Honduras, Mexico secure place in FIFA U-20 WC 2017

Mexico and Honduras have secured two of the four available CONCACAF tickets for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017, scheduled to take place from May 20 to June 11.

Mexico became the first team on Wednesday to qualify following their comprehensive 6-1 win over El Salvador, said FIFA in a media release.

Mexico bounced back from a 1-0 opening defeat against USA in some style, with the one-sided scoreline highlighted by a treble from midfielder Uriel Antuna. El Tri went ahead on the quarter-hour mark, and a 4-0 half-time margin meant the match was effectively over as a contest by the midway point.

Thanks to the hefty victory, Mexico cannot finish lower than second in the three-way group ahead of the final match between USA (3 points) and El Salvador (0) points. USA just need a draw in the final match to reach Korea Republic 2017.

The latter match saw Honduras collect a 2-1 comeback win over tournaments hosts Costa Rica. Honduras turned around the deficit with Foslyn Grant heading home the all-important winner midway through the second half.

Honduras now have six points from their two matches, while Panama and Costa Rica will do battle for the final available ticket in their group on Friday.