VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC confirmed on Wednesday that centre back Kendall Waston, midfielder Christian Bolaños, and striker Blas Pérez have been called up to their respective national teams for the fifth and final round of qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, also called The Hex.
On November 11, Waston, Bolaños, and Costa Rica travel to Trinidad and Tobago, while Pérez and Panama visit Honduras. Four days later, Costa Rica host the United States, and Panama play at home versus Mexico.
Waston has 13 appearances and one goal in senior international competition, most recently playing as a substitute in the 4-3 friendly win over Russia in October.
Bolaños, who has four goals in 68 caps for Costa Rica, was invited to the European trip last month but was unable to participate due to injury. The midfielder last featured for Costa Rica at the start of September, starting the World Cup qualifying matches against Haiti and Panama, scoring two goals in the latter.
Pérez, holds the third-most senior international caps for Panama with 109 appearances and is Panama’s second all-time leading scorer with 41 goals in his career. He last appeared for his national team in the previous round of qualifiers, coming off the bench opposite Waston and Bolaños in the fixture versus Costa Rica on September 6.
The six teams in The Hex play home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group. The top three teams will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the fourth-placed team will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.
