There are moments in life when sport becomes something bigger than sport.
On June 13, 2026, I watched Haiti step onto a FIFA World Cup pitch for the first time in 52 years. Fifty-two years. I grew up with the 1974 story as my founding myth, a tale passed down like a legend, from one generation to the next. And somewhere along the way, faced with the immense challenges of my country, I had quietly packed that dream away. Carefully. Silently. As a way of protecting myself.
But this generation of Grenadiers never asked my permission to dream on my behalf.
Success Is not a universal finish line
Before I talk football, let me talk about something I care deeply about: entrepreneurship.
In that world, we're often sold one single definition of success, the unicorn startup, the stock market listing, the Forbes cover. But what about the entrepreneur who builds a ten-person company, feeds their family, supports ten households, and creates real value in their community? Are they less successful? Absolutely not. Their success is real, grounded, and meaningful.
The idea of success is relative to where you start. What matters is the journey, not how your finish line compares to someone else's.
What I know for certain is that every kind of success, big or small, personal or collective, starts with two things: a clear vision and the consistency to see it through.
And that is exactly what I saw on that pitch this summer.
The Grenadiers: A Case Study in Leadership, Resilience, and Team Spirit
When I look at this group, I don't just see footballers. I see a team that embodied, for weeks on end, the core ingredients of any strong project:
- Solidarity : these players stood by each other, on and off the pitch.
- Mutual support : no oversized egos, just a collective that lifts itself up.
- Respect : for the coaching staff, for their opponents, for the game itself.
- Will : to fight even when the odds were stacked against them.
- Work : invisible to most, but present in every technical gesture.
- Pride : in being connected to a singular story, that of a one-of-a-kind people.
These are exactly the qualities I look for in an entrepreneur when they tell me about their project.
And the crowning piece, what we might call the value proposition, is this:
The Haitian people and its diaspora were not just looking for a sports result. They needed, deeply, viscerally a reason to stand tall together. They needed a shared pride that could cut across fractures, distances, and years of accumulated disappointment. They needed a moment to say "we" without hesitation.
What these Grenadiers delivered was far more than a qualification. It was the fulfillment of a need that many had stopped daring to name. And in entrepreneurship, that is the exact definition of a value proposition that truly lands, not the one you think you're offering, but the one your customer felt without being able to put it into words.
The best entrepreneurs don't sell a product. They answer something that has been waiting, sometimes for a very long time.
These players did that. For us. After 52 years.
Making It there was already winning, for now
This 2026 World Cup is, for me, already an incredible success. And I stand by that fully.
Think back to March 22, 2024, against Montserrat. Nobody saw us making it to this final tournament. The qualification itself was a victory against the odds, against the doubt, against recent history. So no, I will not downplay what this staff and these players achieved by getting us here.
But and this is the point. Making it there cannot stay the permanent definition of success.
A startup that survives its first year should celebrate, then set a new goal. An entrepreneur who lands their first contract should be proud, then go after the second. That is what consistency looks like: not resting on early validation but building on the energy that got you there until it becomes second nature.
For the Grenadiers, the next milestone is clear: make it past the second round. And then push further still.
A word for those who criticize
To those who would already rush to reduce this journey to its shortcomings: let's be constructive.
There is a real difference between identifying what can be improved, tactically, technically, structurally and tearing down the collective energy this group spent years building. Criticism is useful when it comes with respect and a genuine intention to help grow. It becomes destructive when it's really just a way of managing our own ambivalence.
Let's help this staff find concrete ways to improve. Let's support the development of infrastructure, player development, and the broader Haitian football ecosystem. That is what investing in a long-term project looks like, not just commentating from the stands.
Thank you, Grenadiers
I'll end where I should have started: thank you.
Thank you for refusing to put that dream away. Thank you for standing for something bigger than football. Thank you for giving us, a scattered diaspora, a people carrying an immense weight, a moment of joy we deeply needed.
This shared pride, this unity around a jersey, around a story: that is the way forward.
So let's keep going. With consistency. With vision. And with the flame you just reignited.
Every four years and beyond. Alaso!!!!
