RIO DE JANEIRO, March 31: Guatemala were brought down to earth with a bump when they lost 2-0 away to the United States in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday while underdogs Panama held Mexico to a 1-1 draw.

Trinidad & Tobago picked up their first point in the final stage of the CONCACAF qualifiers by holding Costa Rica to a goalless draw in the evening’s other match.

Mexico, who finished with 10 men in Panama City, stayed top of the group with seven points from three games, followed by the United States with six, Guatemala and Costa Rica with four and Panama with two.

The top three qualify for Germany in 2006 and the fourth plays off against the fifth team from Asia.

Guatemala, fresh from a 5-1 win over Trinidad last Saturday, visited Birmingham, Alabama, with hopes of pulling off another good result as they attempt to reach their first World Cup.

But U.S. striker Eddie Johnson, celebrating his 21st birthday, had other ideas as he latched on to Landon Donovan’s back-heeled pass and fired home off the post after only 11 minutes.

Los Angeles Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz, Guatemala’s topscorer with nine goals, could have equalised when he found himself with a clear run on goal early in the second half but keeper Kasey Keller deflected his shot wide.

Steve Ralston made it 2-0 in the 68th minute as the United States recovered from Sunday’s disappointing 2-1 defeat in Mexico to put their campaign back on track.

Panama, another team who have never played at a World Cup, boldy took the game to Mexico, only to fall behind to a Ramon Morales goal in the 26th minute.

Mexico, with coach Ricardo La Volpe watching from the stands after being sent off against the United States, were in trouble in the 56th minute when Pavel Pardo was dismissed for punching Armando Gun.

Panama continued to press forward and finally equalised in the 74th minute with a superb bicycle kick from substitute Luis Tejeda.

There were no such thrills in Port of Spain where visiting Costa Rica surprisingly left striker Paulo Wanchope on the bench as they appeared happy to settle for a point in a dour match.

Results:

Argentina 1 Colombia 0

Paraguay 2 Chile 1

Uruguay 1 Brazil 1

Peru 2 Ecuador 2

CONCACAF results

Trinidad & Tobago 0 Costa Rica 0

United States 2 Guatemala 0

Panama 1 Mexico 1

European results

GROUP ONE

Andorra 0 Czech Republic 4

Macedonia 1 Romania 2

Netherlands 2 Armenia 0

GROUP TWO

Ukraine 1 Denmark 0

Georgia 2 Turkey 5

Greece 2 Albania

GROUP THREE

Estonia 1 Russia 1

Latvia 4 Luxembourg 0

Slovakia 1 Portugal 1

GROUP FOUR

Switzerland 1 Cyprus 0

Israel 1 France 1

GROUP FIVE

Moldova 0 Norway 0

Slovenia 1 Belarus 1

GROUP SIX

England 2 Azerbaijan 0

Austria 1 Wales 0

Poland 1 Northern Ireland 0

GROUP SEVEN

Bosnia 1 Lithuania 1

San Marino 1 Belgium 2

Serbia & Montenegro 0 Spain 0

GROUP EIGHT

Croatia 3 Malta 0

Hungary 1 Bulgaria 1

—Agencies