Suriname thrashed our Turks and Caicos Islands but El Salvador edged Antigua and Barbuda to top Group B and secure qualification for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.
Behind braces from Robinio Pinas (14th, 31st) and Djaier Prijor (20th, 31st), Suriname appeared en route to qualification when they stormed to a 7-2 victory at the ABFA Technical Centre on Saturday.
However, El Salvador beat the hosts 1-0 in the second game of the doubleheader, courtesy of Christopher Guardado’s 58th-minute strike, to return to the top on 10 points – a single point clear of the Surinamese.
Entering the final round game knowing only a win would keep alive their chances of qualification, Suriname went ahead as early as the fifth minute when Yamano Olfers scored with a bullet-header at the far post from a right-sided cross.
Pinas added the second in the 14th with a glancing header from the center of the box before Donagay Misidjang wriggled past the advancing goalkeeper Leishawn Green to net from close range three minutes later.
Prijor got his first in the 20th before both he and Pinas both scored their second in the 31st minute, as Suriname pumped in all seven goals in the first half.
For the losers, Cory Williams (28th) and Hency Gedeon (87th) responded.
In Manugua, Belize whipped Anguilla 4-1 to earn their first points of Group A with Felix Martinez (3rd, 10th, 24th) banging in a first-half hat-trick, while Barbados earned a 1-1 draw with Aruba in Guatemala City in Group C.
Also in Group C, Curacao went down 1-0 to group winners Guatemala.
