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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico faced the stark possibility just a month ago of missing next year's World Cup in South Africa. El Tri, under coach Javier Aguirre, responded, beating the United States and Costa Rica in its last two qualifying matches.

Now a victory over Honduras on Wednesday in Estadio Azteca would put Mexico in good shape to reach its fifth straight World Cup.

The United States can nearly clinch its sixth straight berth with a victory at Trinidad and Tobago, the last-place team in the CONCACAF qualifying group. In the third match, Costa Rica plays at El Salvador.

"We're at the stage of qualifying now where all the points are critical," Aguirre said.

The battle among the top four at the top of the standings is too close to call. Honduras and the United States have 13 points — Honduras leads on goal difference — and Mexico and Costa Rica have 12 each. El Salvador and Trinidad have five points.

The first three advance automatically to next year's 32-team tournament in South Africa, and the fourth-place team faces a playoff with the fifth-place team from South America for another berth. Awaiting could be countries like Argentina, Colombia or Ecuador.

Mexico will be without starters Guillermo Franco at forward and captain and midfielder Gerardo Torrado, both suspended after picking up yellow cards in Saturday's 3-0 win at Costa Rica.

The last time Honduras and Mexico played, Sven-Goran Eriksson was coaching Mexico. The Mexicans lost the April 1 match 3-1, and a day later Mexico fired Eriksson and brought in Aguirre. Eriksson, a former England coach, won four of nine qualifiers and dug Mexico into a hole from which Aguirre is still trying to escape.

"There are four teams trying to earn those three automatic spots and we can't afford to give up our home advantage on Wednesday," Aguirre said.

Mexico is almost unbeatable in Mexico City, where the thin air at 2,400 meters (7,400 feet) gives the home team a clear edge.

Reinaldo Rueda is trying to get Honduras to its first World Cup since 1982 in Spain.

"The idea is to gain points, and the more the better," coach Rueda said. "If it's one point it's OK, and three is better. This doesn't mean we are going for a draw."

Of the top four teams, Mexico has the easiest schedule in the two final qualifiers next month, playing at El Salvador and finishing up on Oct. 14 at home against Trinidad.

The United States plays at Honduras next month and finishes at home on Oct. 14 against Costa Rica.

The Americans are heavily favored to pick up three points at Trinidad and Tobago, which was poor in its 4-1 loss on Saturday at Honduras. The United States defeated visiting El Salvador 2-1 on Saturday.

"I don't think anybody gives up, but obviously it's deflating for them," said United States goalkeeper Tim Howard, speaking about Trinidad. "It's still a home game and you wonder how their crowd will react to them. Will they get on their backs or will they give them a lift? It's tough to say."

Defender Oguchi Onyewu will return for the United States after sitting out a one-game suspension on Saturday. Defender Jay DeMerit also missed the game with a strained groin.

"It's hard to know what to expect," United States forward Landon Donovan said about facing Trinidad. "But we can't really worry about that."