He’s gone from kicking oranges in the streets of a small city in Haiti to representing the country in the 2026 World Cup and being honored by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey
Not that long ago, Frantzdy Pierrot was a student athlete playing soccer and studying criminal justice at Northeastern University
“Northeastern was an amazing experience,” Pierrot said. “I met a lot of good people, a lot of coaches and teachers that were really helpful when I was there.”
Pierrot, 31, is a forward on AEK Athens, a professional soccer club in Greece. This summer, he joined Team Haiti in its first World Cup appearance since 1974. He is the third leading goal scorer in the history of the Haitian national team.
In 2014, he enrolled at Northeastern and played on the men’s soccer team. He earned Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year honors as a first-year.
It was one stop on Pierrot’s astonishing journey from the small Haitian city of Bas-Limbé (also spelled Ba Lenbe in Haitian Creole) to Massachusetts and soccer fields across the world.
“It wasn’t easy growing up in Haiti,” Pierrot said. He noted that his hometown had no electricity and his home lacked running water. His family, he said, sometimes struggled to feed him and his two brothers.
At age 11, Pierrot and his family immigrated to the United States, settling in Medford, Massachusetts, and then neighboring Melrose, towns approximately 12 miles from Northeastern’s Boston campus. At the time, Pierrot didn’t speak any English, knew nobody but his family members, and was experiencing a different culture and its food
Moreover, while he marvelled at the abundance in America – particularly the presence of refrigerators – it also made him feel a bit guilty.
“You can eat whatever you want, anytime you want, so it was kind of like, ‘wow, this is crazy, but also amazing,’” Pierrot said. “But also I was kind of sad because when I was eating, I was thinking about my friends back home – I would love to share that meal with them.”
But Pierrot also recognized the opportunity that America offered
“It was very different, but also exciting because I knew that the U.S. was a place where, if you work hard, you would have a lot of opportunities,” Pierrot said. “My dad always says, ‘you gotta work hard if you wanna get somewhere,’ so that always stuck with me.”
One thing that wasn’t different for Pierrot when he arrived in America, however, was a love of soccer.
Pierrot became a standout at Melrose High, where his father drove the school bus to games so he could attend and watch his son play
“He was never satisfied with me just being good,” Pierrot said. “So I knew that if he was going to be at my game, I had to be always 100%.”
Pierrot was drawn to Northeastern by the criminal justice program, an opportunity to play soccer, and the fact that his parents could watch him play
“He’s just a very nice, friendly, but fiercely competitive kid,” said Brendan Burke, head coach of the United Soccer League’s Hartford Athletic who was the associate head coach at Northeastern when Pierrot was on the team. “When you get that combination mixed with talent and size and ability, it can be phenomenal to watch it grow.”
Pierrot continued to play following college, making his way up to the pros. He has also established a youth soccer academy in Haiti to provide talented young players with an opportunity to progress in the sport.
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“It is going to create another option for all the kids that have a dream like I did when I was a kid,” Pierrot said
This summer, Pierrot made it to soccer’s biggest stage: the World Cup. It just happened to be in his own backyard
Pierrot said it was “an amazing experience” because he was able to represent not just Haiti, but the city of Boston
“I could see that everybody who lives in Boston was really proud and honored that they have a kid who came from nothing and came to the U.S. and really through hard work and dedication, he’s able to achieve a lot of things,” he said
One of the most notable achievements for Pierrot was being honored by his hometown
At a ceremony at the Massachusetts Statehouse, Gov. Maura Healey declared May 26, 2026 as Frantzdy Pierrot Day
“What a way to honor your country – not only by playing for and representing your country, but by also making sure that you’re finding ways to give kids in Haiti the opportunity to enjoy the game that you love,” Healey said. “That makes us so proud.”
