World Cup in Philly: Local Haitian diaspora offers community events for game against Brazil
Love Philly? So do we. Let’s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today.
Philadelphia’s second FIFA World Cup game is tomorrow between five-time champions Brazil and two-time World Cup participants Haiti.
The Caribbean nation returns to the tournament for the first time since 1974, and Philly’s Haitian diaspora has been preparing to host the fans travelling in for the game.
Philly’s Haitian diaspora is around 11,000, according to Global Philadelphia, primarily based in Philadelphia’s northern neighborhoods. It’s small compared to other parts of the U.S. like New York, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts.
Rachelle Leger runs the Instagram account Haitians of Philadelphia, which she said serves as a bulletin board for Philly’s Haitian community.
This summer the bulletin board has been as active as it ever has been, with a long list of events to put on it.
Leger said she’s getting plenty of messages from Haitians in America planning to visit Philly, wanting to know where the Haitian businesses and events are this summer.
“There’s many watch parties all over the city, but they really want to know where the Haitian watch parties are,” Leger said.
Gou Restaurant in Olney — pronounced “goo,” which means tasty in Haitian Creole — is one of the local destinations on offer. It was packed last Saturday for the Grenadiers’ opening game of the tournament against Scotland.
Scotland’s World Cup absence had been a little bit shorter, 26 years compared to Haiti’s 52. Since the other two teams in the group, Brazil and Morocco, drew against each other, a victory would put the winning team at the top of the group. The Scots ranked much higher than Haiti in the FIFA rankings, making them heavy favorites in the matchup.
“I guess we’re the underdog in this fight, so I’m here for it,” said Bernice Jean-Louis, a family member of Gou’s owners.
Vladymir Vernet brought his coworker Vladimir Cherchiev to Gou for the game. He was just happy to experience Haiti in the World Cup for the first time in his life.
“It doesn’t matter for me if we lose or win — of course we want to win — but I’m very grateful so now I know what it feels like to have your country in the World Cup.”
Cherchiev is from North Macedonia, which failed to qualify for the World Cup. Hearing Vernet and another coworker talk about Haiti made picking a team to root for this tournament pretty straightforward. And Cherchiev was ignoring all the underdog talk.
“Going there and getting a draw is not good enough. Going there and win, let’s go,” he said. ”If you go out with that mentality on the field, there is nothing that can stop you. So yes, Haiti is my team at this World Cup.”
A win or a draw wasn’t to be for Haiti on the night, despite several good chances.
Gou didn’t have a single empty seat, except when those sitting stood up to cheer every close shot, or admonish every foul by Scotland and unfavorable calls by the referee.
“It is a surreal feeling just to have the spotlight on our country,” said Jean-Louis “We get a bad rep a lot of the times, but now people are able to see the culture, see the food, experience, meeting the people, and I feel like this will change the narrative that’s out there about us.”
Leger and several people at Gou admitted that they didn’t follow the team too closely before the World Cup, and a few didn’t know about Philadelphia Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques. The World Cup changed that though, especially with Haiti in it.
“I am not a major soccer fan. I am a fan of Haiti,” Leger said. “I am a fan of Haiti and all things Haitian. So if Haiti is in the World Cup, I am there to support. I am the biggest soccer fan at that moment.”
Haiti is often in the global headlines for negative reasons, including the 2010 earthquake that killed an estimated 220,000 people and the internal violence and instability that began in 2020 and continues to this day. Since last June, Haitian citizens have been banned from travelling into the U.S. by the Trump administration.
Gou co-owner Emmanuel Laguerre, said that the tournament has brought support from the Haitian community and their friends, as well as the new faces coming in from other parts of the country.
Haiti has yet to win a World Cup game, but Grenadiers striker Emmanuel “Manno” Sanon did score two goals for the team in 1974, His opening goal against Italy stunned the footballing world because it snapped goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff’s 19-game streak without conceding a goal.
Like every Haitian soccer fan, Laguerre would love to see the team score goals, win games and make it through to the knockout rounds. But if none of that pans out, this will still be a summer to remember.
“This is more than food, this is more than just football — more than just soccer,” Laguerre said. “I’m seeing a lot more smiles. I’m seeing a lot more people just enjoying and being proud of being Haitian.”
Friday night’s game pitting Haiti against the mighty Brazil kicks off at 8:30 p.m. If you’re not trying to catch it at the stadium, it’s broadcasting and streaming live in English on FOX’s channels and app and that schedule can be found here. Spanish broadcast is on Telemundo and NBC’s Peacock streaming service.