Dallas: Canada and Costa Rica booked their spots at this year’s Copa America on Saturday after winning their respective legs in a CONCACAF playoff double-header in Texas.
Canada advanced to the tournament after defeating Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 before Costa Rica defeated Honduras 3-1 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
Cyle Larin and Jacob Shaffelburg sealed the victory for Canada, who will now face world champions Argentina in the Copa America opener on June 20.
“It means a lot to us as a team, I’m happy to score and advance to the Copa America,” Larin said after the win.
“It was a good performance from the boys. We knew it was going to be hard to break them down but we stuck to the game, stuck together and got the win.”
Real Mallorca winger Larin fires Canada into the lead in the 61st minute and Tajon Buchanan finds himself perfectly from the right side, a good shot into the bottom corner of the opponent.
Substitute Shaffelburg sealed the game with Canada’s second goal in stoppage time when he collected a pass from Jonathan David before unleashing a thunderous shot into the roof of the net from the box.
Canada’s reward for Saturday’s victory is a place in Group A of the Copa America alongside Argentina, Peru and Lionel Messi’s Chile.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, will feature in Group D alongside Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay after a 3-1 win over Honduras.
In an entertaining contest, Honduras took the lead with Michael Chirinos’ first-time thunderous volley from 25 yards, which weaved its way into the Costa Rica net after 10 minutes.
Orlando Galo then equalized for Costa Rica two minutes later when Honduras failed to clear a free kick in the box.
Teenager Warren Madrigal then uncorked a spectacular long-range volley to fire Costa Rica into the lead in the 56th minute, before Jefferson Brenes doubled ‘Los Ticos’ lead in the 62nd minute to make the game safe.
Copa America, South America’s international soccer championship, has been expanded this year to include teams from CONCACAF and will be held in venues across the United States.
