Les Grenadiers host New Zealand tonight in first Miami tune-up

Nine days out from the tournament opener, Les Grenadiers take the field tonight in Fort Lauderdale for the first of two pre-World Cup friendlies in South Florida. Haiti face New Zealand at 7:30 p.m. ET, with a second match against Peru scheduled for June 5 in Miami. The pair of games doubles as a de facto home fixture for Haiti's diaspora: with games impossible to host on home soil due to the ongoing security crisis, South Florida — home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the world — has become the team's adopted home ground.

The squad selected by head coach Sébastien Migné is composed almost entirely of diaspora players drawn from clubs across Europe, North America, South America and Asia. One notable exception is Woodensky Pierre, 21, the sole domestic-league player in the 26-man roster, who as of mid-May was still awaiting U.S. visa approval and training alone on a synthetic pitch in Pétion-Ville while his teammates gathered in Florida. His status for tonight's match has not been confirmed by official sources.

Haiti are drawn in Group C alongside Brazil, Morocco and Scotland — a bracket that will test the side but has already galvanised a global fanbase hungry for Haiti's first World Cup football since 1974.