Guatemala and Panama have become the first teams to advance past the first group stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, with nine teams still in contention for four remaining berths in the semifinal round.

Panama was the first team to secure a spot, beating Nicaragua 5-1 on October 11 to clinch the Group C title. Guatemala, which beat Belize 3-1 the same day, then joined "Los Canaleros" as the Group E winner when Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines drew 1-1 on Saturday.

El Salvador and Canada also moved closer to advancing, while 12 others saw their dwindling World Cup hopes officially ended with two games remaining.

Canada missed its chance to clinch, held to a 0-0 draw at home by Puerto Rico, but still maintained its four-point lead in Group D over St. Kitts and Nevis, which drew 1-1 at home with St. Lucia.

El Salvador overcame a more than two-hour rain delay to beat the Cayman Islands 4-0, moving five points clear of Suriname in Group A. Suriname was beaten 3-1 at home by the Dominican Republic, which was eliminated despite the victory along with the Caymans.

In Group B, Trinidad recovered from its loss to Bermuda on Friday, winning 4-0 at home against Barbaos, while Guyana was held to a 0-0 draw by Bermuda but retains a one point lead going into the final home and home match-up between the two contenders.

Antigua routed the U.S. Virgin Islands 10-0 to maintain its perfect record and to climb atop Group F two points clear of Haiti, which had to settle for a 2-2 draw at home with Curacao.

The CONCACAF Champions League heads into its final round of the Group Stage on Tuesday with 12 teams still in contention for six remaining quarterfinal berths.

Santos Laguna has clinched the Group B title and the Seattle Sounders have claimed one of two berths from Group D. Only Motagua and Herediano have been eliminated, leaving everybody else with hope of advancing to the knockout round in March.

Group A has Alajuelense atop with 12, three ahead of both Morelia -- which will host the Costa Rican side Tuesday -- and the LA Galaxy, which will plays at winless Motagua in the final Group Stage match on Thursday. Colorado has a one-point edge over Isidro Metapan, and is two points in front of Real Espana in Group B, but must travel to Santos on Wednesday, while Metapan and Espana face off the same night.

All four teams remain in contention in Group C, with Pumas leading by a point over Dallas and Toronto, and three in front of Tauro. Dallas will host fellow MLS side Toronto on Tuesday while Tauro plays at Pumas with the possibility that all four teams could finish with eight points.

Monterrey has a two-point lead over Comunicaciones for the remaining berth in Group D, but must go to Seattle for its final game on Tuesday, while Comunicaciones plays already eliminated Herediano.

For more information including the complete tie-breaker options, please visit CONCACAF.com

Panama will host Costa Rica on October 26 in the first leg of their Central American playoff to determine the region's third and last berth in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying finals, it was announced Friday.

The match will be played at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, with the teams traveling to Alajuela's Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in suburban San Jose, Costa Rica, for the second leg on November 3.

The matches were originally announced as October 30 and November 6 before the opponents were known.

The Pan-American Games women's competition began Tuesday Canada defeated Costa Rica 3-1 in the tourmanent's opening match in the Estadio Omnilife in Guadalajara.

In the second game of the day, Colombia outlasted Trinidad & Tobago 1-0. Host Mexico was also to play Chile and Argentina was to face Brazil.

The men's competition starts tomorrow as Costa Rica plays Cuba, Uruguay faces Trinidad, Argentina meets rivals Brazil and Mexico plays against Ecuador.

Honduras defeated visiting Jamaica 2-1 in La Ceiba, while both the United States and Mexico lost at home on October 11. Jerry Bengtson and Mario Martinez scored for the Hondurans, who lost to the United States 1-0 on Saturday in Florida.

The United States dropped a 1-0 decision to Ecuador at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Jaime Ayovi struck for the game's only goal.

Mexico fell 2-1 to Brazil on two late goals from Ronaldinho and Marcelo. An own-goal from David Luiz had given "El Tri" a first-half lead .

Caribbean qualifying for the CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Champions begins Tuesday with Suriname hosting the Cayman Islands in Paramaribo, the opening game of Group B.

Host Cuba will open Group A on Thursday, facing St. Lucia.Groups C and D are set to begin in Haiti and Guyana, respectively, on October 31 and November 2. Guatemala and Panama already have claimed Central America's two berths, joining automatic North American qualifiers Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Costa Rica and Guatemala earned their first victories at the 2011 Grand Prix de Futsal by defeating Zambia and the Netherlands, respectively, on Monday in Manaus, Brazil.

After losing 5-0 in its opener to the host on Sunday, Guatemala got two goals from Jose Rafael Gonzalez and one each from Walter Alejandro Enriquez and Gerson Giovanni to defeat the Netherlands 4-1 in Group A. Meanwhile, three goals by Gilberth Garro led Costa Rica to an 8-2 triumph over Zambia in Group B play. The Ticos began the tournament on Sunday losing 4-3 to Paraguay. Group play concludes on Tuesday with Costa Rica facing Russia, while Guatemala meets Angola.

The U.S. will look for its first win at the Grand Prix as it takes-on Belgium. The Americans lost their first two Group C matches to Uruguay (7-0) and Iran (8-0).