COLUMBUS, Ohio — The fireworks had gone off and so had the smoke bombs. The red-white-and-blue-clad crowd had finished singing “Dos a cero! Dos a cero!” over and over and over.

The United States had qualified for its seventh straight World Cup, and it was time to look ahead to the draw on Dec. 6 and next year’s tournament in Brazil.

“I feel good about our chances,” goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “We’ll see what the draw looks like.”

America returned to soccer’s top event in 1990 after a 40-year absence, and first-round exits in `90, 1998 and 2006 were mixed in with second-round trips in 1994 and 2010, plus a trip to the quarterfinals in 2002.

“It would be nice to do something special,” Clint Dempsey said.

The U.S. ensured it will be Brazil-bound after Eddie Johnson and Landon Donovan scored second-half goals in the now traditional 2-0 home qualifying win over Mexico on Tuesday night.

“It’s become its own monster. People want to come to Columbus and see U.S.-Mexico. And so it’s almost like the mecca really for us,” Howard said. “You almost feel like it’s our destiny to win here.”

Noisy American fans stood and sang in Columbus Crew Stadium starting 1½ hours before kickoff.