Saturday Video: When Haiti Ruled the FIFA World Cup
Popular misconceptions over Haiti might have you believing that the only soccer found here must surely look something like the scene above – a rag-tag, makeshift melange of sport solely for local consumption.
Indeed, the World’s Game is the #1 sport here. This, of course, makes the FIFA World Cup Haiti’s #1 sporting event, and what happened in July 1974 the stuff of local legend…
The footage shows the opening goal of Haiti’s first round World Cup match in 1974 against Italy. That Haiti should score first versus a powerful Italian squad, whose goalie, Dino Zoff, had not been scored upon in a record 1,142 minutes of international play, was a shock on a level equal to all the upsets in the first round of this year’s fantastic action in Brazil.
Haiti would go on to lose their match with Italy 1-4, as well as subsequent contests versus Poland (0-7) and Argentina (1-4), but for the brief, shining moments captured above, Haiti ruled the soccer world.
*Lead photo credit: Lee Cohen via Flickr.