As the FIFA International window for November opens up this weekend, five FC Dallas players will be representing their country during the weekend break in Audi MLS Cup Playoff action – Tesho Akindele (Canada), Moises Hernandez (Guatemala), Blas Perez (Panama), Je-Vaughn Watson (Jamaica) and Atiba Harris (St. Kitts and Nevis).
Four of the five will be playing for their country’s chance to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, with Harris being the lone outlier as St. Kitts and Nevis plays in a pair of friendlies. All four pairs of World Cup Qualifiers will be played on Friday, Nov. 13 and Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Akindele and Canada will face Honduras on Tuesday at B.C. Place in Vancouver before traveling to face El Salvador on Tuesday at Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador. For Canada, these will be the first two Group A games in the fourth round of CONCACAF qualification after beating Belize on a 4-1 aggregate score in September to advance.
Hernandez and Guatemala will face Trinidad and Tobago on Friday evening at home in Guatemala City before traveling to Saint George to face St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday in their first two games of Group C play. Guatemala also advanced to the fourth round in September by topping Antigua and Barbuda on a 2-1 aggregate score.
Perez is the only FCD player called in to get his first taste of World Cup qualifying this week as Panama enters qualification in the fourth round. They will face Jamaica on Friday and Costa Rica on Tuesday in their first two games of Group B play.
Watson and Jamaica will face Perez and Panama on Friday night at home before traveling to face Haiti on Tuesday in their first two games of Group B play. Jamaica, like Canada and Guatemala, advanced on aggregate score over Nicaragua, 4-3, in September.
Harris and his St. Kitts and Nevis side are across the Atlantic during the international window. They will face Andorra on Thursday night and Estonia on Tuesday in a pair of friendlies. St. Kitts and Nevis was eliminated from World Cup Qualification in June by El Salvador.
Date |
Time (CT) |
Matchup |
|---|---|---|
Nov. 12 |
12 p.m. |
Andorra v <strong>St. Kitts and Nevis</strong> |
Nov. 13 |
7 p.m. |
<strong>Guatemala</strong> v Trinidad and Tobago |
Nov. 13 |
8 p.m. |
<strong>Jamaica </strong>v <strong>Panama</strong> |
Nov. 13 |
9 p.m. |
<strong>Canada </strong>v Honduras |
Nov. 17 |
11 a.m. |
Estonia v <strong>St. Kitts and Nevis</strong> |
Nov. 17 |
1:30 p.m. |
St. Vincent & Grenadines v <strong>Guatemala</strong> |
Nov. 17 |
5 p.m. |
Haiti v <strong>Jamaica</strong> |
Nov. 17 |
7:30 p.m. |
El Salvador v <strong>Canada</strong> |
Nov. 17 |
7:30 p.m. |
<strong>Panama </strong>v Costa Rica |
