Haiti send Scotland a major World Cup warning as fellow qualifiers thrashed in nine-year first

The Caribbean islanders have qualified for the tournament for the first time since 1974 after topping their CONCACAF group ahead ​of Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

New Zealand have also reached their first World Cup in 16 years after winning the Oceania Football Confederation qualification tournament and will face Belgium, Egypt and Iran in Group G.

However, the All Whites proved no match for Scotland's Group A opponents as Haiti, who are 82nd in the world, ran out comfortable 4-0 winners over a side three places below them in the Fifa rankings.

The start of the match at Chase Stadium - the home of Inter Miami - was delayed due to lightning in the area. Haiti opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Ruben Providence beat the New Zealand defence and dinked the ball past goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.

New Zealand, who had Motherwell’s Elijah Just in their starting line-up, dominated possession for large chunks of the first half but they suffered a second half collapse after coach Darren Bazeley made wholesale personnel changes at half-time.

Haiti ruthlessly exploited the All Whites on the counter-attack with Lenny Joseph doubling the lead by slotting home after a defensive scramble. Frantzdy Pierrot added a third in the 62nd minute with a free header at the back post before Duke Lacroix completed the rout in the 87th minute with a curling strike from the edge of the box.

The Haitian players danced on the field after the game and sprayed each other with water bottles as they celebrated in front of 16,000 Haitian fans decked head to toe in red and blue.

The result is New Zealand's worst international defeat in nine years with coach Bazeley calling the performance "really disappointing" ahead of a tough warm-up match against England looming next.

“Haiti was very clinical, very ruthless in certain moments, and it’s a real harsh lesson for us, especially with England coming up and then the World Cup games,” Bazelely said. “We had done our research, we knew Haiti were good, had some threats, strong, powerful, athletic and very skillful at times.”

Scotland face Haiti in their Group A opener at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Boston, on Sunday, June 14 with the match kicking off at 2am UK time.

Both sides have one warm-up match remaining with Steve Clarke’s side taking on Bolivia in New Jersey on Saturday while Haiti square off against Peru in Miami on the same day.