Uruguay fall to Ecuador, looking likely to face Jordan

In the Americas, Mexico kept their slim automatic qualifying hopes alive with a last-minute win over Panama and Colombia punched a ticket with a 3-3 draw with Chile.

Jorge Gimenez and Uruguay will most likely occupy the CONMEBOL fifth-place spot after losing Friday night, setting up a play-off with Jordan. Martin Mejia / AP

Uruguay dropped to fifth and Ecuador moved to the brink of qualifying for next year’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory on Friday, with Jefferson Montero scoring in the 30th minute.

With one group game to play in South American qualifying, and with the top four to qualify automatically for the World Cup and the fifth team to face Asian play-off winner Jordan in a further play-off, Ecuador is third, three points clear of Uruguay in fifth and with a six-goal better goal difference.

Chile, in fourth, have a four-goal edge in difference on Uruguay.

In the final round on Tuesday, Uruguay will face the tough task of playing qualifying leaders Argentina at home. Ecuador will face Chile away. Anything short of a commanding victory over Argentina and a Chile loss will send Uruguay to the play-off with Jordan.

In their match Friday, Chile led 3-0 at the break but Colombia rebounded with a 69th-minute goal from Teofilio Gutierrez and two penalties by Falcao in the 75th and 84th to seal a 3-3 draw. The one point gave Colombia enough to qualify for Brazil automatically.

Argentina beat already-eliminated Peru 3-1 and Venezuela failed to get a necessary victory to keep their hopes alive, drawing with Paraguay 1-1.

In the North and Central American and Caribbean qualifying, Raul Jimenez scored on a 16-yard bicycle kick in the 85th minute – four minutes after Mexico had allowed a tying goal – and El Tri beat Panama 2-1 at Azteca Stadium to revive their hopes of qualifying for their sixth straight World Cup.

Languishing in fifth place in Concacaf, Mexico went ahead on Oribe Peralta’s goal off a pass from Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez in the 40th minute.

Panama, ahead of Mexico at the start of the night on total goals, tied the score in the 81st when Luis Tejada beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to a through pass, touched the ball around the keep and put it into the empty net.

Jimenez, who entered in the 83rd, received a cross with his back to the goal, tipped the ball in the air to himself and beat goalkeeper Jaime Penedo with an overhead kick.

After third-place Honduras beat Costa Rica 1-0, Mexico sit fourth in qualifying with 11 points, setting them up for a likely play-off with Oceania winners New Zealand.

They still have an outside chance of auomatically qualifying, but Honduras face Jamaica, who have yet to win a game in qualifying, in the final round while Mexico will travel to Costa Rica, who sit in second. Honduras need only a draw to clinch autmoatic qualification.

USA, atop the table, also beat Jamaica 2-0.