Mexico, USA clinch FIFA World Cup berths

Mexico booked their tickets to the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar on Wednesday after securing the results needed to claim the last two automatic qualifying places from the CONCACAF region. The USA were beaten 2-0 by Costa Rica in San Jose to finish third in the standings while Mexico eased past El Salvador 2-0 in Mexico City to finish second overall.

Costa Rica finished the qualifying competition in fourth place and will face New Zealand in a playoff for a World Cup berth. Canada had already qualified for the World Cup on Sunday.