FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers: Mexico, US Qualify for World Cup

Mexico City, March 31 (QNA) - The Mexican and US football teams joined the list of qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 after Mexico defeated El Salvador 2-0 and the US lost to Costa Rica 0-2 in the two matches that took place on Thursday in the 14th and last round of the final round matches in CONCACAF Qualifiers (North, Central America, and the Caribbean) qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. The same round also saw Jamaica beat Honduras 2-1 and Panama beat Canada 1-0. Mexico raised its score to 28 points in second place in the qualifiers table with only a goal difference behind its Canadian counterpart, who officially qualified for the World Cup before the matches of this round. The US' balance froze at 25 points in third place, with only a goal difference against its Costa Rican counterpart, who needed a victory in this match to qualify at the expense of the US. With this, the US will accompany Canada and Mexico to the FIFA World Cup, while Costa Rica is in the intercontinental play-off against New Zealand, the winner of the Oceania Confederation qualifiers. The competition to qualify for the finals and the intercontinental play-off was limited to the teams of the US, Mexico, and Costa Rica before this round, while the teams of Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Honduras were eliminated from the competition before this round. Mexico crowned its successful qualifying campaign by defeating El Salvador 2-0, with goals scored by Uriel Antuna in the 17th minute and Raul Jimenez in the 43rd from a penalty kick. The US grabbed the third direct qualification to the World Cup, despite losing to Costa Rica, with two goals scored by Juan Pablo Vargas and Anthony Contreras in the 51st and 59th minutes. Despite this result, Costa Rica qualified to meet New Zealand in the intercontinental play-off in June. Mexico and the US booked the 28th and 29th places in the World Cup before the final draw will be held on Friday in Doha. The US will return to the World Cup after its absence from the last edition hosted by Russia in 2018. The US is participating in the finals for the 11th time, knowing that the best team performance in its previous participation was in the first edition in 1930, when it ranked third in the tournament. Mexico is participating in the finals for the eighth time consecutively, as it has not missed the finals since the 1994 edition in the United States, and this participation will be its 17th in the finals. The best performance of the Mexican team in its previous participation in the World Cup was during the 1970 and 1986 editions hosted by its country, where it reached the quarter-finals. In the same round of qualifiers, Panama defeated Canada 1-0, raising its tally to 21 points in fifth place. Canada suffered its second defeat in this round of qualifiers out of the last three matches it played in the qualifiers, but this defeat did not affect its position at the top of the qualifiers table. Jamaica defeated Honduras 2-1 to raise its score to 11 points and advance to sixth place, while Honduras' balance froze at four points in eighth and last place, as the team failed to achieve any wins in this round of qualifiers. (QNA)