With the U.S. five minutes away from seeing its pursuit of an eighth consecutive World Cup seriously impeded, Bobby Wood rescued the Americans by scoring off a mad scramble in front of the goal, salvaging 1-1 tie with Honduras and keeping the U.S. in charge of its own qualifying destiny.
With the draw, the U.S. (2-3-3) remains in third place in the six-team hexagonal tournament, leading Honduras (also 2-3-3) by goal differential. Only the top three teams in the CONCACAF tournament advance automatically to next summer’s World Cup in Russia.
And though both the U.S. and Honduras figure to fall behind Panama, who played last-place Trinidad and Tobago in Tuesday’s late game, the Americans get a shot at Panama at home next month before finishing the qualifying competition against Trinidad and Tobago.