Haiti to play World Cup games in Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta

Haiti’s men’s national soccer team will play its three World Cup group stage games in Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta, respectively. Miami and New York—homes to most Haitian immigrants in the United States—have not been included, disappointing many fans. Nonetheless, Haitians are still satisfied with Boston and Atlanta.

Massachusetts, the state where Boston is located, has about 63,000 Haitian immigrants and is roughly a 4-hour drive to New York, where around 113,000 Haitian immigrants live. Many Haitian Americans took to social media to share their excitement about Haiti playing a World Cup game in their town or a nearby state’s city.

Haiti will face Scotland on June 13 at Gillette Stadium in Boston, MA, at 9:00 p.m. Les Grenadiers will then play against Brazil at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA, on June 19 at 9:00 p.m. For their final group-stage game, Les Grenadiers will face Morocco at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA, on June 19 at 6:00 p.m.

Georgia has a Haitian American population of about 28,000. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is home to about 30,000 Haitians. Many are very disappointed because none of Les Grenadier’s games in the group stage is scheduled in Miami, the city with the largest Haitian American community. Thousands of the city’s over 330,000  Haitian Americans would have to travel north to attend Haiti’s matches.

Tickets are currently available for purchase on FIFA’s site until Dec. 15. The matches will be played at night, so heat will not be much of an issue and none of the stadiums Haiti is scheduled to play in are at high altitude. 

If Les Grenadiers reach the second round, they could play in Miami at Hard Rock Stadium.

To be one of the 32 out of 48 teams to advance past the group stage, Haiti must finish either in the top two of its group or among the 8th-best teams in the first round.

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