RICHIE WILLIAMS' U.S. U-17 national team is now within one win of clinching a spot in the 2015 World Cup after a convincing 4-1 rout of Guatemala on Thursday night in Honduras.

The Americans dominated Guatemala from the opening whistle and held a commanding 4-1 lead at the 48-minute mark before settling into cruise control. Williams made seven roster changes for the game—removing winger Haji Wright, forward Joe Gallardo, and Alejandro Zendejas—but it didn't seem to slow the Americans.

The U.S. took the lead in the 9th minute when Josh Perez scored the first of his three goals off a long free kick from the right side that fooled Honduran keeper Gilder Lemus and snuck inside the near post. Nine minutes later, Perez earned his second when he took a pass from Christian Pulisic, cut inside, and fired a low, driving shot past Lemus from just outside the box.

Just before halftime, however, the U.S. suffered what could turn out to be a major setback when Pulisic was pulled down in the box. The U.S was awarded a penalty but Pulisic was forced out of the game with a knee injury. Perez converted the penalty but the status of Pulisic is unknown.

Shortly after the half, Pierre Da Silva gave the U.S. a 4-0 lead after taking a pass from Luca de la Torre. He fired home a tight shot from the left side of the box to kill the game. Erick Sorto pulled a goal back for Guatemala in the 65th minute when he hit a long shot past William Pulisic after a poor U.S. clearance. That goal was the first goal conceded by the U.S. in this tournament and broke a shutout streak of 245 minutes.

The young Americans will now face tournament host Honduras on Sunday night.

So many ways to score

This team clearly has the makings of an offensive juggernaut. Joe Gallardo scored a hat trick for the U.S. in the opening game of the tournament. Haji Wright has one goal in qualifying but has 27 career U-17 goals. Williams rested both players and still have no problems lighting up the scoreboard.

In this case it was Josh Perez, nephew of former U.S national team great Hugo Perez, who stepped up and bagged a hat trick.

“Josh was excellent,” Williams said of Perez after the game. “He was aggressive, he was running at players, taking players one-on-one, taking two players on, and beating them. His quickness and his technical ability showed and he was able to obviously get three goals. I thought he was dangerous all day. And on top of him attacking, I thought he played very well defensively also, putting his body on the line when they were taking some shots at him at the end.”

Pulisic status in doubt

The U.S. U-17s can score a ton of goals but Pulisic is the engine that drives the offense. The Borussia Dortmund product is the team’s playmaker and has a great vision for spotting teammates in attacking positions.

If Pulisic is unable to go against Honduras, the U.S. might have to rework its game plan. While he doesn’t play the exact same position, de la Torres has made some remarkable passes this tournament and he might be asked to do more. Williams might also ask more from his wingers too.

"First of all, Honduras is a very good team,” Williams said on Honduras. “I would have to think they would be the favorites—Honduras playing in Honduras, in their home country, in their stadium, with their fans. So we have to be prepared.”