United States earns World Cup spot, field beginning to take shape

October 12, 2:20 PMSoccer ExaminerNicholas Richards

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Start making your reservations in South Africa.

Behind two goals from Conor Casey, a blisterning Landon Donovan free-kick, and a botched Honduras penalty, the United States won in Central America, beating Honduras 3-2 to lock up their place in South Africa for next summer's World Cup. In all, eight teams qualified over the weekend to bump the number of qualified teams to 19 teams

In a game that was only shown on closed circuit television, the US fell behind on a sweet Honduran free kick only to see Casey grab both the equalizer and the go-ahead goal in a quick barrage. Landon Donovan then sent a rocket into the corner of the net to put the US up 3-1 after 68 minutes. Honduras pulled one back in the 78th - a goal ESPN curiously did not show in their highlights package - and had a penalty to tie the match in the 87th after Stu Holden handled a cross in the box, but Carlos Pavon put his penalty over the cross bar to ensure US passage to South Africa.

The victory boosts the US to the top of the CONCACAF table with one game remaining. They can win the group outright with a victory over Costa Rica on Wednesday. Honduras currently sit in the playoff with Uruguay, but should Honduras win at El Salvador and the US either wins or ties with Costa Rica, the Hondurans would jump Costa Rica into an automatic spot.

Follow this link to see who is currently booking tickets to South Africa.

A couple of big teams still face the possibility of a playoff. Portugal jumped Sweden in Europe's Group One after their 3-0 win over Hungary and Sweden's late loss to Denmark (which sent the Danes through to next summer's showpiece). Portugal face Malta on Wednesday - winners of zero matches in qualifying while sporting a -22 goal differential. Needless to say, Portugal will still be alive after Wednesday. The only bad news for Portugal is an injury to Tanning Bed All-Star Cristiano Ronaldo, who will miss the next three to four weeks.

Greece sits two points ahead of Israel in Group Two, but Greece face Luxembourg, so they, like Portugal, seem destined for the playoff round. Slovenia sit ahead of the Czech Republic in Group Three, and they look certain to lock down a playoff spot with a match against last-place San Marino.

The order in Groups Four, Five, Seven, Eight, and Nine is set, with Germany, Spain, Serbia, Italy, and the Netherlands automatically qualifying and Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, and Ireland heading to the playoffs (eight of the nine runners-up advance to the playoff, so Norway, runner-up in Group Nine with just 10 points from qualifying, is out of the running).

The runner-up spot in Group Six is still up in the air, however, with Ukraine moving into the playoffs after their 1-0 victory at home over already-qualified England. That leaves Croatia, a team that kept England out of Euro 2008 and was a minute away from advancing to the semi-finals of that tournament, out of South Africa. They play Kazahkstan on Wednesday, but Ukraine play away to Andorra, who sit at the bottom of the group.