After narrowly missing the 1970 World Cup—eliminated in a playoff by El Salvador—Haiti, under the leadership of Antoine Tassy, competed in its first-ever World Cup final phase in 1974 in Germany. Despite the performance of Henri Francillon, named best goalkeeper of the first round, and Emmanuel Sanon, who scored against both Italy and Argentina, Haiti—defeated by those two teams (3–1 and 4–1)—was eliminated from the competition, especially after its crushing 7–0 loss to Poland.

After the senior team, it took until 2007 to see another Haitian team qualify for a World Cup—the under-17 selection coached by Yves Philogène Labaze. In South Korea, the young Grenadiers had the merit of scoring at least one goal in every match. Indeed, despite the 3–1 loss to Japan, Guemsly Jr Joseph showcased his scoring talent; the same for Peterson Desrivières, who scored a penalty against France (1–1), and Peterson Joseph, who also saved the team’s honor by scoring against Nigeria (4–1), the team that would go on to be crowned world champion.