The U.S. men’s national team did what it needed to do in defeating Honduras 3-0 in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Wednesday in bitter-cold conditions at Saint Paul, Minn.
Weston McKennie in the eighth minute and Walker Zimmerman in the 37th staked the Americans (6-2-3, 21 points) to a 2-0 halftime lead in the team’s first set-piece goals of the qualifying round. Kellyn Acosta assisted each.
U.S. star Christian Pulisic, who was benched after two subpar performances in favor of Jordan Morris, entered for Morris in the 65th minute and scored three minutes later off another set piece to make it 3-0.
Goalie Matt Turner did not need to make a save for the United States.
The U.S. team moved to within one point of first-place Canada (22 points) pending the Canadians’ match later Wednesday at El Salvador. Mexico (18 points) sat in third place ahead of a later home match Wednesday against fourth-place Panama (17 points).
The top three teams automatically qualify for the World Cup in Qatar beginning Nov. 21, with the fourth-place team going to an intercontinental playoff. All CONCACAF teams will have three matches left after Wednesday.
Following a 2-0 loss at Canada on Sunday, the United States desperately needed a victory over Honduras (0-8-3, 3 points) considering the visitors had lost seven straight qualifiers and expressed no desire to play the match in extreme weather, which was 5 degrees with a minus-12 wind chill at kickoff.
The result means the United States, with some help elsewhere, likely could clinch a World Cup berth in the penultimate match at home vs. Panama on March 27 even with losses at Mexico (March 24) and Costa Rica (March 30).
McKennie scored the quickest U.S. goal of the qualifying round with a header to the right corner from Acosta’s free kick on the right flank. He has nine international goals.
Acosta was on the left when his service bounced off several Hondurans to Zimmerman for the defender’s third goal.
Acosta was also involved in the Pulisic goal. His corner kick was headed by Ricardo Pepi off Zimmerman and dropped to Pulisic for his 18th goal in a U.S. shirt.
–Field Level Media