International Break for FIFA World Cup 2014 Quealifications

This past weekend (September 7-11th) is an international break from club soccer for national teams to have an opportunity to play a few games in the group stage of the World Cup 2014 qualification.

For many European teams, these are some of the first national team games since the Euro Cup in which Spain put on a dominating performance in the final winning it 4-0 over Italy.

There are quite a few interesting match-ups in World Cup 2014 qualification where teams are placed in groups, and the top two usually advance from the group.

Often the games are David and Goliath battles, with large soccer countries taking on much smaller countries. But the Davids rarely win.

A few of the notable games already played include:

England 5-0 Moldova
Germany 3-0 Faroe Islands
Italy 2-2 Bulgaria
Netherlands 2-0 Turkey
Jamaica 2-1 USA

Visit the FIFA Website for more on World Cup Qualification Games.

USA Loses to Jamaica 2-1

In a surprising game in Jamaica, USA lost to Jamaica 2-1 in World Cup Qualifying.

After an early goal by Clint Dempsey, Jamaica scored two beautiful free-kicks to win the game.

Clint Dempsey's goal was scored in the 1st minute of play, and set a new record for fastest goal scored by the US in World Cup play.

The Jamaicans responded with two free-kicks, one in each half, that beat Tim Howard and gave Jamaica a valuable 5 points.

This leaves USA in a must win situation when the play Jamaica again on September 11th. This game will be played at home for the US and they will look to get the full three points as they strive to get to the top of their group.

USA's World Cup Qualifications Current Standings (9/11/12)

Jamaica is the surprise leader of the group after 3 games played.

• Jamaica - 7 Points
• Quatermala - 4 Points
• USA - 4 Points
• Antigua and Barbuda - 1 Point

With only the top two teams advancing, the US will have to start winning if it wants to avoid serious abuse from fans for not qualifying for the World Cup 2014.

Tonight (9/11), the US will have an opportunity to get three points as it plays Jamaica at home in Columbus Ohio. The game will be live at 8pm on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com.

Be sure to watch and cheer on the USMNT!