WILNER NAZAIRE, IS HE A LOST SHEEP?
the Normalization Committee, invited by FIFA to the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony, in this honor bestowed upon him, Wilner Nazaire is not as much of a lost sheep as he seems, he whom the FHF and FIFA sought out to be
By La Rédaction · Port-au-Prince
· 8 min read · Updated 24 April 2026
Translated from French — AI-assisted and reviewed by the editorial team. The French version is authoritative. Read the original · About our translation policy
Appointed by the Normalization Committee, invited by FIFA to the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony, in this honor bestowed upon him, Wilner Nazaire is not as much of a lost sheep as he seems, he whom the FHF and FIFA sought out to be singularly honored. Observers of the sports life of the 1974 World Cup players thought that the FHF had abandoned the well-disciplined flock of the 'seventy-four-ers' in favor of the presumed 'lost sheep' Wilner Nazaire, whom we had not seen since 1974, or rather since 1976, if we are mistaken. You will see more later. To say so is to recognize a certain merit of the 1974 World Cup players who remained attached to the country of Haiti and its football, in one capacity or another. As such, the Haitian international to be honored in the circumstances should have been chosen from among Philippe Vorbe or Tom Pouce, Pierre Bayonne or Marion Léandre, Henry Francillon or Guy Saint Vil. And even then, fragile health, total retirement from social life, or family obligations could complicate the choice. For example, Marion Léandre is at the bedside of his wife, who is recovering from an iliac bone fracture, the same injury Guy Saint-Vil suffered two years ago, which makes it difficult for him to move, only with the aid of a walker.
So, Wilner Nazaire, why would he not deserve this honor?
Because since his last match, lost 4-1 against Mexico on October 9, 1977, Haitian football has had no news of him. Not even on May 22, 2007, during the tribute paid by President René Préval to the 1974 World Cup team, of which he was the captain. No visit to the country. No interview granted to a Haitian media outlet. He would have even lost his Haitian Creole, according to two of his former teammates who joke about it. But is Wilner Nazaire absolutely guilty of 'abandoning his homeland'?
Jacques Dunac and Jocelyn Halaby, two of his childhood friends, witnesses to his successes and setbacks, explain:
'Nènè suffered from unkept promises from the federation and the government: qualification bonuses, reduced European stay expenses, dissolution of the National Team by federal statement even before the World Cup return plane landed, and last but not least, a 1000 square meter property received as a Special Gift from the President of the Republic but plundered by regime opportunists.' Regarding the last point of disappointment, I hold copies of the title documents
of Serge Ducoste signed by President Jean-Claude Duvalier and Finance Minister Ernst Bros, which Sergo was never able to take possession of. To all these disappointments, we must add to the defense file of 'the accused' Wilner Nazaire, still according to Dunac and Halaby, the boorishness of having been forbidden to leave by immigration authorities at Port-au-Prince International Airport, when he had returned to the country to get married. An odious outrage! 'You must have the authorization of the President of the Republic,' the immigration agent had asserted to him. What follows is literally incredible.
'In the large blue car that Tassy made available to me when I returned for National Team matches,' recounts the former captain of Racing and the National Team, 'I went to the National Palace. The guards at the gate immediately recognized me and found it quite normal to inform their superior of my request to meet the president. Quickly, all checkpoints were informed. I was let in and seated in the waiting room, for just a few minutes. I reported to the president what had happened at the airport and explained to him that I had an appointment with my club Valenciennes for the resumption of training. His response was simply 'that he understands I must leave but to return as soon as I am called.' All of this is astounding.
Supposing we have appointed ourselves as effective judges of Nene Nazaire, with Dunac and Halaby as his lawyers, we must continue to give him the floor on the question of his indifference towards Haiti. Wilner Nazaire:
'Wilner Nazaire is very shy, even in romantic matters, unlike Tom Pouce,' jokes former international and Don Bosco captain, Jeannot Paul. Yves Joseph and Julio Midy, two keen observers from the lower Bel Air neighborhood, agree with Jeannot regarding the shyness of their adolescent idol, but concerning his character and general upbringing: 'reserved, courteous, and solitary off the field,' assert the two Boston residents. Now it's time to talk more about football. His transfer from Racing CH to Valenciennes. As often happens, from time to time, spectators remember what the players forget. For example, to contextualize his transfer to France, Nazaire errs by stating that Tassy, coach of the Concacaf team, 'had called five Haitians' instead of seven, for the Copa Independencia in Brazil. I had to count with him 'Francillon 1, Philippe Vorbe 2, Tom Pouce 3, Guy François 4, Barthélemy 5, Manno Sanon 6 and yourself, (yes myself) 7,' to convince him. However, he has not forgotten anything about the conversation he had with Marius Trésor and Jean-Pierre Adams at the hotel where the French team and the Concacaf team were staying for the Copa Independencia in Brazil. Georges Boulogne then interrupted the conversation of the three young men by immediately announcing to the Haitian that Valenciennes was ready to sign him. It was serious because two weeks later, at the beginning of a National Team training session in Port-au-Prince, Ernest Jean-Joseph, Nazaire recalls, approached him and stated unequivocally, 'That white man you see in the stands, he's bringing a contract for you.' How could Jean-Joseph have known that? In any case, the very next day, the said 'Blanc' was at Nazaire's home at 30 Rue Montalet, negotiating with Yolande Marie Jeanne Laventure Nazaire, his mother, who would essentially admit that she was not in charge of the matter and that they would have to address the country's president and the president of Racing. This was done very quickly. And Nazaire went to Valenciennes to play professional football. Manno Sanon having become his neighbor in Antwerp, Belgium, after the 1974 World Cup, they could sing together, in anticipation, with Pierre Bachelet,
'In the North, there were the mining towns
The earth, it was coal
The sky, it was the horizon
The men, deep miners.'
