The USA national team appeared to celebrate World Cup qualification a game too early on Sunday after their 5-1 win over Panama, with players unfurling a banner saying 'QUALIFIED' in front of fans despite their place in Qatar yet to be official.
The Christian Pulisic-inspired victory means the United States are on the brink of sealing a place in the tournament later this year but they face one final qualifier against Costa Rica on Wednesday.
A loss of six goals or more would send America into a World Cup play-off, most likely against New Zealand. While such a defeat seems implausible, Pulisic was keen to stress the banner was an honest mistake and not a sign his team are getting ahead of themselves.
'The guys didn't know at all what it said. It was just hand handed to them,' Pulisic explained. 'Once we realised - there's no need to show that off because we still have a job to do.
'We honestly approach it like any other game. We're going to prepare exactly the same as we would if we needed a win.'
And US coach Gregg Berhalter echoed his star man's comments.
'We made a big step towards our goal of qualifying for the World Cup,' he said. 'We know we're not there yet despite what that banner might have said.
'We know we still have a game to go and it's a difficult game in Costa Rica so our job right now is to recover, do regeneration and then get healthy guys, fit guys, on the field and go compete in San Jose, where we've never won before.'
Four years ago, the US defeated Panama 4-0 in a qualifier and needed only a draw against Trinidad and Tobago four days later to clinch a place in Russia. They flopped to a 2-1 loss and missed out on the World Cup altogether.
Pulisic and team-mate Paul Arriola are the only two players in the international fold who remain from that night and Arriola was also stressing caution, despite the banner celebrations.
'I'll be honest with you. I'm not celebrating anything,' said the winger, who scored a first-half header against Panama. 'I was in this exact position, or a very similar position, four years ago. And we know how that qualification ended.
'So for me, I think it's just maintaining focus, understanding that we still have work to do, and anything is possible. So for us … the mentality of this group is and has to be to go down there to get a good result against Costa Rica.'
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USA qualification means business for Qatar, US has the most fans coming when it comes to their national team involvement.. Americans is no 1 when it comes to sports