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Haitian Americans in Connecticut are eager to see Haiti make history on June 13 by defeating Scotland and winning its first-ever World Cup game.<\/p>\n
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. \u2014 When he was 11, Andr\u00e9jean Fleurant got in trouble for getting home around 2 a.m. after partying in the streets of Gona\u00efves with a rara<\/em> band. Why? Because Haiti had qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1973.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now 63, Fleurant wants to see Les<\/em> Grenadiers<\/em> do something they did not the first time around: win at least one match on the global stage during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In an interview Thursday inside Lakay Restoran in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he said Haiti\u2019s best chance to win is on Saturday, when the team will face its weakest opponent in the group stage, Scotland.\u00a0 Scotland is ranked 41st in FIFA\u2019s rankings,<\/a> while Haiti\u2019s other opponents in the group stage, Brazil and Morocco, are in sixth and seventh place, respectively.<\/p>\n Andr\u00e9jean Fleurant during an interview ahead of Haiti\u2019s game versus Scotland in the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Lakay Restoran in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Thursday, June 11, 2026. Photo by Fredner Cayemitte\/ The Haitian Times<\/p>\n \u201cAyiti, bat! Ayiti, bat (Haiti, win),<\/em>\u201d Fleurant said in Haitian Creole, his voice echoing his wish inside the eatery.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care what the score will be, I just want Haiti to win,\u201d Fleurant, a member of the restaurant\u2019s staff, added.<\/p>\n Magathe Semexant, manager of Lakay Restoran, posing for a photo at the restaurant based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on June 11, 2026. Photo by Fredner Cayemitte\/ The Haitian Times.<\/p>\n After Haiti takes on Scotland at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 13, Les Grenadiers<\/em> will face five-time World Cup champions Brazil on June 19, then African giants Morocco on June 24. Haiti\u2019s matchup against Scotland is the Caribbean country\u2019s best chance on paper to rack its first World Cup win, making fans ever so thirsty for victory on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would love for us to win,\u201d said Johnny Lubin, a receptionist at Jean\u2019s Diner, another restaurant in Bridgeport.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnny Lubin, an 18-year-old receptionist at Jean\u2019s Diner, standing behind a counter at the restaurant on June 11, 2026. Photo by Fredner Cayemitte\/ The Haitian Times.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anything, at least score,\u201d Lubin, 18, said. \u201cI would start jumping up and down, obviously. I would hope we win.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Below is the video of Haitian Americans in Bridgeport, Connecticut, sharing their wishes ahead of Haiti\u2019s World Cup opener.<\/em><\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n Overview: Haitian Americans in Connecticut are eager to see Haiti make history on June 13 by defeating Scotland and winning its first-ever World Cup game. BRIDGEPORT, Conn. \u2014 When he was 11, Andr\u00e9jean Fleurant got in trouble for getting home around 2 a.m. after partying in the streets of Gona\u00efves with a rara band. Why? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11991],"tags":[6926,952,4370,17500,12011,5567,1513,919],"class_list":["post-30021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-haiti-news","tag-connecticut","tag-cup","tag-dream","tag-haitians","tag-latest-news","tag-scotland","tag-win","tag-world"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/haitiantimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FIF00692.jpg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Haiti News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Overview: Haitian Americans in Connecticut are eager to see Haiti make history on June 13 by defeating Scotland and winning its first-ever World Cup game. BRIDGEPORT, Conn. \u2014 When he was 11, Andr\u00e9jean Fleurant got in trouble for getting home around 2 a.m. after partying in the streets of Gona\u00efves with a rara band. Why?…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30023,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30021\/revisions\/30023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related<\/em><\/h3><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"