Duke Lecroix has never set foot in Haiti, but every time the 32-year-old New Jersey-born defender pulls that blue-and-red national team shirt over his head, his heart swells with pride and he vows to bring joy to the soccer-loving people of the impoverished island ravaged by gang violence and political instability.
When Haiti’s World Cup team lines up for the national anthem in Boston on June 13 ahead of its opening game against Scotland, Lecroix suspects he and his teammates will be overcome with emotion, just as they were on Nov. 18, 2025, when they gathered around a cellphone on a field in Curacao and learned that they had just qualified for the World Cup, the first time for Haiti in 52 years.
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