MEXICO CITY (AP) — America’s soccer team is getting some love from the most unlikely place: Mexican sports fans.

Mexican newspapers on Wednesday published banner headlines reading “We Love You,” and “Thank You, USA,” after the U.S.  kept Mexico’s World Cup qualifying hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over Panama.

Mexico lost its Tuesday match 2-1 against Costa Rica. If Panama had held onto its lead and beaten the United States, Mexico would have been eliminated from the World Cup qualifying rounds. But the U.S. scored two goals in the closing minutes of the game to pull ahead.



World Cup seeds

Brazil vs. Italy. Twice a World Cup final, it could be the opening match of the World Cup. And the second match the next day could be a 2010 final repeat: Spain vs. the Netherlands.

The tournament’s top eight teams will be separated so they can’t meet until the knockout stage of the soccer tournament. Those teams will be chosen based on the FIFA rankings that come out on Thursday.

Host Brazil will be the seed in Group A, and the next seven will be taken from the top of the rankings. That means less prestigious teams such as Switzerland, Belgium and Colombia are likely to be considered the “top” teams in their groups, while 2006 champion Italy and 2010 runner-up the Netherlands will not.