Haiti beat New Zealand 4-0 in a World Cup warm-up in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, a result completed at Inter Miami CF Stadium after a 36-minute delay for torrential rain and an electrical storm.
Kickoff at Chase Stadium had been scheduled for 8pm ET but play did not begin until 8:36pm local time after officials judged the waterlogged pitch and nearby lightning a safety risk. Ruben Providence opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game, Lenny Joseph doubled the lead six minutes after the restart, Frantzdy Pierrot headed home after the hour-mark and Markhus Lacroix capped the night with a long-range strike late on.
The scoreline underlined how one-sided the friendly had become: Haiti scored four times and conceded none, while New Zealand fielded Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood — whose appearance was a record-breaking 89th cap — but found little that threatened the visitors' clean sheet.
This was not a meaningless exhibition. Both sides were using the match as a final tune-up before the World Cup: Haiti return to the finals for the first time in 52 years and will be drawn into Group C with Scotland, Morocco and Brazil; New Zealand are preparing for Group G with Iran, Egypt and Belgium. The win gives Haiti a clear, confidence-boosting result against a team of roughly similar FIFA standing — Haiti sit around world number 82, only a few places above New Zealand — even as both sides finish their preparations.
The defining facts are simple and sharp: a 36-minute weather delay, a 4-0 scoreline, and four different scorers. Providence’s early goal settled Haiti and gave them momentum on a pitch that, once playable, they controlled. Joseph’s second came quickly after play resumed; Pierrot’s header after the hour-mark made a comfortable cushion, and Lacroix’s long-range finish removed any lingering doubt.
The result introduces a clear tension. Haiti dominated a match they were expected to treat as a dress rehearsal, yet they arrive in the tournament widely perceived as one of the lowest-ranked teams at the finals. Dominance in a friendly does not translate automatically into World Cup points — Scotland, Morocco and Brazil present far sterner tests — but Tuesday’s performance raises the question of whether Haiti can bring the same intensity and clinical finishing into competitive fixtures.
For New Zealand the immediate question is different and practical: how to fix the defensive lapses and create clearer chances in the run-up to the group stage. The presence of a veteran striker with an 89th cap offered experience but did not stem a flow of goals against them. The coaching staff now face a short window to adjust tactics and personnel before their World Cup opener.
Tuesday’s friendly also carried the small, awkward reminders that surround international tournaments: a delayed kickoff because of a storm, a waterlogged pitch deemed unsafe, and the late-arrival complications teams sometimes contend with. Those are details now lodged behind the headline number — 4-0 — and a performance Haiti will use to shape expectation in Boston and beyond.
The single question left by the score is the one that matters most for both sides: can Haiti convert this emphatic warm-up victory into credibility against Scotland, Morocco and Brazil, or will it remain a standout result in a schedule of friendlies? New Zealand must answer the opposite: can they regroup quickly and turn a sound defensive showing into the kind of results that secure points in Group G? The answers will arrive when the tournament begins.
