Johnny Acosta and Celso Borges scored as Costa Rica burst ahead in the first 9 minutes, Joel Campbell added a goal on a late counterattack, and the Ticos beat the visiting United States 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier Friday night at San Jose.
Clint Dempsey, making his 100th international appearance, converted a penalty kick in the 43rd minute for the U.S. and nearly tied the score with a 20-yard shot off a post in the 60th minute.
Avenging a March loss to the U.S. in a Colorado snow storm, Costa Rica ended the Americans' team-record 12-game winning streak.
The Ticos (4-1-2) moved into first place in the final round of qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean with 14 points, one ahead of the U.S. (4-2-1) with three games remaining. Honduras (3-3-1) is third with 10 points after a shocking 2-1 win at Mexico (1-2-5), which is fourth with eight points. Panama (1-1-4) is another point back after behind held to a 0-0 tie at home by last-place Jamaica (0-4-3).
The top three nations qualify for next year's 32-team field in Brazil, and the fourth-place finisher goes to a playoff against New Zealand for another berth.
Despite dropping to 0-8-2 in Costa Rica, the Americans could clinch their seventh straight World Cup berth when they host Mexico on Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio. Jozy Altidore, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler will miss the match after getting their second yellow cards in qualifying - Altidore for a shove of Michael Umana in front of Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez during second-half injury time.
Midfielder Michael Bradley also figures to miss the Mexico match. Originally in the starting lineup, Bradley limped off the field during warmups because of a sprained left ankle and was on crutches at the bench during the game.
Dempsey became the 14th U.S. player to make 100 international appearances and started together with Landon Donovan for the first time since June 2012. Michael Orozco started at right back, his first qualifying appearance since Oct. 15, 2008, against Trinidad and Tobago.
The game was played at 2-year-old Estadio Nacional, which has grass and a running track keeping fans far from the field. Previous qualifiers against the U.S. were at Estadio Saprissa, which has artificial turf and fans right near the sidelines.
Costa Rica attacked from the start, and U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard had to sprawl 85 seconds in to deflect an open 8-yard shot from Bryan Ruiz.
Campbell's inswinging corner kick in the second minute went to the near post, where Acosta outjumped Dempsey and sent a header in off the head of DaMarcus Beasley, who wasn't tight enough on the post. It was the first international goal for the 30-year-old Acosta.
Christian Bolanos then sent a long cross around Omar Gonzalez from Costa Rica's left flank, and Borges climbed over Beasley for a header to Howard's right from 6 yards.
Overwhelmed for the first 25 minutes, the U.S. started to gain some possession thanks to Donovan and Fabian Johnson. The penalty kick came when Graham Zusi played a long ball into the penalty area in the 41st minute, and goalkeeper Keylor Navas tripped up Johnson.
Dempsey's hard shot on the penalty kick went in off Navas' body for his 36th international goal.
The U.S. dominated possession in the second half as it searched for the tying goal. Altidore didn't start after injuring his right hamstring during training with Sunderland but entered in the 71st. 13 minutes after Eddie Johnson.
Costa Rica scored the final goal after Altidore's shot was blocked by the defense. Jose Miguel Cubero played a long ball to Campbell, who held off Besler and slotted the ball through Howard.