MEXICO CITY, March 31: It was never really in doubt that Mexico would make its eighth straight World Cup.
Mexico had all but booked its spot in Qatar heading into its final qualifying match against El Salvador on Wednesday night. The mood from the home crowd at Azteca Stadium was light from the moment a remote-controlled toy truck delivered the game ball to midfield for kickoff.
Uriel Antuna scored in the 16th minute for the early lead and Raúl Jimenez converted on a penalty kick before the end of the first half, and El Tri downed El Salvador 2-0 to make the World Cup spot official.
CONCACAF’s three automatic bids went to Canada, Mexico and the United States. Canada had already secured its first World Cup berth in 36 years with a 4-0 victory over Jamaica in Toronto on Sunday. The Canadians fell to Panama 1-0 in their final match but finished atop the 8-team table with 28 points.
Mexico also finished with 28 points, but fell to second on goal difference.
Costa Rica defeated Canada 1-0 last week before beating Honduras 2-1 on Sunday, moving into fourth place in the standings and preventing both Mexico and the United States from clinching before Wednesday.
Jamaica defeated Honduras 2-1, with both teams already eliminated.
As the fourth-place finisher, Costa Rica advances to an intercontinental playoff against New Zealand, which defeated the Solomon Islands 5-0 in the Oceania region earlier in the day.
The World Cup draw is set for Friday, with the eight top seeds going to host Qatar, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Portugal and Spain.
Pot two will include Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Uruguay, Mexico and the United States. Canada was in pot four. Pots are filled based on FIFA rankings.
With the conclusion of the CONCACAF qualifiers, the World Cup field was nearly set with 29 of the 32 teams wrapping up spots. Fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic delayed the qualification process, as did Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so the final teams won’t be determined until June.
Peru, which finished in fifth place in South America, will compete for a berth against the winner of Asia’s fifth-place playoff between Australia and the United Arab Emirates. The winner of the game between New Zealand and Costa Rica also advances.
The World Cup is set to start on Nov. 21.
Mexico has appeared in 16 World Cups since 1930. El Tri has never won the premier tournament but reached the quarterfinals in both 1970 and 1986. The team has advanced to the elimination round in each of its past seven World Cups.(AP)
