2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

The North, Central American and Caribbean section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States, for national teams which are members of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Three direct slots and two inter-confederation play-off slots in the final tournament were available for CONCACAF teams.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
Tournament details
DatesMarch 2024 – November 2025
Teams32 (from 1 confederation)
CONCACAF Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
CCCF–NAFC era

CONCACAF era

Format

On 9 May 2017, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which included six direct spots and two inter-confederation play-off spots for the CONCACAF region. However, in a change of format from previous World Cups, there would be no dedicated host country slot, with the slots of automatically qualifying host countries now taken from the quota of its confederation. If the tournament were to be co-hosted, the FIFA Council would decide which host countries would qualify automatically.[1] On 13 June 2018, three members of CONCACAF—Canada, Mexico and the United States—were selected as hosts for the 2026 World Cup by the 68th FIFA Congress.[2]

On 14 February 2023, the FIFA Council awarded automatic berths for all three host countries, leaving three direct slots and two inter-confederation play-off slots to be decided through CONCACAF qualification.[3] On 28 February, CONCACAF announced the qualifying format for 2026 World Cup qualification.[4]

  • First round: Four CONCACAF teams, ranked 29 to 32 based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023, will be divided into two matchups, played on a two-legged home-and-away basis. The two winners will advance to the second round.
  • Second round: Thirty teams, the two winners from the first round and CONCACAF teams ranked 1 to 28 based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023, will be drawn into six groups of five teams. They will play single round-robin matches (two home and two away), with group winners and runners-up qualifying for the third round.
  • Third round: The twelve teams advancing from the second round will be drawn into three groups of four teams. They will play double round-robin home-and-away matches, with the three group winners qualifying for the World Cup. The two best-ranked runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Entrants

As Canada, Mexico and the United States were awarded automatic berths as co-hosts, they will not enter qualifying. The remaining 32 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF entered qualification. Based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023, the top 28 teams will receive a bye to the second round, while the lowest four teams will enter the first round.[4]

Schedule

The CONCACAF schedule for qualification is as follows.[4]

Round Matchday FIFA window[5]
First round First leg 18–26 March 2024
Second leg
Second round Window 1 3–11 June 2024
Window 2 2–10 June 2025
Third round Matchday 1 1–9 September 2025
Matchday 2
Matchday 3 6–14 October 2025
Matchday 4
Matchday 5 10–18 November 2025
Matchday 6

First round

The bottom four CONCACAF teams, ranked 29 to 32 based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023, will be divided into two matchups, played on a two-legged home-and-away basis. The pairings are predetermined, with the 29th ranked team facing the 32nd ranked team, and the 30th ranked team facing the 31st ranked team. The two winners will advance to the second round.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
32nd ranked team 29th ranked team Mar '24 Mar '24
31st ranked team 30th ranked team Mar '24 Mar '24

Second round

The top twenty-eight CONCACAF teams in the FIFA rankings of November 2023 will enter in the second round, to be joined by the two winners of the first round. Teams will be drawn into six groups of five teams, and will play single round-robin matches (two home and two away). The six group winners and six group runners-up will advance to the third round.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification A1 A2 A3 A4 A5
1 A1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to third round — TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — TBD TBD TBD
3 A3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD
4 A4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — TBD
5 A5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
First match(es) will be played: June 2024. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification B1 B2 B3 B4 B5
1 B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to third round — TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — TBD TBD TBD
3 B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD
4 B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — TBD
5 B5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
First match(es) will be played: June 2024. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
1 C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to third round — TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — TBD TBD TBD
3 C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD
4 C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — TBD
5 C5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
First match(es) will be played: June 2024. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
1 D1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to third round — TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 D2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — TBD TBD TBD
3 D3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD
4 D4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — TBD
5 D5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
First match(es) will be played: June 2024. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification E1 E2 E3 E4 E5
1 E1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to third round — TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 E2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — TBD TBD TBD
3 E3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD
4 E4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — TBD
5 E5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
First match(es) will be played: June 2024. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification F1 F2 F3 F4 F5
1 F1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to third round — TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 F2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — TBD TBD TBD
3 F3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD
4 F4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — TBD
5 F5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
First match(es) will be played: June 2024. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Third round

In the third round, the twelve teams advancing from the second round will be drawn into three groups of four teams. They will play double round-robin home-and-away matches, with the three group winners qualifying for the World Cup. The two best-ranked runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification A1 A2 A3 A4
1 A1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup — TBD TBD TBD
2 A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible inter-confederation play-offs based on ranking TBD — TBD TBD
3 A3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD — TBD
4 A4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD —
First match(es) will be played: September 2025. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification B1 B2 B3 B4
1 B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup — TBD TBD TBD
2 B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible inter-confederation play-offs based on ranking TBD — TBD TBD
3 B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD — TBD
4 B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD —
First match(es) will be played: September 2025. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification C1 C2 C3 C4
1 C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup — TBD TBD TBD
2 C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible inter-confederation play-offs based on ranking TBD — TBD TBD
3 C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD — TBD
4 C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD —
First match(es) will be played: September 2025. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Ranking of second-placed teams
Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A Second place Group A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to inter-confederation play-offs
2 B Second place Group B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 C Second place Group C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: September 2025. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Inter-confederation play-offs
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs)

The best two runners-up from the third round will join one team each from AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC in the inter-confederation play-offs. The teams will be ranked according to the FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners will meet the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[6]

Qualified teams

The following teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup[lower-alpha 1]
 CanadaCo-hosts14 February 2023[lower-alpha 2]2 (1986, 2022)
 MexicoCo-hosts14 February 2023[lower-alpha 2]17 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 United StatesCo-hosts14 February 2023[lower-alpha 2]11 (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022)
TBDThird round Group A winnersTBD
TBDThird round Group B winnersTBD
TBDThird round Group C winnersTBD

Notes

  1. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
  2. Although the United bid was selected on 13 June 2018, the automatic berths allocated to the hosts were not confirmed until a decision by the FIFA Council on 14 February 2023.[3]

References
  1. "FIFA Council prepares Congress, takes key decisions for the future of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  2. Graham, Bryan Armen (13 June 2018). "North America to host 2026 World Cup after winning vote over Morocco – as it happened". The Guardian.
  3. "FIFA Council highlights record breaking revenue in football". FIFA. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  4. "CONCACAF announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023–2026 cycle". CONCACAF. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  5. "Men's International Match Calendar 2023–2030" (PDF). FIFA. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  6. "Bureau of the Council recommends slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
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