Haiti secure first-ever Women’s World Cup appearance and will take on England, China and Denmark in Group D
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Updated 22/02/2023 at 10:06 GMT
It was a landmark victory for Nicolas Delepine’s side, as Haiti - ranked 55th in the world - booked their country's place at the finals for the first time. Melchie Dumornay scored a brace to overcome Chile 2-1 as the 10-team inter-continental playoffs in New Zealand reached their conclusion. Les Grenadieres beat Senegal 4-0 in their first match before this dramatic win over the South Americans.
Haiti booked their place at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Image credit: Getty Images
Haiti qualified for the Women's World Cup for the first time in their history after a 2-1 win over Chile.
Les Grenadieres became the first of three teams to secure qualification from the 10-team inter-continental playoff in New Zealand, and will now face England, China and Denmark in this year’s finals.
Melchie Dumornay’s brace ultimately proved decisive and the Caribbean nation can now look forward to their opening match against Sarina Wiegman’s side on July 22.
Dumornay made a January switch from Stade de Reims to seven-time European champions Lyon, and was her nation’s heroine after producing two clinical finishes at the end of each half.
The 19-year-old smashed in a fierce strike on the stroke of half-time to break the deadlock, while Nerilia Mondesir had a penalty saved with only a minute of normal time remaining.
However, Mondesir redeemed herself after teeing up Dumornay for her second with a powerful shot into the bottom corner to double Haiti’s lead.
Chile had the last word though, as Maria Rojas capitalised on a goalkeeping error, in what merely proved to be a consolation goal for the South Americans.
Wednesday’s 2-1 victory was the second of two wins which Nicolas Delepine’s side needed to qualify for the finals.
They began their inter-continental playoff campaign with a 4-0 thumping of Senegal, before beating a Chile side ranked 38th in the world – 17 places higher than Haiti in FIFA’s rankings.
Ahead of the tournament, Danielle Etienne explained the need to qualify for the finals as a morale boost for the nation.
“There’s a lot of unhappiness in the country and football is the joy,” she told ESPN.
“Being able to qualify to the World Cup would be major,” she said at the time. “We want that for the country as a whole, to have a breath of fresh air and kind of step aside from anything going on.”
Haiti's men's side reached the 1974 World Cup.
Portugal then secured their place at the finals with a 2-1 win over Cameroon thanks to goals from Diana Gomes and Caroline Costa - the latter a stoppage-time winner.
Francisco Neto's side will join reigning world champions USA, Vietnam and the Netherlands in Group E.
The final qualifiers for this year’s finals will come from the winners of Paraguay v Panama, which takes place at 1am UK time on Thursday morning. The winners will be part of Group F alongside France, Jamaica and Brazil.
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