The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

, except in 1942 and 1946, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the ''World Cup Finals''). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage
(PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on June 6, 2007. Haiti have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1974. Before Haiti ever qualified for a major soccer tournament, a Haitian player earned some notable World Cup glory.

Joe Gaetjens Joseph Edouard Gaetjens ( ; , 1924 – , 1964 resumed was a soccer player who played as a center forward. Born in Haiti, he also played one match for Haiti in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico before switching to represent the United ...

, who had been playing for a New York–based club for several years at the time, represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the

1950 World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

and scored the winning goal in a legendary 1–0 victory over England.

Overall record

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided via

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

By match

Record by opponent

Haiti at the 1974 World Cup

Squad

Head coach:

Antoine Tassy Antoine Tassy (26 March 1924 – 3 March 1991) was a Haitian football (soccer) player and manager. He was the manager of the Haiti national football team in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, their only World Cup appearance to date. In 1963, he was the mana ...

Group 4

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Record players

Seven players have been fielded in all three of Haiti's matches at the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, making them record World Cup players for their country:

Top goalscorers

Both Haitian goals in FIFA World Cup history were scored by

Emmanuel Sanon Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 ...

in 1974.

References

{{Countries at the FIFA World Cup Countries at the FIFA World Cup