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The U.S. men’s national team needed three points against Honduras on Friday in World Cup Qualifying to get its campaign back on track. It got that, and it provided hope to every single fan with a breathtaking showing. 

The USMNT, in its first qualifier since the return of Bruce Arena, demolished Honduras 6-0 in San Jose, California behind a hat trick from Clint Dempsey and a brilliant showing from Christian Pulisic.

After losing the first two qualifiers of the hexagonal, the red, white and blue made history by securing its biggest ever win in the hex, scoring three in both halves.

The U.S. got started early when Sebastian Lletget tapped in a rebound on five minutes.

Then the hosts made it 2-0 shortly after when Michael Bradley did this:

Then Dempsey, back in the team for the first time since last summer after an irregular heartbeat, got his first just after the half-hour mark, finishing a lovely ball from Pulisic. 

Pulisic then got his just 15 seconds into the second half to put it away.

Dempsey then scored the final two to get his hat trick, with a brilliant free kick as the team’s sixth and Dempsey’s third.

With the win, the U.S. jumps into the fourth spot in the hex with three points and erases the negative goal differential. There is still plenty of work to be done, but the team’s road to Russia looks much clearer now after a shocking performance nobody saw coming. 

Relive the match with our live blog below. 

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