Peru will meet Haiti on Friday in a friendly at Nu Stadium in Miami, kicking off at 20:00 ET (19:00 in Peru) as both nations press forward in the 2026 World Cup build-up; the match will be available free in the United States on DirecTV via FOX Deportes (including a free-trial option for new subscribers) and in Peru on América Televisión and Movistar Deportes.
La Bicolor posted its call-up on May 28 and introduced several players excluded from last month's roster: Matías Córdova, Alejandro Duarte, Matías Lazo, Rodrigo Vilca, Bassco Soyer and Jhonny Vidales have been added to the squad. Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and veterans Yoshimar Yotún, André Carrillo and Marcos López remain on the roster as Peru — now operating under coach Mano Menezes — prepares for a second friendly against Spain after the Miami match.
This will be Peru's first fixture since a 0-0 draw with Honduras on March 31, giving Menezes a live setting to test recent call-ups alongside established choices. The match functions as a short, high-visibility audition: lineup decisions made in Miami will shape selection heading into the next international window and the friendly against Spain that follows.
Haiti arrives to Miami carrying a different kind of momentum. The Caribbean side has qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 and spent its warm-up slate facing Tunisia, Iceland and New Zealand before drawing a World Cup group that includes Brazil, Scotland and Morocco. That schedule — a mix of European and African opposition before confronting three heavyweights in the tournament — underlines the unusual path both sides have taken into the summer.
The teams have met in competitive play before: Peru beat Haiti 1-0 in the group stage of the 2016 Copa América Centenario, with Paolo Guerrero scoring the only goal. That history is thin but tangible; for Menezes’s Peru the Miami friendly is less about rivalry and more about clarity. Which of the newly called players will press into the starting XI, and whether the retained veterans will carry match rhythm forward, are the immediate questions.
What happens next is straightforward: Peru travels to face Spain in the next friendly as Mano Menezes continues to shape his squad for the 2026 cycle, while Haiti returns to final World Cup preparations ahead of its matches with Brazil, Scotland and Morocco. Friday’s game in Miami is the practical test that must answer the most urgent gap left by the roster announcement — who, from the new names and the holdovers, will emerge as first-choice starters for the months ahead.
