Melchie Dumornay: Who is Haiti's teenage star setting the Women's World Cup alight? | OneFootball

Haiti’s Melchie Dumornay introduced herself on the world stage in Brisbane as her nation made their FIFA Women’s World Cup debut against England.

Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses opened their tournament campaign with a lacklustre win over debutants Haiti, with a retaken Georgia Stanway penalty as the sole deciding factor.

Towards the end of the 1-0 game, Haiti’s Roseline Éloissaint came so close to equalising. The England number one Mary Earps was forced to make a huge save which helped her team to claim their slim win.

Despite Stanway officially being handed the Player of the Match award, it was Dumornay and her Haitian side who truly came out on top.

With stunning vision and wicked pace, the 19-year-old wreaked havoc among England’s defensive line and even gave Barcelona icon Lucy Bronze the runaround on more than a couple of occasions.

Dumornay’s debut at the Suncorp Stadium has prompted one particular social media user to create a compilation video of her best bits. It is not an exaggeration to say her performance was absolutely glorious.

The two-minute clip features the 19-year-old outpacing Chelsea’s Jess Carter, evading both Keira Walsh and Millie Bright to provide an on-target shot, and making a general mess of England’s midfield.

At one point in the clip, Dumornay also made a statement by delivering an impressive corner into her opposition’s box.

Luckily for fans of the Lionesses, Earps managed to get her fist to the ball and physically punched the ball away.

The compilation clip even attracted the attention of football legend Ian Wright, who showed his appreciation for Dumornay in his reply.

Speaking post-game, Durmornay said: “I know a lot of people in Haiti are watching me, so I just tried to give my best, and all my teammates tried to give the same thing too.

“We know they have a lot of frustration… we’re going to try and make them happy in the next two games,” she added.

Take a look at Dumornay's incredible performance against England in the video below.

What teams has Melchie Dumornay played for?

For many women’s football fans, the recent Women’s World Cup group match between England and Haiti may have been their first introduction to Dumornay.

However, the midfielder has actually been training to be a star since she was just 10-years-old.

After being scouted by Association Sportive Mirebalis, she started building at the Haitian Football Federation’s training centre, Camp Nous.

Following her time at AS Mirebalis, Dumornay began playing for Association Sportive Tigresses, and at 15-years-old, was classified as the best player in the Haitian Women’s Soccer Championship.

Having impressed for club and country at the ninth edition of the U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2018, she attracted the attention of French giants Stade de Reims Women and .

In 2021, she signed her first professional contract with Reims and moved from the Haitian league to the top flight of French football, Division 1 Féminine.

In her first season under boss Amandine Miquel, Dumornay made 15 league appearances and scored seven goals. In her second campaign, she played 139 minutes in Division 1 and scored a total of 11 goals.

Having been named the Player of the Month for Reims in December 2022, it was announced in January 2023 that she had signed for rivals Lyon on a permanent deal.

The three-year deal will see Dumornay playing for Sonia Bompastor’s side until 2026, and she could now be in with a good chance of winning her first Women’s Champions League title next year.

When did Melchie Dumornay start playing for Haiti?

Having been somewhat of a child prodigy, Dumornay began her national career at age 12 when she participated in the 2016 CONCACAF Girls’ Under-15s Championship.

The star was then included in Haiti’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup squad in 2018, before winning the Golden Boot for scoring 14 goals in six games in the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 competition.

In the same year, the Haitian received her first senior side call-up in an Olympic qualifier against the US women’s national team.

In July 2022, Dumornay was named the Best Young Player in the Mexican CONCACAF Championship and was also included in the competition's Best XI.

However, her shining moment came in the inter-confederation play-off final between Haiti and Chile earlier this year, where she scored two goals.

Her efforts allowed the Caribbean nation to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time, where she made her debut in a 1-0 loss against England on Saturday 22 July.

What were Melchie Dumornay’s stats against England?

Dumornay made a serious impact on the pitch during Haiti’s match against England.

According to FotMob, her player rating was a strong 7.0. This was higher than Lauren Hemp’s 6.4 and just below Ella Toone’s 7.2.

In relation to her Haitian teammates, only Betina Petit Frere, Dayana Pierre and Kerly Theus ranked higher with 7.2, 7.4, and 8.0 ratings, respectively.

Elsewhere, Dumornay’s single shot earned her a 100 per cent accuracy statistic for the game, while her pass accuracy sat at a high 73 per cent.

Throughout the entirety of the 90-minute game, Dumornay created three chances. Despite not winning any of her aerial duels, she won a total of 11 duels on the ground.

Throughout the game, Dumornay also only committed one foul and had 58 touches in total.

What’s next for Melchie Dumornay and Haiti?

Following their 1-0 loss to England, Haiti currently have zero points and sit in dead last in Group D.

Above them in third are the People’s Republic of China, followed by England in second. At the time of writing, Denmark are sitting at the top of Group D, and it is looking likely that they will move on into the round of 16 at this point.

However, Dumornay and the rest of the Haitian squad will not be going down without a fight at their first ever Women’s World Cup.

In their next group game, Nicolas Delépine’s team will face China PR on Friday, 28 July. The match will take place at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia.

Their final game of the group stage will be against Denmark. The match is scheduled to kick off on Tuesday, 1 August at Perth’s 20,500-capacity Rectangular Stadium.