The U.S. men’s national team won’t be able to qualify for the World Cup until its final Concacaf Octagonal match, but it has done everything in its power to ensure that it would take unprecedented catastrophe—yes, even after what happened in the last cycle—to prevent a trip to Qatar in November from happening.
The U.S. routed Panama, 5–1, in Orlando, Fla., with Christian Pulisic’s first international hat trick pacing the Americans in a match they had to win. With Costa Rica beating El Salvador 2–1 in an earlier match on Sunday, the U.S. knew that it could not completely punch its ticket to Qatar with a win. Regardless, a triumph over Panama put the U.S. all but in the World Cup and was necessary to ensure that qualification doesn’t come down to securing a positive outcome in Costa Rica, where the U.S. is winless all-time in World Cup qualifying. With three goals in the opening 27 minutes, through Pulisic, Paul Arriola and Jesús Ferreira, that triumph was well on its way to being achieved early. Pulisic tacked on two more to pad the U.S.’s goal-differential, which will matter entering the finale in San José. With the U.S. 10 goals clear of Costa Rica in that department, it would take a six-goal defeat (or worse) to miss the World Cup.
This isn’t entirely new territory for the U.S., which hosted Panama in Orlando in the second-to-last match in qualifying in the last cycle, too, and it went rather well then also. A 4–0 triumph, in which the-then-19-year-old Pulisic scored the opener, had put the U.S. in prime position to qualify, only for the wheels to fall off in Trinidad & Tobago (and simultaneous matches elsewhere that worked against the U.S.’s favor). Now, a hefty win at the very least expands the margin of error a great deal—and ensures the U.S. can do no worse than a fourth-place finish and playoff against Oceania’s qualifying champion. For Panama, its World Cup dream is over, as it has been eliminated from contention for a top-four finish.
