CONCACAF Gold Cup 2019: Haiti stuns Costa Rica 2-1 in group decider

Haiti flips the script on Costa Rica with late winner

A defender scoring at both ends usually ends in heartbreak. Not this time. In the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2019 Group B decider, Djimy Alexis put the ball into his own net early, then made amends in the 81st minute to seal Haiti’s stunning 2-1 comeback over Costa Rica. It was Haiti’s first-ever competitive win against La Sele and a result that changed the entire knockout bracket.

The night started the way Costa Rica expected. They controlled territory, worked the ball wide, and asked questions of Haiti’s back line. The opener came in the 13th minute when a Costa Rican attack forced traffic in the six-yard box and Alexis, trying to clear under pressure, diverted the ball past Johny Placide. Some credited Álvaro Saborío for the finish in real time; officially, it went down as an own goal by Alexis. Either way, the favorites were in front and in control.

Haiti didn’t panic. Coach Marc Collat’s side tightened their block, stopped over-committing in midfield, and waited for the game to open up. The shift arrived after halftime. Haiti started winning second balls, moved their lines 10 yards higher, and turned to the pace and strength of Duckens Nazon to test Costa Rica’s center-backs.

• 13' — Costa Rica 1-0: Pressure in the box forces a deflection off Djimy Alexis for an own goal.
• 57' — 1-1: Duckens Nazon wins and converts a penalty, hammering it low and true.
• 81' — Haiti 2-1: Redemption for Alexis, who arrives at the back post to bury the winner.

The equalizer changed the energy inside the stadium. In the 57th minute, Nazon stepped to the spot and drilled home the penalty, his run and strength too much to handle. From there, Haiti smelled doubt. Collat’s defenders—Jems Geffrard, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, and Alex Christian—started winning duels they’d lost earlier. Placide, calm and efficient, handled everything in the air.

The winner fit the tone of the night. Haiti kept asking for one more cross, one more second ball. Alexis, who had been living with the early mistake all match, found daylight at the back post in the 81st minute and guided home the decisive strike. From own goal to match-winner, his arc told the story: belief, resilience, payback.

For Costa Rica, the defeat was more than a bruise to pride. It meant a second-place finish in Group B instead of first. That single slip changed the quarterfinal path from favorable to brutal. Instead of avoiding a heavyweight, they were now lined up for a clash with Mexico in the knockouts—an avoidable assignment that brought the margin for error down to zero.

What the upset means for the bracket—and the region

The stakes were clear before kickoff: top Group B and choose the easier side of the bracket. Haiti grabbed that prize. Topping the group pushed them into a quarterfinal against the runner-up from Group A. For a program still building depth, that difference matters. It gave them a shot to keep momentum, settle nerves, and believe this run could last beyond the first knockout round.

Context makes this result even bigger. In competitive meetings, Haiti had never beaten Costa Rica. Across all previous head-to-heads, Costa Rica held a commanding edge, with multiple wins and draws and only one Haitian victory outside competitive play. La Sele has long been one of CONCACAF’s reliable tournament teams—organized, experienced, and tough to break down. Haiti not only broke them down; they outlasted them when the game got tense.

This wasn’t a one-man show. Placide’s goalkeeping was steady—no spills, no panic. Geffrard and Jean-Baptiste won key headers, and Christian worked both sides of the ball. In midfield, Haiti kept the distances compact enough to disrupt Costa Rica’s rhythm. And Nazon was the needle: drawing fouls, carrying the ball under pressure, and stepping up for the penalty when it mattered.

On the other side, Costa Rica will regret letting control slip. After the early lead, the tempo flattened. Transitions became messy, and loose touches invited counters. Coach Gustavo Matosas rotated smartly during the group stage, but here the balance wasn’t right. With the score 1-1, Costa Rica needed either a reset or a surge. They got neither, and paid for it late.

The impact went beyond brackets. Upsets like this signal a real shift in the region. The gap between the traditional trio—Mexico, the United States, and Costa Rica—and the next wave has narrowed. Programs like Haiti have leaned on a disciplined defensive core, dual-national experience, and a sharp plan for the big moments. That combination showed up here.

And the momentum didn’t fade. Haiti carried the belief from this win into the knockouts, where they kept punching above their weight and extended their run with fearless, front-foot moments. For Costa Rica, the recalibration began immediately: sharpen the edges in both boxes or risk another early exit against a top seed.

Strip the story down, and you get two key takeaways. First, game state matters: Haiti stayed close long enough to flip it. Second, tournament football is ruthless: a single group-stage loss can redraw your entire route. Haiti embraced that risk and rewrote their history against Costa Rica in the space of 90 minutes.