U.S. reaches final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying
Argentina salvages draw, Uruguay now 1st in South America
Jozy Altidore scored twice in a three-minute span of the second half, Sacha Kljestan and Paul Arriola had goals and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 4-0 on Tuesday night to reach the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The Americans (4-1-1) finished atop Group C of the semifinal round in the North and Central American and Caribbean region and will open the hexagonal on Nov. 11 against Mexico — presumably in Columbus, Ohio, where the U.S. has won four straight qualifiers over El Tri by 2-0 scores.
Christian Pulisic made his first U.S. start after seven appearances as a substitute, and at 17 years, 353 days became the youngest American to start a qualifier. Landon Donovan had set the mark of 18 years, 184 days against Honduras in 2001.
Argentina salvages draw, Uruguay now in 1st
Nicolas Otamendi saved Argentina from a huge embarrassment, scoring in the 83rd minute Tuesday to salvage a 2-2 draw at last-place Venezuela.
Venezuela almost snatched the victory in the 89th when Mikel Villanueva hit the post to the right of beaten Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero.
Argentina played without Barcelona star Lionel Messi, who had a groin injury. Messi scored Argentina's only goal last week in the 1-0 win over Uruguay.
In the other South American qualifying matches:
- Uruguay took over leadership in the competition, improving to 16 points with a convincing 4-0 win over Paraguay.
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Brazil edged past Colombia 2-1 after Neymar scored the game-winner in the 74th minute. The Selecão improved to 15 points with its second straight win under new coach Tite.
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Chile drew Bolivia 0-0. The back-to-back Copa America champions now have 11 points in qualifying.
Euro finalists Portugal, France off to dreary starts in World Cup qualifying
While European Championship runner-up France was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Belarus, the Netherlands and Sweden did find the target as they began their rebuilding process with a 1-1 draw in Group A.
Sweden's 62-goal record scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic is no longer around, having retired after a dismal Euro 2016 campaign.
Still, Marcus Berg scored a Zlatan-esque goal with a chip from just inside the penalty area shortly before halftime.
Veteran Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder leveled midway through the second half for a once-proud team side that is low on confidence after failing to qualify for Euro 2016.
In Group B, European champion Portugal had to leave Cristiano Ronaldo out of its squad to face Switzerland and was deservedly beaten 2-0 in Basel.
Romelu Lukaku scored a goal in each half for Belgium in a 3-0 win at Cyprus in Group H.
Cahill comes up big for Australia
Tim Cahill came off the bench to give Australia a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in the third round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old midfielder drilled home a Brad Smith cross from close range with 10 minutes remaining in Abu Dhabi. The Socceroos made it two wins from two games to go top of Group B, ahead of Saudi Arabia on goal difference.
While Japan successfully bounced back from its opening loss to the United Arab Emirates to down Thailand 2-0.
In Group A, China picked up its first point after holding Iran to a 0-0 draw to keep its World Cup hopes alive, especially as South Korea and Syria also played to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday.
The top two teams in Groups A and B will qualify automatically for the World Cup, with the two third-place teams going to a fourth-round match - to decide which of them makes the intercontinental playoffs.
With files from CBC