Honduras, which has struggled in World Cup qualifying, continued its poor form when it could only tie El Salvador, 1-1, and found itself eliminated from the UNCAF Cup, which it is hosting, before the Central American championship even reached the final stage. The Catrachos had buried Nicaragua, 10-2, after falling to Panama, 2-1, in the opening game, but they needed to beat El Salvador to join Panama, a 6-0 winner over Nicaragua, from Group A in the final four next week. Dany Tucios gave Honduras a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Denis Umanzor tied the game for El Salvador in the 90th minute and sent it through to final round. Such was the lack of interest in the game that only 2,000 fans turned out in San Pedro Sula. Costa Rica, the other U.S. Hexagonal opponent from Central America, tied Guatemala, 1-1, and the two countries went through in Group B ahead of Belize, which had pulled a surprise when it tied Guatemala, 3-3, two days earlier. El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala will compete in the final round May 30, June 1 and June 3 in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. The Honduras result is more bad news for organizers of the 2002 Gold Cup. Honduras and Jamaica, which also fell in the first round of the Copa Caribe, will both be absent, depriving organizers of two of their best draws. The top three teams in the UNCAF Cup will play in the Gold Cup. The fourth-place team will meet Cuba, the Caribbean’s four-place finished, in a playoff.