USA vs. Honduras 2017 live blog: Scores, highlights, and news from the World Cup qualifier

What an incredible performance by the Americans when they needed it most. Here’s a match report on the USMNT’s win, and you can watch Clint Dempsey’s hat trick here.

90’ — Honduras got a free kick in a dangerous area off a handball by Michael Bradley, but couldn’t get a consolation goal. Tim Howard denies Maynor Figueroa.

86’ — John Brooks does not appear to have a serious injury, just cramps.

80’ — The USMNT has been successful in preventing good shots from Honduras over the last 15 minutes, even if they’re not totally in control. The back line substitutions don’t seem to have thrown them off too much — Ream and Zusi have both made some very good clearances.

67’ — Uh oh, John Brooks is down. That’s bad news for the Americans, they’ll really need him in Panama on Tuesday. He’s been one of the best players on the pitch.

Bruce Arena isn’t taking any chances with Brooks’ health — Tim Ream was prepared for substitution immediately and will come on.

59’ — With the result safely in the bag for the USMNT, Geoff Cameron takes a seat and Graham Zusi comes on. Cameron was on a yellow card.

Honduras might have already lost, but goal difference could matter, so they’re pushing forward. Brayan Beckeles just hit the crossbar from long range.

54’ — USA 6-0 Honduras. Are you serious??? Clint Dempsey completes his hat trick with a sensational free kick. This is a truly outrageous performance by the Americans.

49’ — USA 5-0 Honduras. This is unbelievable. Pulisic to Dempsey again. Just an absolutely perfect assist, and Deuce rounds the goalkeeper.

46’ — We’re back... and the Americans have already scored! USA 4-0 Honduras, amazing. Just 15 seconds into the second half, Christian Pulisic stuns Los Catrachos with Jozy Altidore providing the assist.

Two players who were regularly left out under Jurgen Klinsmann for no discernible reason were Jorge Villafaña and Darlington Nagbe. Here’s how their first half went.

Bruce Arena forever.

HALFTIME — USA 3-0 Honduras. Well. Between the USMNT’s recent struggles to score and Honduras’ defensive setup, it’s fair to say no one was expecting that. Los Catrachos’ defense really wasn’t up for the challenge that was posed to them by the American front three. Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey and Christian Pulisic have all made big contributions going forward.

45’ — Quioto had to come off for Erick Andino, and just a minute after entering the game, Andino has a HUGE miss. He’s wide open in front of goal, but John Brooks does just enough to put him off and force him to shoot wide.

39’ -- Honduras winger Romell Quioto went down hard on his arm after a clash with Alejandro Bedoya and Jozy Altidore, and it doesn’t look great. He’s holding his elbow and appears to be in a lot of pain.

32’ — USA 3-0 Honduras, goal from Clint Dempsey! The USMNT sure has risen to the occasion here. Christian Pulisic flips a pass over the defense, Dempsey takes it off his chest, then smacks a half-volley into the back of the net. What a goal.

27’ — USA 2-0 Honduras, goal Michael Bradley! The American midfielder had looked shaky, but he comes up clutch with an incredible individual effort. Honduras didn’t close him down as he stepped forward, he took a rip from 25 yards and placed the ball perfectly in the bottom corner, far post.

24’ — Yellow card to Geoff Cameron, he caught Roger Espinoza high.

19’ — Unreal, Pulisic smokes two Honduras defenders down the touchline, but the linesman calls the ball out of play. It wasn’t even close to going out of play. Pulisic expresses his displeasure: “ARE YOU BLIND?”

18’ — Wow, awful for Lletget. The local kid from the Bay Area scores his first USMNT goal close to home, then has to go off injured. Bedoya replaces him. If there’s any silver lining for the Americans, this is pretty much a like-for-like switch.

16’ — And just as we say Honduras haven’t had any big chances, they get one. Alberth Elis takes the ball down 12 yards out, turns and shoots, but hits a soft effort right at Tim Howard.

And there’s some bad news for the USMNT — Lletget has gone down hurt. Alejandro Bedoya is warming up.

15’ — The Americans have been able to stay on top since their goal. 61 percent possession, 82 percent passing, and most importantly, only one Honduran shot allowed. That shot was from 30-plus yards.

Sebasian Lletget just drew a yellow card on Ever Alvarado on a nice forward burst, and he’s not looking good after taking that foul.

5’ — USA 1-0 Honduras. Goal USMNT! Jozy Altidore plays in Christian Pulisic, who has his shot saved. But Sebastian Lletget makes a follow-up run and has a tap-in to give the Americans a dream start.

1’ — Kickoff! American Outlaws’ “Hamilton”-themed banner reads “Not throwing away our shot.”

10:51 p.m. — Anthems! Giant flag! It’s just about time.

10:40 p.m. — Bruce Arena is going to earn some love from fans for playing Christian Pulisic as a No. 10 in this game, and for starting Jorge Villafaña, Darlington Nagbe and Sebastian Lletget ahead of old retreads. Still, there’s a lot of skepticism about the way they’re likely to be used.

The USMNT lineup should fit together well in a diamond, but it’s tough to get diamond midfields right. Keeping the right shape while having enough width in attack is something teams playing the shape take a long time to get right, where as just about any American player knows what to do when given a role in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. It’s a very gutsy call by Arena, and he’ll get roasted if it doesn’t work.

The United States men’s national team has played themselves into a little bit of a pickle. Losses to Mexico and Costa Rica in their first two CONCACAF World Cup qualifying hexagonal matches have left them in bad shape in their fight to earn a trip to Russia. On Friday night, they really need to beat Honduras in San Jose.

Because of injuries to Bobby Wood and Fabian Johnson, new American manager Bruce Arena is light on attacking options. That’s why he’s chosen to just forget about trying to find wingers and gone to a diamond midfield with four central players. This shape had some very mixed results under Jurgen Klinsmann, but the American players are certainly suited to it.

Honduras will be one of the USMNT’s big rivals for a qualifying spot, and they find themselves with a bit of work to do as well. Though they beat Trinidad and Tobago during the first set of games, they also lost at home to Panama, so they’ll need to make up some points on the road. A draw in this game would be huge for them.

This is a live blog that will update constantly throughout the game with highlights, score updates and more. Below, everything you need to know about the teams on the field and how to watch the match. Kickoff is at 10:50 p.m. ET.

United States lineup (4-4-2 diamond): Tim Howard; Jorge Villafaña, John Brooks, Omar Gonzalez, Geoff Cameron; Michael Bradley; Sebastian Lletget, Darlington Nagbe; Christian Pulisic; Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore

Honduras lineup (5-4-1): Donis Escober; Emilio Izaguirre, Maynor Figueroa, Henry Figueroa, Ever Alvarado, Brayan Beckeles; Romell Quioto, Roger Espinoza, Jorge Claros, Andy Najar; Alberth Elis

The game will be on FS1, and you can watch on Fox’s streaming platforms Fox Soccer 2 Go and Fox Sports Go. The second half will be on Univision — overlap with the Mexico game messes things up a bit. You can watch from the beginning in Spanish on Univision Deportes en vivo though.