament since 1974. Drawn into a challenging group, the Grenadiers lost all three matches against Morocco, Scotland and Brazil. Despite those results, they received outstanding backing from supporters in Massachusetts, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
The return leg of the quarter-final is scheduled for 17 November at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
The governing body stated that “this flexibility will remain in place for as long as the security situation in Haiti persists”. Haiti and domestic clubs must obtain authorization for every fixture they wish to stage “in the territory of its opponents”. This differs from the previous system of arranging matches at neutral venues. Officials also noted that the policy “may be amended or withdrawn by the Council at any time”.
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