FORT LAUDERDALE, F.L. – With the FIFA World Cup rapidly approaching, the Haiti's Men's National Team secured an easy 4-0 victory over New Zealand in its first international friendly warm-up match, collecting a much needed confidence boost before its first tournament opener against Scotland at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. 

Once the whistle blew, after the rain and lightning passed, and the 30-minute mandatory delays were over, the Haitians came pressing.  

Ruben Providence opened the scoring in the 12th minute, setting off an eruption from the crowd. Lenny Joseph doubled the lead early in the second half, Frantzdy Pierrot added a third after the hour mark, and Markhus Lacroix finished the job with a powerful long-range strike in the 87th minute that sent fans into full celebration.

 More than 16,000 supporters, many from South Florida’s Haitian community, filled the stadium in red and blue, waving flags, singing, and turning the venue into something that sounded and felt like home. 

 For Haiti, making its first World Cup appearance in 52 years, this match represented more than a casual warm-up. 

 The national team has not played a home World Cup qualifier due to ongoing violence in Haiti. This, they said, was the closest thing to home they have had in years.

“It was a pleasure to play at home today,” Haiti coach Gabriel Calderón Pellegrino quipped. “When you are a professional football player, it is to share emotions with the fans and your teammates.”

Pellegrino said the night was also about more than the result. It was a test of depth, competition, and readiness for a squad preparing for a difficult World Cup group. 

He praised his team’s unity, noting how substitutes maintained the same level of intensity and how the group continues to build options across the roster.

“The takeaway above all for me is the satisfaction of seeing my players finally be able to enjoy sharing emotions with the public. I think they well deserve it,” he said.

New Zealand struggled to contain the pressure, repeatedly exposed on the counterattack and punished for defensive mistakes. New Zealand managed possession in stretches but rarely matched Haiti’s sharpness in the final third. 

 New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley credited Haiti’s performance without hesitation.

“They were very clinical, very ruthless in those moments,” he said. “Very athletic on the counterattack, very skillful at times. We lacked quality when it mattered.”

He called the result a “harsh lesson” for his team, their heaviest defeat in nearly a decade, as they continue preparing for England and the World Cup.

Players celebrated together on the pitch after the final whistle, spraying water bottles and acknowledging the supporters who made the stadium feel like home ground thousands of miles away.