A B C D
E F G H
Americans qualifying for Cup
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- Brian McBride's two goals Sunday may win him a trip to soccer's World Cup with the rest of the Americans. They didn't hurt U.S. coach Steve Sampson's chances either, but they ruined El Salvador's.The United States, which last week clinched a berth in next summer's tournament in France, held on for a 4-2 win without its best players and ended the qualifying round in second place with a 4-1-5 record.
El Salvador (2-4-4) was eliminated from qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region, which will send three teams to the 32-nation field. It needed a victory and a Mexican win over Jamaica on Sunday to get in but even a win over the Americans wouldn't have mattered since the Jamaicans and Mexicans played a scoreless tie.
Mexico (4-0-6) finished first, one point ahead of the Americans and Jamaica (3-2-5) finished third, becoming the first Caribbean country to qualify for the World Cup since Haiti in 1974.
Canada finished last at 1-6-3.
Chris Henderson, another American fighting for a roster spot, scored in the 49th minute to make it 3-0 before Nildelson de Melo scored in the 60th and Raul Diaz Arce converted a penalty kick in the 63rd. But Preki Radosavljevic made it 4-2 in the 82nd minute.
Now the U.S. Soccer Federation must decide if Sampson, whose contract expired after the game, will continue as coach. He won't be helped by the two second-half goals by El Salvador, which was 0-2-2 without a goal in its other four road games in the final round of qualifying.
Sampson was criticized after a 1-1 tie at home against Jamaica on Oct. 3, but the Americans followed with a scoreless tie at Mexico and a win at Canada to ensure their third consecutive World Cup appearance.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan