On a street in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, a dozen teenagers using stones for goalposts are immersed in a Sunday game of soccer as traffic winds around them.

Haiti has many problems, including political instability, poverty and crime, but through it all, the heart of the nation beats for soccer.

Haiti's qualification for this summer's World Cup has come as a breath of fresh air for the poorest nation in the Americas, the nearly 12 million people of which have long grappled with gang violence that has caused a humanitarian crisis.