The CONCACAF closed the qualifying phase for the World Cup in Qatar early this Thursday confirming direct classification of United States and Mexicoor, that will accompany the already classified Canada. For its part, Costa Rica will be forced to contest the repechage against New Zealand after being relegated to fourth place in the group.
In this fourteenth and last date of the octagonal final, which seemed to be a mere formality, there was only one change in the table in which Mexico -with 28 points, the same as Canada- displaced United States from second place -with 25 units-, with their 2-0 victory at the Azteca Stadium and the 2-0 defeat of the Stars and Stripes against the Ticos in San José, who closed with the same 25 points from the USA .USA
But after a year – the tie began on March 21, 2021 – and three phases, the Canadians stood out in a tie that was also marked by the covid-19 pandemic.
On June 25, 2020, after the decision of the FIFA to postpone the competition due to covid, the Concacaf changed the schedule of what would be the tie format and announced it on July 27, 2020.
In the new first round, the Concacaf teams ranked between sixth and thirty-fifth according to the July 2020 FIFA rankings were grouped into six zones of five teams in which the winners qualified for the second round.
In that second phase, those six first-round winners played a two-legged tie in which the top three advanced to the final round where they joined the top five Concacaf teams, based on the same FIFA ranking. , to play the final octagonal that ended this Wednesday.
1-0. PANAMA, ELIMINATED, BEATS THE LEADER
Panama closed its participation in the octagonal final with a 1-0 win against leader Canada.
The goal that gave the canaleros their sixth victory in 14 games was scored by Gabriel Torres in the 49th minute of the fourteenth and last date of the competition.
2-0. COSTA RICA BEATS USA
The Costa Rican team defeated the United States 2-0, but did not achieve its goal of achieving a direct quota for Qatar 2022 and is preparing to play the playoff against New Zealand.
The Ticos, led by Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez, reached 25 points, the same as Greg Berhalter’s Americans, who took third place in direct classification for the Qatari event due to better goal difference.
The defender of the Colombian Millionaires Juan Pablo Vargas defeated the resistance of Zack Steffen, of the English Manchester City, with an accurate header to decree the 1-0 for the Ticos.
In minute 58, after a confusion in the visiting area, Contreras, from the local Guanacasteca, raised the second Costa Rican goal to the board.
2-0. MEXICO FINISHES SECOND
Creative Uriel Antuna repaid Gerardo Martino’s trust with a goal and a penalty taken by Raúl Jiménez gave Mexico a 2-0 win over El Salvador and second place with the same 28 points as leader Canada.
2-1. JAMAICA AND HONDURAS, FOR HONOR AND NOTHING ELSE
And it was just that, a match for the honor in which the Reggae Boyz added 11 points, with their 2-1 victory against the Catrachos, to finish in sixth place and finish burying a bottom-ranked Honduras with only 4 units. .
Honduran Ángel Tejeda opened the scoring from a penalty in the 18th minute, but the Jamaicans scored through Leon Bailey in the 39th and Ravel Morrison in the 45+2.
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