'Piojo' Herrera and Costa Rica play for their lives in match against Haiti heading to the 2026 World Cup
With two matches remaining in the qualifiers, Costa Rica and Haiti will play a key game in their quest for a direct ticket to the tournament
The Haitian and Costa Rican national teams, coached by Miguel Herrera, will play a crucial match this Thursday in their hopes of remaining in contention for direct qualification to 2026 World Cup and in the that a defeat could mean elimination.
The match will be played at the Ergilio Sato Stadium in Curacao, where the Haitian team is playing its home games due to the impossibility of using its own stadium because of the social crisis the country is experiencing.
The match is crucial for both teams since, with two matchdays remaining in Group C, Costa Rica has 6 points and Haiti 5, behind Honduras (8 points) and ahead of Nicaragua (1 point), which is already eliminated.
Only the first-place team will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the second-place team could aspire to one of the two tickets that Concacaf awards for the intercontinental play-off.
A Costa Rican victory would eliminate Haiti from any possibility of qualifying directly; A draw would leave the door open for Honduras to secure their place with a win in Nicaragua, while a Haitian victory would practically eliminate Costa Rica from the World Cup. For this match, Costa Rica's coach, Mexican Miguel Herrera, called up several players with World Cup experience to balance a team that, in the early stages of qualifying, consisted mostly of young players expected to lead the team's generational transition. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas, striker Joel Campbell, and midfielder Celso Borges played in the 2014 Brazil, 2018 Russia, and 2022 Qatar World Cups, while defenders Francisco Calvo and Kendall Waston played in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. They are joined by the youth and current form of players like New York City FC's top scorer, Alonso Martinez; Spartak Moscow striker Manfred Ugalde and Belgian Westerloo winger Josimar Alcocer have been key players during the qualifying round.
Meanwhile, the Haitian national team, coached by Frenchman Sebastien Migne,will try to repeat their performance from their visit to Costa Rica, where they drew 3-3 thanks to a great night from Esteghlal striker Duckens Nazon, who scored all three of the Caribbean team's goals.
Nazon is expected to lead Haiti's attack alongside AEK Athens striker Frantzy Pierrot, and supported in midfield by Wolverhampton Wanderers player Jean Ricner Bellegarde.