Odsonne Edouard has revealed why he snubbed the opportunity to play at the World Cup this summer.
The former Celtic striker is eligible to play for both France and Haiti having only played for Les Bleus in an under-21s capacity.
Both Edouard's parents are of Haitian descent and he could have turned out for the nation against Scotland had he opted to go to the USA, Mexico and Canada.
The RC Lens striker, 28, decided against switching allegiances for the tourmanent as he claimed other players deserved the spot more than he did having fought to qualify.
Odsonne Edouard ne jouera pas la Coupe du monde avec Haïti 🇭🇹, car il attend l'EDF 🇫🇷 ? "Non, je ne me sentais pas légitime de jouer cette Coupe du monde car les joueurs se sont battus pour se qualifier et je n'allais pas arriver à la dernière minute pour profiter de cette CM" pic.twitter.com/0noqZYRODt
— JS Grond-Tran (@JS_Grond) May 22, 2026
And he hinted that, in future, he may still consider playing for Haiti but that he wanted to earn any call-ups down the line.
“I wouldn’t feel legitimate playing in the World Cup because there were players who fought to qualify, and I wasn’t going to show up at the last minute to take advantage,” said Edouard.
“Quite simply, if I’m going to play, I have to deserve it.”
It is a commendable thought process for the attacker but it leaves him sitting at home watching from afar after Haiti made the competition for the first time since 1974.
Edouard scored 14 goals on his loan stint with Lens this season and helped the club win their first trophy in almost 30 years.
The ex-Hoops hitman has played for the French under-21s side and his record is exceptional.
From 14 caps he found the net 17 times and could almost certainly have helped Haiti had he chosen to play.