In concentration in Port-au-Prince or abroad, Nazaire was Manno Sanon's roommate. I didn't have enough time to ask him the content of the conversations he had with his comrade on the evening of the defeat against Italy and the disaster against Poland during which his left medial malleolus was broken. But I imagine his bittersweet feelings during the countless flashbacks of his comrade's goal against Zoff, the Italian captain with whom he had exchanged pennants on that very famous June 15, 1974. Pierre Bayonne bothered Facchetti who still centered; Nazaire's header towards Philippe Vorbe was too precise not to be a pass. The rest is known by heart: Vorbe's pass, Sanon as the finisher. So, Nazaire the antepenultimate, Vorbe the penultimate. At the North camp of the Sylvio Cator stadium as well, on December 10, 1976, Nazaire had the mindset of a deep miner. He rushed through the Cuban team's defense and relied on Pipo Vorbe's younger brother, Ponpon, who deflected to Manno Sanon, and it was the equalizer, 1-1. There again, Nazaire the antepenultimate, a Vorbe the penultimate, and Sanon the finisher. Like Nazaire's succession to Vorbe in the national team's captaincy. This equalizer allowed us to go to Panama, win the playoff match, with 2 goals from Tom Pouce qualifying for Mexico 1977. We then sang Haiti's victory in unison on that December 29, 1976. The rest would be less enchanting for Nazaire.
Mexico, October 9, 1977, 4-1. Pelaw saves honor.
This would be Nazaire's farewell to the National Team after a dreadful first half in the very high heat of Mexico. For the team and for himself, in particular, lost in the midfield where Piontek had placed him and where Leonardo Cuellar reigned. Let's hope that December 5, 2025, will not be Nazaire's last moments with Haitian football. Why not June 19 of next year, Haiti-Brazil in Philadelphia, in the company of the twelve other survivors of '74 and the 'almost World Cup players' Tcho Gervais, Jean-Marie Jean-Baptiste, Théodore Jean-Baptiste, Charles Ponpon Vorbe, Raynald Dévilmé, André Dély, invited by the Haitian State and the FHF? What a promotional flourish it would be for our country if the main camera of the match made three or four close-ups on these glories among whom there will not be a hint of suspicion of a lost sheep! Patrice Dumont
December 12
Jacques Dunac and Jocelyn Halaby, two of his childhood friends, witnesses to his successes and setbacks, explain:
'Nènè suffered from unkept promises from the federation and the government: qualification bonuses, reduced European stay expenses, dissolution of the National Team by federal statement even before the World Cup return plane landed, and last but not least, a 1000 square meter property received as a Special Gift from the President of the Republic but plundered by regime opportunists.' Regarding the last point of disappointment, I hold copies of the title documents
of Serge Ducoste signed by President Jean-Claude Duvalier and Finance Minister Ernst Bros, which Sergo was never able to take possession of. To all these disappointments, we must add to the defense file of 'the accused' Wilner Nazaire, still according to Dunac and Halaby, the boorishness of having been forbidden to leave by immigration authorities at Port-au-Prince International Airport, when he had returned to the country to get married. An odious outrage! 'You must have the authorization of the President of the Republic,' the immigration agent had asserted to him. What follows is literally incredible.
'In the large blue car that Tassy made available to me when I returned for National Team matches,' recounts the former captain of Racing and the National Team, 'I went to the National Palace. The guards at the gate immediately recognized me and found it quite normal to inform their superior of my request to meet the president. Quickly, all checkpoints were informed. I was let in and seated in the waiting room, for just a few minutes. I reported to the president what had happened at the airport and explained to him that I had an appointment with my club Valenciennes for the resumption of training. His response was simply 'that he understands I must leave but to return as soon as I am called.' All of this is astounding.
Supposing we have appointed ourselves as effective judges of Nene Nazaire, with Dunac and Halaby as his lawyers, we must continue to give him the floor on the question of his indifference towards Haiti. Wilner Nazaire:
- Oh, no! My compatriots have forgotten that already, in 1975, I brought my club Fontainebleau to Haiti, for a tour from North to South, obviously in Port-au-Prince as well, at the Sylvio Cator stadium.
