LOS ANGELES, May 18 (Reuters) – Haiti’s record goalscorer Duckens Nazon was already strapped into his seat, the aircraft on the tarmac at Tehran airport ready to take off, when his phone lit up with a message from a friend playing in Israel.
“The alarm, the war alarm in Israel was just ringing,” Nazon, 32, recalled his friend saying. “I said, wow, I’m so lucky because I’m on the plane right now, ready to take off.”
Ten seconds later, his luck ran out.
“The cabin chief said, ‘Everybody has to get off the plane. The war has started. The sky is closed’,” Nazon told Reuters. “And now you start survival mode.”
Nazon, who plays for Tehran-based Esteghlal FC, was trying to reach Paris to secure a visa ahead of the World Cup, where Haiti will be competing after a 52-year absence.
Instead, he began an improvised escape by road that would take him across a country at war and out via Azerbaijan.
For Nazon, the danger was immediate but adrenaline dulled the fear. His main concern was reaching his Moroccan wife and their four children to let them know he was safe, after they had returned to her home country having struggled to settle in Tehran, a decision he now considers crucial.
“I’m so happy and glad my family was not with me at this moment,” the former Coventry City striker said. “When you are alone, you can think quicker, and move faster.”
After being ordered off the plane, Nazon ran into teammate Munir El Haddadi, who had to disembark another flight. His instinct was to leave the country as quickly as possible, but the club needed to organise transport for several players.
They drove back towards Tehran even as others tried to flee.
“We took the highway on the way to the city, and the other highway was blocked for kilometres,” Nazon said. “Nobody wanted to go in the city because the bombs were striking there.”
As they drove, he saw explosions nearby.
“We saw one strike 100 metres away,” he said. “When you think about it after, it’s a bit, wow.”
HAITI MAKE WORLD CUP AFTER 52-YEAR WAIT
With communications largely down, Nazon had a brief window of connectivity through a team security official’s phone.
In that time, he contacted his family, asked his wife to book him a flight from Azerbaijan and bought an eSIM in the hope it would connect near the border, a decision he believes saved his life.
After hours waiting for delayed transport, he set off on a long drive towards Azerbaijan.
“In total, I spent maybe 20 hours on the road,” he said. “I was seeing some strikes … in the sky.”
At the border, officials refused to let him through and demanded additional paperwork, but with intermittent signal from his Azerbaijan eSIM he managed to reach the French Embassy and his representatives, eventually securing passage out.
Two days later, he boarded a flight to Paris.
The experience has left him reflecting on the human cost of conflict.
“People lose their life, they lose their family … for what?” he said. “I pray for peace.”
His future at club level remains uncertain. Nazon still has a year left on his contract with Esteghlal and said he would return if conditions stabilised.
“If the war is finished and calm, I’m going back to play football,” he said.
For now, his focus is on the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Haiti’s qualification has ended a 52-year wait – achieved despite playing all their matches away from home due to gang violence – a milestone Nazon is struggling to fully process.
“I don’t even have some words to describe it,” he said. “I think the day I will realise is when I’m going to be on the pitch and they say it’s the World Cup game.”
« IT GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS »
Drawn against Brazil, Morocco and Scotland, Haiti face a daunting task, but Nazon insists they will not be intimidated.
“We are not scared of anybody,” he said. “We come humble, but also proud because we are Haitian.”
He carries that pride from his upbringing in Poissy, a working-class suburb west of Paris he describes as “kind of like a ghetto,” and from his Haitian roots, with both of his parents born there. His idol is Brazil striker Ronaldo and Nazon is also a number nine like the World Cup-winner.
Now, as Haiti’s record scorer with 44 goals in 80 appearances, he is chasing one more dream.
“I want to score in the World Cup,” he said. “It doesn’t matter against who.”
Asked if he looked forward to making Haitians, who have endured years of political unrest and hardship, proud, he paused. “It gives me goosebumps,” he said. “This emotion is unbelievable.”
Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Ken Ferris