The United States' chances of qualifying for Russia 2018 took a hit on Friday after Marco Urena got a goal in each half to give Costa Rica a 2-0 victory in a scrappy game in New York.
The result means the US remain in third place in the six-team qualifying group, with just eight points from seven games.
The top three teams in the group qualify automatically for Russia and the fourth-placed side goes into a play off with a team from Asia.
"We still have three games left in the competition and were still in position to qualify for the World Cup," US coach Bruce Arena said.
"We lost to a team that played better than us ... we have to put this past us real quick and regroup for Tuesday.
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"Mexico and Costa Rica are (basically) qualified. It's going to be a fight between the other four teams for that remaining spot."
Costa Rica took the lead after half an hour when captain Bryan Ruiz slipped a nice through ball to Urena, who evaded defender Tim Ream to angle the ball past keeper Tim Howard from just outside the six-yard box.
Urena completed the win with ten minutes to go when he ran through another gaping hole in the US defence to give Howard no chance from 15 yards out.
The win moved Costa Rica equal with Mexico at the top of the table with 14 points.
Panama, who face Mexico later on Friday, have seven points, while Honduras, who face bottom side Trinidad and Tobago, have five.
Mexico can book their place in Russia if they win and Honduras lose.
