The U.S. Men’s National Team fell victim to a poor start, losing to Costa Rica 3-1 in its seventh World Cup qualifying match of the Hexagonal. The Americans went down 2-0 inside the first 10 minutes of the match.
The USA now needs a win against Mexico in its next World Cup qualifier on Sept. 10 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, combined with a Honduras win or draw at home against Panama to clinch a berth to the world’s biggest sporting event. The USA-Mexico game will be broadcast live on Tuesday on ESPN, WatchESPN and UniMas at 8 p.m. ET. Mexico lost to Honduras 2-1 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and is desperate for a result against the Jurgen Klinsmann’s team.
The USA will finish World Cup qualifying with matches on Oct. 11 against Jamaica at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas (5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN, WatchESPN and UniMas) and Oct. 15 against Panama at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, Panama (10 p.m. ET on beIN Sport).
The USA dropped to second place with 13 points behind leaders Costa Rica (14 points) and ahead of Honduras (10) and Mexico (8). Panama (7) and Jamaica (3) split the points in their meeting Friday night with a 0-0 draw.
The USA suffered an unusual setback before the game started when midfielder Michael Bradley suffered an ankle injury during warm-ups and was replaced in the starting lineup by Cameron.
Costa Rica scored just two minutes into the game, exactly as it did in its last home World Cup qualifier against the USA in 2009 (also a 3-1 win for the Ticos). The home team sent the sell-out crowd into frenzy after converting a corner kick.
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