- And for the tribute paid to the 1974 team by President René Préval, on May 22, 2007, at the National Palace?
- Nazaire – I absolutely wanted to come, but first, the President of the Federation had called me too late and, above all, I was working in an IME (Institut Médico Éducatif - Medico-Educational Institute) where children diagnosed with autism are cared for. In France, when working in these institutions, special authorization is required to travel abroad. And this authorization is very rarely granted and only after an arduous protocol.
'Wilner Nazaire is very shy, even in romantic matters, unlike Tom Pouce,' jokes former international and Don Bosco captain, Jeannot Paul. Yves Joseph and Julio Midy, two keen observers from the lower Bel Air neighborhood, agree with Jeannot regarding the shyness of their adolescent idol, but concerning his character and general upbringing: 'reserved, courteous, and solitary off the field,' assert the two Boston residents. Now it's time to talk more about football. His transfer from Racing CH to Valenciennes. As often happens, from time to time, spectators remember what the players forget. For example, to contextualize his transfer to France, Nazaire errs by stating that Tassy, coach of the Concacaf team, 'had called five Haitians' instead of seven, for the Copa Independencia in Brazil. I had to count with him 'Francillon 1, Philippe Vorbe 2, Tom Pouce 3, Guy François 4, Barthélemy 5, Manno Sanon 6 and yourself, (yes myself) 7,' to convince him. However, he has not forgotten anything about the conversation he had with Marius Trésor and Jean-Pierre Adams at the hotel where the French team and the Concacaf team were staying for the Copa Independencia in Brazil. Georges Boulogne then interrupted the conversation of the three young men by immediately announcing to the Haitian that Valenciennes was ready to sign him. It was serious because two weeks later, at the beginning of a National Team training session in Port-au-Prince, Ernest Jean-Joseph, Nazaire recalls, approached him and stated unequivocally, 'That white man you see in the stands, he's bringing a contract for you.' How could Jean-Joseph have known that? In any case, the very next day, the said 'Blanc' was at Nazaire's home at 30 Rue Montalet, negotiating with Yolande Marie Jeanne Laventure Nazaire, his mother, who would essentially admit that she was not in charge of the matter and that they would have to address the country's president and the president of Racing. This was done very quickly. And Nazaire went to Valenciennes to play professional football. Manno Sanon having become his neighbor in Antwerp, Belgium, after the 1974 World Cup, they could sing together, in anticipation, with Pierre Bachelet,
'In the North, there were the mining towns
The earth, it was coal
The sky, it was the horizon
The men, deep miners.'
In concentration in Port-au-Prince or abroad, Nazaire was Manno Sanon's roommate. I didn't have enough time to ask him the content of the conversations he had with his comrade on the evening of the defeat against Italy and the disaster against Poland during which his left medial malleolus was broken. But I imagine his bittersweet feelings during the countless flashbacks of his comrade's goal against Zoff, the Italian captain with whom he had exchanged pennants on that very famous June 15, 1974. Pierre Bayonne bothered Facchetti who still centered; Nazaire's header towards Philippe Vorbe was too precise not to be a pass. The rest is known by heart: Vorbe's pass, Sanon as the finisher. So, Nazaire the antepenultimate, Vorbe the penultimate. At the North camp of the Sylvio Cator stadium as well, on December 10, 1976, Nazaire had the mindset of a deep miner. He rushed through the Cuban team's defense and relied on Pipo Vorbe's younger brother, Ponpon, who deflected to Manno Sanon, and it was the equalizer, 1-1. There again, Nazaire the antepenultimate, a Vorbe the penultimate, and Sanon the finisher. Like Nazaire's succession to Vorbe in the national team's captaincy. This equalizer allowed us to go to Panama, win the playoff match, with 2 goals from Tom Pouce qualifying for Mexico 1977. We then sang Haiti's victory in unison on that December 29, 1976. The rest would be less enchanting for Nazaire.
Mexico, October 9, 1977, 4-1. Pelaw saves honor.
This would be Nazaire's farewell to the National Team after a dreadful first half in the very high heat of Mexico. For the team and for himself, in particular, lost in the midfield where Piontek had placed him and where Leonardo Cuellar reigned. Let's hope that December 5, 2025, will not be Nazaire's last moments with Haitian football. Why not June 19 of next year, Haiti-Brazil in Philadelphia, in the company of the twelve other survivors of '74 and the 'almost World Cup players' Tcho Gervais, Jean-Marie Jean-Baptiste, Théodore Jean-Baptiste, Charles Ponpon Vorbe, Raynald Dévilmé, André Dély, invited by the Haitian State and the FHF? What a promotional flourish it would be for our country if the main camera of the match made three or four close-ups on these glories among whom there will not be a hint of suspicion of a lost sheep! Patrice Dumont
December 12
