Haiti’s squad is latest international team to practice on Stockton University’s soccer pitch
The soccer team from Haiti competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is just the latest national squad to avail itself of the athletic facilities at Stockton University.
Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria and Brazil, as well as the U.S. national team, have used Stockton University’s athletics facilities over the years to train for major international competitions.
Some of these clubs have had notable success. Saudi Arabia made a historic run to the Round of 16 at the 1994 FIFA World Cup when the world’s most-watched sports event took place in the United States for the first time. Nigeria shocked the world by winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Brazil’s CR Flamengo won its group and lost in the round of 16 in last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup. The FIFA Club World Cup final was one of nine matches held at MetLife Stadium.
Haiti, whose team hasn’t played in its own country in about five years because of gang violence, has made Stockton its temporary home for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after announcing in May it had chosen the Galloway-based school as its base. Four national teams — Brazil, Haiti, Morocco and Senegal — have selected New Jersey as their official Team Base Camp locations for the tournament.
The Haitian team arrived on campus on June 9 and had its first practice at G. Larry James Stadium in front of about 500 fans, friends and youth soccer players as part of a community day.
Haiti, the only Caribbean nation to qualify for the World Cup twice, last played in the tournament in 1974. That year, the island nation lost all three matches in the tournament.
“Our job here as the Team Base Camp is simply to provide a home away from home and create an environment for Haiti to flourish in America while competing in the World Cup,” said Jeff Haines, Stockton’s associate director of athletics and recreation and the director of the Team Base Camp.
Haiti will hold closed-to-the-public practices at Stockton for about nine days in between its group games against Scotland on June 13 in Foxborough, Mass., vs. Brazil on June 19 in Philadelphia and against Morocco on June 24 in Atlanta. The team is expected to hold its final practice on campus on June 22.
About 70,000 Haitians live in New Jersey, the fourth highest of any state. Most of them live in Essex, Union and Mercer counties. Several locals of Haitian descent, draped in the country’s blue and red colors, waited patiently to greet Les Grenadiers after the team ran onto the stadium’s newly installed Kentucky bluegrass field.
Haitian defender Markhus “Duke” Lacroix grew up in New Egypt in Ocean County, about 54 miles north of Stockton. He played soccer for the University of Pennsylvania and spent the summers of 2012 and 2013 playing for the Ocean City Nor’easters of USL League Two.
“On a personal note, I’m really happy to be back in New Jersey,” said the 32-year-old who has played professionally for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks of the USL Championship since 2023. “I remember coming here to events as a young aspiring soccer player, so to be back here in front of all of you is special. It’s an incredible experience.”
Fellow center back Keeto Thermocy, 20, is the youngest member of the Haitian team, and he was thrilled to be greeted by children from Atlantic United youth soccer teams and the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City.
“The atmosphere is great. We could really hear it while we were training,” said Thermocy, a Swiss native who plays for BSC Young Boys, a professional Swiss Super League team based in Bern, Switzerland.
The grass, installed earlier this month by Tuckahoe Turf Farm in Hammonton, is the same surface as Philadelphia Stadium, where Haiti will play five-time World Cup winner Brazil.
The team spent nearly two hours running through drills and taking part in an intrasquad scrimmage. In addition to practicing in the stadium, Haiti will also have access to Stockton’s Sports Center to hold meetings, get physical therapy and use its basketball courts and locker rooms.