The World Cup qualifier between Costa Rica and Honduras initially scheduled for Friday has been pushed back to Saturday due to Tropical Storm Nate.
The storm killed at least 20 people in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua on Thursday. Costa Rica declared a national state of emergency on Thursday afternoon due to Nate, which is expected to hit the Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida coasts late Saturday or early Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane.
The qualifier will kick off at Estadio Nacional at 6 pm ET on Saturday.
The match holds major implications for the US, who will host Panama in Orlando in a critical World Cup qualifier on Friday (7 pm ET; ESPN2, Univision, UDN).
Costa Rica is currently in second in the CONCACAF Hexagonal, and need just one point from their final two Hex matches to secure a berth at next summer’s World Cup. Honduras are in fifth in the Hex, tied with fourth-place US on points but trailing the Americans via tiebreaker.
A US win on Friday coupled with a Honduras loss on Saturday would all but guarantee at least fourth place and a spot in the World Cup qualifying playoff against Australia or Syria for the US.
Honduras will host Mexico in their World Cup qualifying finale on Tuesday night. Costa Rica will travel to take on Panama in their Hex closer, also on Tuesday.
