November window: MLS players book 2026 World Cup tickets | OneFootball

By J. Sam Jones

It’s nearly time to get back to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, but first, we figured we’d take a moment to look back at an international break full of reasons to celebrate for players around the league.

Starting, obviously, with…

Louicius Deedson!

Ok, admittedly, unless you’re an FC Dallas fan, there might be a slight chance you aren’t familiar with Deedson yet. Let’s change that immediately. Because Deedson is playing a key part in what might be the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s best story.

Due to overwhelming gang violence within the country, the Haitian national team haven't played a home match since July 2021. In March 2024, gangs overtook Haiti’s national stadium. That’s barely scratching the surface of the current situation, of course – for more, check out this piece from Jon Arnold – but it should give you some idea of what this team has been up against during qualifying.

And yet, on Tuesday, Deedson, who only just joined FCD in July and has two MLS appearances and 21 total MLS minutes, scored the opening and decisive goal in Haiti’s group-clinching and World Cup-berth-clinching 2-0 win over Nicaragua. It will be Haiti’s first World Cup appearance since 1974 and just their second-ever overall appearance.

Philadelphia Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques went 90 minutes in Haiti’s 1-0 win over Costa Rica earlier in the window and Toronto FC’s Derrick Etienne Jr. made multiple appearances during Haiti’s run to qualification.

Panama seal their spot, Jamaica have work to do

Panama will join Haiti in making their second-ever World Cup appearance after Tuesday's 3-0 win over El Salvador. San Diego’s Aníbal Godoy and Minnesota United’s Carlos Harvey started both matches this window. Panama last reached the World Cup in 2018.

Meanwhile, Jamaica came up short of qualification (for now) after entering the break on top of their group. The Reggae Boyz drew with Trinidad & Tobago and Curaçao, who ended up winning the group and reaching the World Cup for the first time in their history.

Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Andre Blake made nine saves over the two matches this window, allowing just one goal. Inter Miami defender Ian Fray went 64 minutes in Jamaica’s 0-0 draw with Curaçao.

Now, Blake and Fray will get one last shot at qualification in the upcoming inter-confederation playoff. In short, Jamaica will compete with five other teams (Suriname, Bolivia, DR Congo, Iraq and New Caledonia) for a chance at one of the final spots in the World Cup. The mini tournament is set for March 2026.

The USMNT put on a show

The USMNT’s impressive set of friendly wins over the break will be talked about on this site in more detail, but we’ve got to at least point out that Vancouver’s Sebastian Berhalter scored a Toni Kroos-style, free-kick goal (and added an assist) to jumpstart a 5-1 romp over Uruguay on Tuesday night.

And, of course, we have to mention that Orlando City fullback (and future multi-million dollar transfer) Alex Freeman added a brace immediately after.

And then, we need to mention that Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna delivered the USMNT’s fourth goal of the night. MLS players led the way in the biggest win of the Mauricio Pochettino era so far.

European qualification comes to a close (kind of)

A few quick notes here.

FC Dallas striker Petar Musa made his first appearance for Croatia since October of 2023. He celebrated by scoring the second goal, ultimately the game-winner, of a 3-1 win over the Faroe Islands that sealed Croatia’s spot in the World Cup.

Elsewhere, a handful of MLS players made appearances for teams that will compete in the upcoming European playoffs in March of 2026. Atlanta United’s Bartosz Slisz went 78 minutes in Poland’s 3-2 win over Malta, while San Diego’s Anders Dreyer made a brief appearance with Denmark against Belarus.

Meanwhile, NYCFC’s Kevin O’Toole earned his first-ever call-up to the Irish national team at the best possible time. O’Toole didn’t make an appearance, but Ireland picked up dramatic wins over Portugal and Hungary to snatch a spot in the European playoffs at the death.

Also of note: Scotland qualified for the World Cup in spectacular fashion, defeating Dreyer's Denmark, 4-2, on Tuesday. Vancouver’s Ryan Gauld didn’t join the team during the break, but could very well end up on the final squad next summer.

Gabon and Cameroon come up short

In less exciting news, LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Gabon fell to Nigeria in Thursday’s CAF playoff. Then, Seattle’s Nouhou and Cameroon lost a stoppage-time heartbreaker to DR Congo later that day.

Both sides are officially eliminated.

And in more SEO-friendly events…

Son Heung-Min went ahead and did this during South Korea’s 2-0 friendly win over Bolivia.

And Lionel Messi scored a goal and assisted on another in Argentina’s 2-0 friendly win against Angola.

Both stars will be back in action this weekend. LAFC travels to Vancouver on Saturday night (9:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV) and Inter Miami heads to FC Cincinnati on Sunday (5 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV).

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