CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings through October 10

The USA struggled on the road on Sunday, losing 1-0 to Panama in Panama City. The US couldn’t gain significant control of possession and Panama did just enough with a 54th minute goal to get a critical three points.

If Mexico holds on against Honduras (up 1-0 at halftime), the US will drop into a tie for second with Panama. Although Panama has the head-to-head win over the USMNT, America gets the edge because the first tiebreaker is goal difference, which they lead by one.

UPDATE: Mexico thumped Honduras 3-0 to re-take the CONCACAF lead through five matches.

Canada has to be the most disappointed team coming out of Sunday’s matches. They went to Jamaica and could only manage a tie. A road match can be tricky, but Jamaica is the worst team in the group at this point and this was a missed chance for Canada. They sit a point behind the US and Panama.

The next slate of matches is this coming Wednesday. The US hosts Costa Rica, El Salvador hosts Mexico, Canada hosts Panama, and Honduras hosts Jamaica. That Canada-Panama match could prove huge. The top three teams receive automatic qualification to the 2022 World Cup. The fourth-place team goes to a playoff round among all the federations, scheduled to take place in June 2022.

CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings, through Oct 10

1. Mexico, 3-2-0, 11 points
2. USA, 2-2-1, 8 Points (Goal Difference 4, Goals Scored 7)
3. Panama, 2-2-1, 8 Points (Goal Difference 3, Goals Scored 5)
4. Canada, 1-4-0, 7 Points
5. Costa Rica, 1-3-1, 6 points
6. El Salvador, 1-2-2, 5 Points
7. Honduras, 0-3-1, 3 points
8. Jamaica, 0-2-3, 2 points