MADRID, 31 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Mexican national team beat El Salvador (2-0) this morning to ensure its participation in the Qatar World Cup, while the United States also got its ticket to Qatar but with a defeat against Costa Rica (2-0), a combined Tico who will finally have to play the playoff against New Zealand after finishing fourth in the CONCACAF qualifiers.
The Mexican team, led by the Argentine Tata Martino and which was worth a draw to seal their pass, managed to qualify for their eighth consecutive World Cup after a solid victory against El Salvador with goals from Uriel Antuna and Raúl Jiménez. Thus, the Tri finished second in the CONCACAF octagonal with 28 points, taking the place from the United States.
And it is that the Stars and Stripes team said goodbye to this qualifying phase with a defeat against Costa Rica, finishing third with 25 points and closing the direct places to Qatar. This squad, led by Chelsea player Christian Pulisic, thus became the youngest in the history of the United States to qualify for this great event, after missing Russia 2018.
The only hope for the Ticos was to beat the United States, so the goals from Juan Pablo Vargas (min. 51) and Anthony Contreras (min. 59) were not enough and they will have to win the playoffs to be in their sixth World.
For their part, Jamaica and Honduras met in an inconsequential match at Independence Park that ended with a 2-1 victory for the Reggae Boyz to finish sixth with 11 points, while the Hondurans finished the qualifying phase at the bottom with only 4 units. . Ángel Tejeda opened the penalty spot for the Catrachos in the 18th minute, but Leon Bailey and Ravel Morrison turned the result around before the break.
Canada sealed its ticket to Qatar on the previous day and will return to a World Cup 36 years later, so its defeat (1-0) against Panama in the last match of this qualifying phase did not change the situation of any of the two selections, since the Panamanians have finished fifth with 21 points, without options to participate in the fight for a place in the World Cup.