Pierrot recalls hunger in Haiti and says the World Cup has given the country hope

Haitian striker Frantzdy Pierrot, who recently starred for Maccabi Haifa, gave an unusually candid interview to Spain’s Marca about his childhood, Haiti’s hardship, and his team’s historic run at the 2026 World Cup. Pierrot said he grew up in deep poverty and remembered days when his family had nothing to eat. “My mother had to choose between eating that day or feeding us,” he said. “That is the reality I came from.”

He described playing barefoot in the street, using oranges as makeshift balls because they were small, and having broken glass cut his feet. “We had no money to go to the hospital, so you had to pull the glass out yourself,” he said. Pierrot said Haiti’s national team has become a rare source of calm and unity in a country plagued by gang violence, political instability, and extreme cost of living.

Ahead of Haiti’s first World Cup match against Scotland, he said crowds gathered from 7 a.m. until kickoff, and that for one day there were no shootings or fights. “People see us as hope. They see us as happiness,” he said. Pierrot, who moved to Massachusetts at age 11, has also founded a charity to help children in Haiti, saying many local coaches must choose between paying for coaching certification and feeding their children.

Haiti faces Brazil on Saturday at 3:00 a.m. Israel time, and Pierrot said the country should now back his team instead of traditional favorites Brazil or Argentina. “Now they have only one option, they must support us,” he said. He also joked about his goal celebration, a hand gesture like a telephone, telling Marca, “If I score tomorrow, I’ll call you.” Pierrot ended by revealing that he completed a criminology degree and wants to become an FBI agent after football, saying his parents always stressed education because “football can end at any moment.”