U.S. men heading back to World Cup despite 2-0 loss to Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica — Christian Pulisic walked across the field with a towel draped around his head, angry after another U.S. defeat.

"We're competitors, man. We hate to lose. In the moment I was frustrated," he said. "It took me a little bit for it to sink in, that the qualification hit."

Nearly 4-1/2 years after Pulisic buried his head in his hands to hide tears of failure, the U.S. rebounded to qualify for this year's World Cup. A 2-0 loss to Costa Rica on Wednesday left the Americans in third place after the final night of qualifying, the final guaranteed berth from North and Central America and the Caribbean.