Football first took root in Haiti in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where the country's earliest recorded regional championship was held in 1912. The sport is administered by the Fédération Haïtienne de Football, which oversees both the national team and the domestic league structure.
At the club level, the two defining names in Haitian football are Racing Club Haïtien and Violette Athletic Club, both based in Port-au-Prince. Racing Club Haïtien was declared the winner of the 1963 CONCACAF Champions' Cup after a series of scheduling disputes led CONCACAF to award them the title over CD Guadalajara. Violette Athletic Club claimed the 1984 CONCACAF Champions' Cup under similarly unusual circumstances — after the North and Central American finalists were both disqualified for failing to agree on a fixture, Violette, who had won the Caribbean branch, were awarded the trophy.
The national team's most celebrated chapter came in 1974, when Haiti qualified for the FIFA World Cup in West Germany — their first and, to date, only appearance at the tournament — by winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship held on home soil. In their opening group match against Italy, forward Emmanuel Sanon scored to put Haiti ahead 1–0, simultaneously ending goalkeeper Dino Zoff's record of 1,143 minutes without conceding in international football. Haiti ultimately finished bottom of their group, but Sanon's goal remains one of the most iconic moments in the nation's football history.
Haiti came close to qualifying for the 1978 World Cup but finished second behind Mexico. On the women's side, the national team achieved a milestone by qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.