SANDY, Utah (AP) — The United States is not quite in second place and barely ahead of fourth in regional qualifying for the World Cup.

Points are precious with only four games remaining in CONCACAF and a very slim margin between being in or out of next year’s tournament in South Africa.

The Americans host El Salvador on Saturday, clinging to one of the three guaranteed spots in the region with only three points separating the top four teams.

“None of us were under any illusions. We’ve known for a long time how difficult qualifying is – particularly in this last stage,” U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “It’s never easy.”

The United States is seeking a sixth straight World Cup berth. The Americans enter this round in third place in North and Central America and the Caribbean group, tied with Honduras at 10 points but behind on goal differential. Mexico is fourth, just one point behind, and Costa Rica leads with 12 points.

The top three teams qualify for the World Cup and the fourth-place team will have a chance to make the field for South Africa in a playoff.

The Americans play another qualifier next Wednesday at Trinidad and Tobago.

“We’re going in to this thinking we need two wins. That would set us up real nicely for qualifying,” said U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra.

The last time the U.S. met El Salvador, they drew 2-2 in San Salvador in March. Both sides were disappointed as El Salvador led 2-0, but couldn’t hold off a U.S. comeback in the second half.

“It’s a game we were winning, then the United States came harder and it ended in a tie,” El Salvador coach Carlos de los Cobos said.

The Americans are expecting a conservative approach from El Salvador in front of a hostile U.S. crowd that’s expected to pack Rio Tinto Stadium.

“They’ll be a different team here than the way they played there. They’ll probably be very defensive minded. Our job is to break them down, try to score a goal early,” U.S. forward Landon Donovan said. “The longer the game stays at 0-0, the better it is for them.”