Following FC Dallas' Maarten Paes, Louicius Don Deedson in FIFA World Cup Qualifying

FC Dallas is in the thick of the playoff hunt but it will be without both goalkeeper Maarten Paes and winger Louicius Don Deedson for Saturday's match in California against the LA Galaxy. As we're in the midst of an international window, Maarten Paes has joined up with the Indonesia national team while Deedson is away with Haiti as both nations chase qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to kickoff next summer in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Here's an overview of what Indonesia/Paes and Haiti/Deedson need to do to qualify for next year's tournament.

Indonesia World Cup Qualification Overview

Indonesia is just two wins away from qualifying for its first World Cup since 1938. The nation has reached the fourth round of AFC (Asia's confederation) qualification along with five other countries: Qatar, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Those six countries have been divided into two groups of three with each country playing the other two members of their group once.

Indonesia is in Goup B and will face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Oct. 8 followed by Iraq on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Whoever finishes atop the group will qualify directy for next year's World Cup. So, if Indonesia can win both games, it will be at next year's tournament (along with Paes, most likely).

If Paes and Indonesia finish second in the group, they'll move onto the fifth round of AFC qualifying which consists of two games (home and away) against whichever nation finishes second in Group A between Qatar, UAE and Oman. And whoever wins that two-legged tie will go on to to compete in the FIFA Inter-Confederation playoffs, a mini tournament between nations from the other continent's confederations (one each from South America, Oceana, Africa, Asia and two from North America). Whiever nation finishes third/last in the group will be eliminated from World Cup qualification.

Haiti World Cup Qualification Overview

Haiti's road to qualification is even less straightforward because there are more teams involved and therefore more matches and variables. Deedson and Haiti are currently competing in the third round of Concacaf qualifying which consists of 12 teams divided into three groups of four. Haiti is in Group C with Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua and sits in third place out of four after drawing its first two games.

For this international window, Haiti will face Nicaragua on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Honduras on Monday Oct. 13 with its final two group matches to be played during the next international break in mid November. But to qualify directly to the World Cup during this round, Haiti will need to finish first in the group and that would mean winning a majority of those four games. The three second-place finishers in Group A, B and C will be ranked by how they performed in their groups with the top two moving on to the Inter-Confederation Playoffs. Teams that finish third or fourth in their respective groups will be eliminated from World Cup contention.