Contrary to what is occasionally published, Joseph Nicolas "Joe" Gaetjens was not born from a Belgian father nor was he of Belgian descent. Both his parents were born in Haiti; his father Edmond may have possessed a German passport as Joe's grandfather Thomas had emigrated from northern Germany to Haiti in the nineteenth century.
Gaetjens, who studied in New York, was entitled to play for the USA by virtue of possessing the so called "First Papers", a type of visa for people intending to become US citizens (which Gaetjens eventually never did, as after a short professional adventure in France after the 1950 World Cup he returned to Haiti in 1953).
By scoring the only goal in the match against England, Gaetjens was responsible for arguably the greatest shock result in the history of the World Cup.
Born: 19- 3-1924 at Port-au-Prince Died: probably in July 1964 in Port-au-Prince
Haiti
Caps Date Venue Opponent Score Competition
1 2- 4-1944 Willemstad Curaçao 0-5
2 5- 4-1944 Willemstad Venezuela 0-2
- 8- 4-1944 Willemstad Aruba 1-1
3 27-12-1953 Port-au-Prince Mexico 0-4 World Cup Qualifier
NB: the three matches in Willemstad were part of a four-nations tournament organised by the
N.A.V.B. (the war-time union of the federations of Curaçao (C.V.B.) and Aruba (A.V.B.),
of which only the former were F.I.F.A. members).
United States
Caps Date Venue Opponent Score Competition
1 25- 6-1950 Curitiba Spain 1-3 World Cup
2 29- 6-1950 Belo Horizonte England 1-0 World Cup
3 2- 7-1950 Recife Chile 2-5 World Cup
Goals for United States
Cap 2 1 goal
Total 1 goal
Total Record
Matches Won Draw Lost For Against Points Percentage
6 1 0 5 4- 19 2 16.67 (overall)
3 0 0 3 0- 11 0 0.00 (Haiti)
3 1 0 2 4- 8 2 33.33 (United States)
Types of Matches
World Cup 3 (3 United States)
World Cup Qualifier 1 (1 Haiti)
Friendlies 2 (2 Haiti)
Total 6 (3 United States, 3 Haiti)
Prepared and maintained by Dan Ryazansky and Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Dan Ryazansky and Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 26 Jul 2012
(C) Copyright Dan Ryazansky, Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF
2007/12
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
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