Costa Rica keep hopes of making the trip to Qatar World Cup alive

Photo Credit: Costa Rican Football Federation

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: Costa Rica kept their hopes of making the trip to Qatar World Cup alive, as Canada, the US and Mexico remain in stride for direct tickets.

A 62nd minute Joel Campbell goal at the National Stadium in Kingston pushed Costa Rica to a pivotal 1-0 victory over home standing Jamaica on Wednesday night.

The win keeps Costa Rica, now with 16 points, in the running for a playoff position, since it’s a given that, with three games remaining, Canada (25), the United States (21) and Mexico (21) will be getting the direct tickets.

The pundits figure Panama (17) and Costa Rica will be playing during the final qualifying window in March for the playoff berth which will send one of them to the one-shot qualifier against an Oceania team.

Panama faltered on Wednesday as they fell 1-0 to Mexico at the Estadio Azteca. Raúl Jiménez scored Mexico’s only goal from the penalty spot after a questionable foul against Diego Lainez in the box.

Canada remained at the top with their 2-0 win over El Salvador at the Cuscatlán Stadium in San Salvador.

Atiba Hutchinson nailed Canada’s first goal in the 65th minute and Jonathan David closed the deal in stoppage time for the final 2-0. El Salvador may not have had their minds entirely on beating Canada as they had threatened not to play the game earlier in the day claiming the Salvador FA wasn’t treating them right and was cutting their earnings.

And at an extremely cold St Paul, Minnesota, the United States literally froze Honduras 3-0 who are having their worst qualifiers ever with only three points to their credit. The Americans played with a huge advantage as the Hondurans were fighting against the subzero conditions as well. At the half, goalkeeper Luis ‘Buba’ López and forward Romell Quioto were having problems breathing and had to be given drip to treat them from hypothermia. The two were substituted.

Weston McKennie put the US ahead in the 8th minute from a header. Walker Zimmerman made it 2-0 in the 37th, and Christian Pulisic came off the bench to give them their third in the 68th.

So far, 15 countries have qualified to the Qatar World Cup, namely:

Qatar

Argentina

Belgium

Brazil

Croatia

Denmark

England

France

Germany

Iran

The Netherlands

Serbia

South Korea

Spain

Switzerland

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