The United States, which last week clinched a berth in next summer's tournament in France, held on for a 4-2 win without its best players and ended the qualifying round in second place with a 4-1-5 record.
El Salvador (2-4-4) was eliminated from qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region, which will send three teams to the 32-nation field.
It needed a victory and a Mexican win over Jamaica yesterday to get in but even a win over the Americans wouldn't have mattered since the Jamaicans and Mexicans played a scoreless tie.
Mexico (4-0-6) finished first, one point ahead of the Americans and Jamaica (3-2-5) finished third, becoming the first Caribbean nation to qualify for the World Cup since Haiti in 1974.
Chris Henderson, another American fighting for a roster spot, scored in the 49th minute to make it 3-0 before Nildelson de Melo scored in the 60th and Raul Diaz Arce converted a penalty kick in the 63rd. But Preki Radosavljevic made it 4-2 in the 82nd minute.
The United States scored its most goals in 31 World Cup games since a 5-1 victory over Jamaica on Aug. 13, 1988.
11-17-97
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