There was a noticeable omission on the United States soccer roster for its World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico.

Captain Carlos Bocanegra was left off the team by coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Bocanegra, 33, has been the American captain since 2007.

He lost his starting job with Racing Santander, a Spanish second-division, and has not appeared in a game since Feb. 2.

Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones become the top candidates to take over as U.S. captain, and Klinsmann expects to announce the choice on Tuesday.

The U.S. team is already without injured goalkeeper Tim Howard.

The U.S. lost 2-1 at Honduras last month in its first game of the 10-game final round. The Americans play Costa Rica on Friday at Commerce City, Colo., then play Mexico in Mexico City on March 26.

The group also includes Panama and Jamaica, and the top three teams qualify for next year's tournament in Brazil. The fourth-place team in the group advances to a playoff.