U.S. men’s soccer team qualifies for World Cup

It’s finally official now: the U.S. men’s soccer team has qualified for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The clinching result wasn’t particularly satisfying, a 2-0 loss at Costa Rica on Wednesday night at the Estadio Nacional in San José. But because Costa Rica had to win by six goals to overtake the Americans in the standings, the odds of the U.S. failing to get the job done were always minuscule.

“It’s a proud moment for the team, proud moment for U.S. soccer,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters in Costa Rica. “The team’s ecstactic.”

Berhalter also told CBS on its postgame show that there was a hearty celebration in his team’s locker room.

The first half was pretty wide-open, with the U.S. out-shooting Costa Rica 8-6. But there were also a lot of fouls whistled, nine by the Ticos and four by the Americans. One of the home team’s fouls left U.S. midfield star Tyler Adams sufficiently banged up that he was subbed off at halftime for Luca de la Torre.

The home team opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a powerful header by Juan Pablo Vargas off a corner kick. Walker Zimmerman was marking Vargas, jumped for the ball and missed it, and once Vargas got there Zack Steffen had little chance.

The jam-packed home crowd erupted in celebration, and Costa Rica’s players ran to a sideline to salute their fans. But everyone watching knew that the goal had no impact on the standings. Not only did the fourth-place Ticos need to win by six goals to overtake the second-place Americans, but they lost their shot at chasing down third-place Mexico when El Tri went ahead of El Salvador at home.

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Costa Rica scored again in the 60th on a play where the U.S. defense broke down quite badly on a set piece. Zack Steffen got stuck way off his goal line early in the play and recovered, but Anthony Contreras walked through the rest of the U.S. defensive corps – including behind Zimmerman as he was ball-watching.

Ticos goalkeeper Keylor Navas, a veteran of European giants including Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain (his current home), was as superb as ever. Navas totaled six saves on the night, reminding American viewers why he – not anyone from the U.S. or Mexico – is the chief rival of Canada’s Alphonso Davies for the title of Concacaf’s best player.

That was made especially clear when Navas suffered an injury late in the second half and had to be subbed out in the 79th minute.

The final shots tally was 15-12 in the United States’ favor, such as it mattered.

The loss was the Americans’ 10th straight in World Cup qualifying in Costa Rica. They have never won a qualifier in San José, with just one tie way back in 1985.

But the U.S. team didn’t hesitate to celebrate qualification, and finally dismissing the ghosts of their failure to qualify for the 2018 tournament.

“It was a full-on party” in the locker room, Berhalter told CBS’ postgame show. “These guys earned it, they deserve it, and although we’re disappointed in the result tonight, we can still put it past us because we’re in the World Cup.”

With this campaign now over, and the U.S. almost certain to not have to qualify for the 2026 tournament it is co-hosting, the Americans won’t have to worry about that sordid streak again for a long time to come.

The World Cup group stage draw will take place Friday (noon ET, FS1 and Telemundo), and the United States will be in it.

As Tim Weah put it when asked by CBS what message he’d give U.S. fans: “There’s no better way to thank you than to qualify for a World Cup and continue building on this process.”

Costa Rica is heading to an intercontinental playoff in Qatar in June, against Oceania champion New Zealand. The Ticos will be favored to become the fourth Concacaf team, along with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, in the 32-team field in Qatar in November.

That’s all that matters. One thousand, six hundred and 32 days since that disastrous night in Couva, it can finally be left in the past.