USA loses, ends bid
Trinidad’s 2-1 win snaps Cup hopes
COUVA, Trinidad — The United States was eliminated from World Cup contention Tuesday night, a shocking loss at Trinidad ending the Americans’ streak of seven consecutive appearances at soccer’s showcase.
Twenty-eight years after a stunning victory here put the United States back in the World Cup after a four-decade absence, their chances for the 2018 tournament in Russia ended on this island nation off the coast of Venezuela.
Trinidad and Tobago scored two first-half goals, and the United States was eliminated with a 2-1 defeat — its first time missing the World Cup since 1986.
Shocked American players slumped on the bench, and Matt Besler sat on the field after the final whistle as Panama’s game ended and then Costa Rica’s. At the end, dejected U.S. players filed into their locker rooms with blank looks.
The U.S. team entered its final qualifier with a berth uncertain for the first time since 1989. Home losses to Mexico in November 2016 and Costa Rica left the Americanslittle margin for error.
The Americans, ranked 28th, needed merely a tie against 99th-ranked Trinidad, which lost its sixth consecutive qualifier last week.
But the defeat — coupled with Honduras’ come-frombehind 3-2 win against Mexico and Panama’s 2-1 victory against Costa Rica on Ramon Torres’ 88th-minute goal — dropped the Americans from third place into fifth in the six-nation final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region.
Mexico and Costa Rica had clinched berths, and Panama claimed the third automatic spot and will go to the World Cup for the first time. Honduras will meet Australia in a two-game playoff next month for the other spot at next year’s 32nation tournament.
Missing the World Cup is a devastating blow to the U.S. Soccer Federation, which steadily has built the sport with the help of sponsors and television partners.
It also is a trauma for Fox, which broadcasts the next three World Cup events after taking the U.S. rights from ESPN. The USSF hopes to co-host the 2026 tournament with Mexico and Canada.
After an 0-2 start in the hexagonal last fall under Jurgen Klinsmann, the USSF replaced him in November with Bruce Arena, the American coach from 1998-2006.
The team revived with home wins over Honduras and Trinidad in the spring and draws at Panama and Mexico. But the 2-0 defeat to Costa Rica in New Jersey at the start of Labor Day weekend proved one hurdle too many to overcome.
“No excuses for us not getting the second goal and at least a point,” Arena said. “It’s a blemish for us.”