On the morning of March 31, Beijing time, the North American World Cup qualifiers ushered in the final round, and the U.S. men's soccer team played against the Costa Rica men's soccer team away. In the end, the United States team broke out of the big cold, losing the game by a score of 0-2, the good thing is that the goal difference still pressures Costa Rica to rank third, there is a thrilling straight to the World Cup, Costa Rica participates in the play-offs.
There are a total of 3.5 World Cup places in North America, divided into 3 stages, the final stage is competed by 8 teams, and Canada is currently in the early round of the World Cup, and the remaining 2.5 places will be generated between the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico.
At present, in the standings, the United States is second with 25 points, Costa Rica is fourth with 22 points, and the two teams are 3 points apart and 6 goals difference, so the United States can also qualify for the World Cup after a 0-5 defeat.
In the latest edition of FIFA's World Rankings, the United States ranks 13th and Costa Rica 42nd. In the last 4 meetings, the United States has beaten Costa Rica in a row.
Faced with a desperate situation, Costa Rica completed the outbreak at home. The first half was tied 0-0 and costa Rica began to score goals in the second half. In the 51st minute, Juan Vargas scored and Costa Rica broke the deadlock 1-0. In the 58th minute, Contretes received a cross-knock from a teammate in front of goal to help Costa Rica complete a 2-0 victory.
As a qualifying favorite, the United States suffered a defeat, the points were equalized by Costa Rica, the good thing is that the goal difference is still leading, thus pushing Costa Rica to rank third, and working with Canada and Mexico to reach the World Cup finals.
For the United States, as long as it does not lose 6 or more goals, it can qualify for the World Cup, and the result is indeed no big score fiasco. This is the 11th time in the history of the United States to participate in the World Cup, the best result is the third place, after the team missed the 2018 World Cup, and now returns to the World Cup stage after 8 years.
After the United States qualifies for the World Cup, it will fall into the second gear of the World Cup according to the ranking, and the teams in the same file include Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Uruguay, Mexico, Switzerland and the Netherlands.