MNUFC had five players involved with their national teams over the past weekend. Francisco Calvo (Costa Rica), Kevin Molino (Trinidad and Tobago) and Johan Venegas (Costa Rica) participated in World Cup Qualifying, while Michael Boxall (New Zealand) and Jermaine Taylor (Jamaica) played international friendly matches.

Francisco Calvo and Johan Venegas punched their tickets to Russia with Costa Rica, drawing 1-1 with Honduras to secure automatic qualification for the World Cup in 2018. The Ticos capped off their qualifying campaign with a 2-1 loss to Panama, with Venegas scoring the lone goal for Costa Rica.

Kevin Molino and the Soca Warriors were finally mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the World Cup after staving off being knocked out for several months. A 3-1 loss at Mexico followed up by a shocking 2-1 win over the U.S. finished their qualifying run and knocked the Yanks out of World Cup Qualifying contention as well.

Boxall and New Zealand played a warm-up fixture against Japan to prepare for its international playoff series against Peru in November. The All Whites equalized in the second half after giving up a penalty early on, but a late goal for Japan secured a 2-1 result for the hosts.

Jamaica traveled to face Saudi Arabia during the international break. Taylor was subbed on in the 55th minute as the Reggae Boyz fell 5-2.

All five return to MNUFC ahead of the club’s road match against LA Galaxy on Sunday, October 15 at 6:30 p.m. CT.