For Duckens Nazon, the past few months have delivered extremes that few footballers could imagine — from helping Haiti reach their first World Cup in 52 years to fleeing an active conflict zone in Iran, where he plays his club football for Esteghlal.
The 32-year-old striker is Haiti's all-time leading scorer, with 44 goals in 76 caps, and he is set to lead the line in their World Cup opener against Scotland — a nation he briefly called home when he spent six months on loan at St Mirren in Paisley in 2019.
A life-saving SIM card
Nazon's departure from Iran nearly ended in disaster. He had been due to fly out on the very day that Israeli-US strikes began, but was ordered off the plane before take-off. His wife — who is Moroccan, a detail made more striking by the fact that Morocco are also in Haiti's World Cup group alongside Scotland and Brazil — and their four children were safe in France, the country where Nazon was born.
He eventually escaped through Azerbaijan, spending roughly 48 hours stranded at the border after initially being turned away and forced back into Iran. It was an eSIM card, purchased before the conflict disrupted internet access, that proved decisive.
