Haiti qualifies for Women’s World Cup for 1st time

AP | Haiti qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals for the first time after winning its playoff match, Wednesday, in New Zealand.

Haiti beat Chile 2-1 earlier Wednesday in a historic match it hopes will bring joy and “a breath of fresh air” to a strife-torn homeland.

Melchie Dumornay scored twice to ensure 55th-ranked Haiti will return to the southern hemisphere in July to play in Group D of the Women’s World Cup alongside England, China, and Denmark.

Haiti has taken one of the last three places at the World Cup which will be decided at the 10-team inter-continental playoff in New Zealand. Paraguay will play Panama Thursday for the last place in the 32-team tournament which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in July and August.

Haiti’s Dumornay recently was signed by seven-time Champions League winners Lyon and showed why with two pieces of slick finishing. She won the race to a through ball from Roselord Borgella in first-half stoppage time to give Haiti a 1-0 lead at the break.

Dumornay then seemed to make the game safe in the eighth of 11 minutes added on by the referee after Chile captain Christiane Endler had saved Nerilia Mondesir’s attempt from the penalty spot.

But Maria Jose Rojas scored in the 11th minute of stoppage time to keep Chile’s hopes alive and make the final moments nerve-wracking for Haiti’s Les Grenadiers, who held on to claim a historic victory.

Players shed tears of joy when the final whistle blew, reflecting on success attained in the most difficult of circumstances.

Haiti’s Les Grenadiers had to win two matches in New Zealand to qualify for their first World Cup. They beat Senegal 4-0 in their opening match and then beat 38th-ranked Chile for their first ever win over a South American opponent.

Prior to the tournament midfielder Danielle Etienne told ESPN “there’s a lot of unhappiness in the country and football is the joy.”

“Being able to qualify to the World Cup would be major,” she said at the time. “We want that for the country as a whole, to have a breath of fresh air and kind of step aside from anything going on.”