Haiti arrives at the Concacaf Gold Cup with momentum gained from their 4-1 victory over Bermuda in the Prelims to qualify for the main tournament.

This will be the eighth Gold Cup for Les Grenadiers, as the Haitian squad is nicknamed. Unlike some other teams in the tournament, Haiti has full focus on the Gold Cup, since earlier this year the squad was eliminated from World Cup Qualifying.

Though the team once won the earlier version of the Concacaf tournament (in 1973), they have never won the modern version, called the Gold Cup. Coach Jean-Jacques Pierre, who is a former Haitian national team player and is in his first year coaching the squad, will have the players looking to build on their dynamic play from the qualifying tournament.

With a mix of players from teams abroad in Europe sprinkled in with Major League Soccer members and others from Caribbean clubs, Pierre has an intriguing ensemble to manage.

Haiti is coming off their best-ever participation in the 2019 Gold Cup, where the team reached the semifinals. One of their best matches in the tournament was a thrilling comeback 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Canada, who is one of their Group B opponents this year.

Haiti came up against eventual winners Mexico in the semifinal, but fought hard in a 1-0 extra-time loss, with the goal against them coming from a penalty kick taken by Raul Jimenez.

Frantzdy Pierrot was the break-out star for Haiti in the 2021 Prelims. The forward, who plays in France’s Ligue 2, scored three of the team’s four goals in the match against Bermuda. Duckens Nazon, another experienced forward for Haiti who plays in Belgium, scored the final goal from the penalty spot.

Both also scored for Haiti in the team’s electrifying 2019 Gold Cup run, so the pair is likely to slide back into a scoring groove for the team once the tournament begins.

Having ultimately qualified on July 6, Haiti is a bit of a wildcard in Group B, since other coaches haven’t had much advance notice in order to prepare for the squad. Haiti opens up Gold Cup play on July 11 against the United States