It wasn't meant to be this way. The US and Mexico were meant to take the top two spots, with Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama battling for third position. Instead, Costa Rica (14 points) are handily positioned at the top of the group just above the US (13 points) and Honduras (10 points) have a crucial two-point advantage over Mexico (eight points), with Panama (seven points) still in touch in fifth place.
The US have the advantage of two of their last three games at home, as do Honduras, who finish their qualification series with a match against cellar dwellers Jamaica. Mexico need to travel to the US and Costa Rica, though by the time of they play in San Jose, the Costa Ricans may have already qualified.
Miroslav Klose and Cristiano Ronaldo stole the limelight in Europe's World Cup qualifying fixtures yesterday that saw several nations edge closer to a place at the finals in Brazil.
Veteran Klose set Germany on the way to a 3-0 win against neighbours Austria which keeps them firmly in control of Group C, while Ronaldo netted a hat-trick as Portugal came from behind to triumph 4-2 in Northern Ireland.
Reigning world champions Spain eased to a 2-0 win in Finland, while Italy are just one more victory away from qualifying after a 1-0 defeat of Bulgaria in Palermo, but it was not all plain sailing for the big boys, with the Netherlands having to scramble to draw 2-2 in Estonia.
England took control of Group H thanks to their 4-0 defeat of whipping boys Moldova while Belgium are on the brink of qualifying from Group A after a 2-0 win in Scotland.