U.S. Ties Jamaica At 1 In World Cup Qualifier

Riding an unprecedented wave of soccer fervor back home, Jamaica stunned the United States with a 1-1 tie in a World Cup qualifier Friday night.

Eric Wynalda put the United States (2-1-4) ahead with a penalty kick 3 minutes into the second half. But Deon Burton tied it 2 minutes later after a defensive misplay by Jeff Agoos.

The Americans are third with 10 points in the six-team final round of qualifying from the North and Central American region, which will send three teams to next summer’s tournament in France.

Jamaica (3-2-3) leads with 12 points, followed by Mexico (3-0-2) with 11. El Salvador (2-2-3) is fourth with nine points. The U.S. team most likely will need four more points to qualify. The Americans play at Mexico on Nov. 2, at Canada on Nov. 9 and close against El Salvador at Foxboro, Mass., on Nov. 16.

U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna will miss the Mexico game after getting his second yellow card of the competition on Friday night.

Jamaica, seeking its first World Cup berth, drew about half the crowd of 51,528 at RFK Stadium, and the fans from each nation spent the entire game tying to out-cheer each other.