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2022 World Cup: Mexico and the USA qualified, Costa Rica will play a play-off against New Zealand

Mexico, winner of El Salvador (2-0), and the United States, although beaten in Costa Rica (2-0), validated their ticket on Wednesday for the World Cup-2022, during the 14th and last day of qualifications of the Concacaf zone. They join the list of nations that will see Qatar next November. Mexicans and Americans finish respectively in 2nd and 3rd place in the group behind Canada, already qualified and which finished 1st, despite its defeat in Panama (1-0). This will be the 17th participation in the World Cup, the 8th in a row, for the “Tri” who reached the quarters at home in 1970 and 1986, her best performances to date. A draw was enough for her against the Salvadorans, but the team of Tata Martino, if they did not always convince during this elimination phase , managed to finish it with a success. Uriel Antuna opened the scoring in the 17th minute and the striker Raul Jimenez added the second goal before the break. The United States knew they could afford to lose in Costa Rica, as long as it was not 6-0, in order to preserve their best goal difference in the event of a tie. with their evening rival. In the end, they lost 2-0, on two goals in eight minutes at the start of the second half, scored by the defender John Paul Vargas and the attacker Anthony Contreras. It is therefore without glory that the USA qualify for their 11th World Cup, their best course having led them to the semi-finals during the very first edition in 1930. For the Costa Ricans (4th), all is not over . They still have a chance to participate in the World Cup in Qatar (21 November-18 December), as they will play an affordable intercontinental play-off against New Zealand on June 13 or 14.

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