Jozy Altidore made US history. So did Christian Pulisic. Altidore scored twice in a three-minute span of the second half, Sacha Kljestan and Paul Arriola had goals and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 4-0 Tuesday night to reach the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. The Americans (4-1-1) finished atop Group C of the semifinal round in the North and Central American and Caribbean region and open the hexagonal on Nov. 11 against Mexico. That match almost certainly will be in Columbus, Ohio, where the US has won four straight qualifiers over El Tri by 2-0 scores. "No doubt in my mind," coach Jurgen Klinsmann said of the site. US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati later tweeted: "Guerra Fria?" After US hosts Mexico, it plays four days later at Costa Rica. Altidore etched his name in the record book by becoming the United States' leader with 16 qualifying goals, two more than Clint Dempsey. Pulisic made his first US start after seven appearances as a substitute, and at 17 years, 353 days, became the youngest American to start a qualifier. Landon Donovan had set the mark of 18 years, 184 days against Honduras in 2001 — the last home qualifier the Americans lost. Pulisic, who had two goals and an assist against St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week, showed pace and an ability to take on defenders down the left flank. He assisted on Altidore's second goal. Pulisic also had a memorable miss when his sliding shot in the first half hit the left post, ricocheted across the face of the goal and bounced off the right post. Trinidad (3-2-1) already had clinched a final-round berth and finished two points back, one ahead of Guatemala (3-2-1), which was eliminated despite a 9-3 rout of St. Vincent that included five goals by Carlos Ruiz. Canada, which hasn't played in the World Cup since 1986, was eliminated from Group A defeating visiting El Salvador 3-1 on goals by Clyle Larin, Nikolas Ledgerwood and David Edgar. Honduras (2-2-2) finished second, one point ahead of the Canadians (2-3-1), with a 0-0 draw at already qualified Mexico (5-0-1). Costa Rica won Group B, beating second-place Panama 3-1 on two goals by Christian Bolanos and one from Ronald Matarrita. Luis Tejada converted a 90th-minute penalty kick for the visitors. Both teams already had clinched. Haiti got its first win of the round when it beat Jamaica 2-0 in Kingston to leapfrog its rival into third place. — Agencies
