A Strike That Ended a 52-Year Silence
The ball dropped loose outside the Morocco area, and Wilson Isidor did not hesitate. In the 43rd minute in Atlanta, the Haiti forward drew back his right foot and drove a shot that arrowed into the top-left corner. Les Grenadiers led again. In his final game for Haiti, 38-year-old goalkeeper Johny Placide watched from the other end as Sunderland striker Isidor pounced on a loose ball and let fly from outside the area with a shot that arrowed into the top corner. It was one of Haiti's first World Cup goals in more than half a century.
Morocco twice overcame the shock of conceding to Haiti to win a World Cup thriller 4-2 in Atlanta, but missed out on the top spot in Group C to Brazil. The evening belonged, in its bravest moments, to the underdogs. Haiti's long wait for a goal on the global stage ended after just 10 minutes, when Jean-Kevin Duverne got to the byline and Lenny Joseph flicked the resulting cross into the net via a deflection off Yassine Bounou. Morocco steadied. The reigning African footballer of the year, Achraf Hakimi, stormed forward from right-back and was in the right place to equalise on 39 minutes, forcing home after Placide could only parry a strike.
Isidor's answer came within four minutes, and it was the finer goal. But Morocco carried too much. Ismael Saibari stroked home his third goal of the tournament with a cool finish from Hakimi's low cross before the break. Soufiane Rahimi's deflected effort found the top corner to give Morocco the lead, before Gessime Yassine rounded off the scoring. Rahimi's powerful strike from a corner flew in via a deflection off a Haiti defender; he then robbed possession on the byline and crossed for Yassine to roll into an empty net.
A Choice, and a Homecoming
Isidor spent the season at Sunderland, in the English top flight. In March he agreed to represent Haiti, the country of his heritage, rather than wait on France. This was his first start for the nation, and he marked it with a goal that will outlast the scoreline. He said afterwards that he was "so proud."
The result closed the campaign. Haiti bowed out without a point, having already been eliminated after losing to Scotland and Brazil, but their performances at a first World Cup since 1974 did a nation gripped by poverty proud. The thousands of Haitian expats in the stands in Atlanta were undeterred, meeting every attack with deafening cheers. Morocco, the 2022 semi-finalists, moved on; Haiti went home with something less measurable.
Fifty-two years of waiting. One swing of a boot to answer it.
