2022 World Cup: How United States and Mexico can qualify

The race to the 2022 World Cup is drawing to a close, with seven games to be played this week to decide which nations from the CONCACAF region will head to Qatar in November.

— <a href="/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/3860182/2022-world-cup-how-qualifying-works-around-the-world?src=" https: www.espn.com target="_blank">World Cup 2022 qualifying: How it works around the world

The top three nations in CONCACAF qualify directly to the World Cup, which begins on Nov. 21 and runs through to the final on Dec. 18.

The fourth-place nation in the region will face a playoff against the winner of the Oceania region, most likely New Zealand.

The playoff will be one match only, and will be hosted by Qatar. The fixture is scheduled to be played on June 13 or 14.

Coach John Herdman led Canada to only its second men's World Cup with a 4-0 win over Jamaica on Sunday. The previous appearance came in 1986, when it lost all three matches to France, Hungary and Soviet Union without scoring a goal.

That leaves two automatic places available, plus the playoff.

Of the eight teams in the final stage of qualifying, El Salvador, Honduras and Jamaica have been eliminated.

That leaves Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and the United States still with hopes of making the World Cup.

March 27Honduras vs. MexicoEl Salvador vs. Costa RicaUnited States vs. Panama

March 30 Panama vs. Canada Jamaica vs. Honduras Mexico vs. El Salvador Costa Rica vs. United States

2. United States (22)

The United States was facing the possibility of missing a second consecutive World Cup if it failed to win in Mexico on Thursday. Gregg Berhalter's side could only manage a 0-0 draw, and while things are still tight it looks a better point after Panama couldn't win at home to