SI

Haiti’s Josué Duverger Surrendered an Unfathomably Terrible Own Goal vs. Canada

In Wednesday’s Hot Clicks: one of the worst own goals you’ll ever see, one of the best NBA playoff performances you’ll ever see and more.

Dan Gartland

Haiti’s Josué Duverger Surrendered an Unfathomably Terrible Own Goal vs. Canada
Haiti’s Josué Duverger Surrendered an Unfathomably Terrible Own Goal vs. Canada /

Oh no!

Haiti has not qualified for the men’s World Cup since 1974 and it won’t be headed back there in 2022, thanks in part to one of the worst own goals you’ll ever see.

Haiti faced Canada on Tuesday in the second leg of a World Cup qualifying match. The Canadians won the first leg, 1–0, in Port-au-Prince, giving them a crucial away goal. It was already an uphill battle for Haiti but things looked promising after a scoreless first half. And then the game got turned on its head right after the opening whistle of the second half when disaster struck for Josué Duverger.

One of Duverger’s defenders played a routine back pass to him, and Duverger whiffed on it not once but twice as he watched the ball roll meekly into the back of the net.

The Canadian announcers were astonished by what they saw.

“Oh my word!” the play-by-play man said. “Can you believe that happened?”

The goal all but ended Haiti’s chances of advancing to the next round of qualifying. It put Canada ahead 2–0 on aggregate, meaning Haiti then needed three goals in the final 44 minutes to win or two to force extra time. Canada went on to score two more goals and secure a 4–0 aggregate victory.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that might be the worst own goal in the history of high-level soccer. The blunder was so mind-boggling that even after watching all the replays, it’s difficult to tell exactly where Duverger went wrong. Whiffing on the first pass attempt is understandable (and not terribly rare for a goalkeeper), but the second swing and miss is what makes it such an all-time lowlight. It’s very subtle, but in the final replay angle you can see that the toe of Duverger’s left boot makes slight contact with the ball as he plants the foot to swing through with his right leg. That little touch was enough to send the ball skittering just inches out of his reach and over the line.

The goal had to be especially painful for Duverger, considering it came against the country where he was born. Canada now advances to the final round of World Cup qualifying for the first time in 24 years. It is one of eight countries (the U.S., Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica and Jamaica are the others) that will play a round-robin schedule to determine the three CONCACAF representatives at the 2022 World Cup. 

The best of SI

Kevin Durant’s Game 5 performance was one for the ages. ... The Portuguese men’s national team is still centered around Cristiano Ronaldo, but it’ll be fine once he’s gone. ... The Clippers are finally showing their depth and asserting their status as a legitimate contender. 

Around the sports world

Tyler Glasnow blames MLB’s crackdown on foreign substances for his elbow injury. ... Baseball Reference has added Negro League stats to its major league databases. ... Forbes profiled All Elite Wrestling president and CEO Tony Khan. ... Cari Champion and Kenny Mayne are going to host an Olympics show on Peacock. ... Vince Wilfork’s son was arrested after being accused of stealing his father’s Super Bowl rings. 

KD was on another level

Content is unavailable

Just the worst idea imaginable

Content is unavailable

Scary incident before France-Germany

Content is unavailable

This happens in soccer more often than you’d expect

Content is unavailable

Dramatic win for the Astros

Content is unavailable
Content is unavailable

A go-ahead grand slam into McCovey Cove is pretty cool

Chris Gittens’s first MLB homer also left the park, which presented some problems

The Nets deserved to lose after this

So Week 2 then for Fields?

Content is unavailable

That’s a stupid name for a stadium but it did get me to plug the URL into my browser to see what the hell it was

Fun miked-up video with Adam Frazier

Not sports

New research suggests the tyrannosaurus rex moved a lot slower than we’ve always thought. ... Somebody tried to smuggle a fossilized dinosaur egg through customs in Italy. ... Rick Ross cuts his own grass.

That’s when you need to go by a nickname

Nintendo is coming out with Breath of the Wild 2

A good song

Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

Published
Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

Home/Extra Mustard