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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

Tournament details
Dates	22 March 2024 – November 2025
Teams	32 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	33
Goals scored	115 (3.48 per match)
Attendance	108,954 (3,302 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Rangelo Janga Shamar Nicholson (3 goals each)
← 2022 2030 → All statistics correct as of 11 June 2024.

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.

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. 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.

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. On 28 February, CONCACAF announced the qualifying format for 2026 World Cup qualification.

• First round: Four CONCACAF teams, ranked 29 to 32 based on the FIFA rankings of December 2023, were divided into two matchups, played on a two-legged home-and-away basis. The two winners advanced 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 December 2023, were 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 did not enter qualifying. The remaining 32 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF entered qualification. Based on the FIFA rankings of December 2023, the top 28 teams received a bye to the second round, while the lowest four teams entered the first round.

Schedule

The CONCACAF schedule for qualification is as follows.

First round

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

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Anguilla	1–1 (4–3 p)	Turks and Caicos Islands	0–0	1–1 (a.e.t.)
U.S. Virgin Islands	1–1 (2–4 p)	British Virgin Islands	1–1	0–0 (a.e.t.)

Second round

The draw took place on 25 January 2024 in Zürich, Switzerland.

The top twenty-eight CONCACAF teams in the FIFA rankings of December 2023 entered in the second round, joined by the two winners of the first round. Teams were 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 v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Honduras	2	2	0	0	9	2	+7	6	Advance to third round		—	3–1	—	10 Jun	—
2	Cuba	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3			—	—	3–0	—	10 Jun
3	Cayman Islands	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	3			7 Jun	—	—	1–0	—
4	Antigua and Barbuda	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1			—	6 Jun	—	—	1–1
5	Bermuda	2	0	1	1	2	7	−5	1			1–6	—	4 Jun	—	—

1. Cuba were awarded a 3–0 victory by forfeit after Cayman Islands were unable to travel to Cuba due to visa issues stemming from the United States government's policy on travel to Cuba.

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Costa Rica	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	6	Advance to third round		—	10 Jun	4–0	—	—
2	Trinidad and Tobago	2	1	1	0	9	3	+6	4			—	—	6 Jun	2–2	—
3	Saint Kitts and Nevis	2	1	0	1	1	4	−3	3			—	—	—	10 Jun	1–0
4	Grenada	2	0	1	1	2	5	−3	1			0–3	—	—	—	4 Jun
5	Bahamas	2	0	0	2	1	8	−7	0			7 Jun	1–7	—	—	—

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Curaçao	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	6	Advance to third round		—	—	6 Jun	—	4–1
2	Haiti	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	6			10 Jun	—	2–1	—	—
3	Saint Lucia	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	1			—	—	—	2–2	10 Jun
4	Aruba	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	1			0–2	7 Jun	—	—	—
5	Barbados	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0			—	1–3	—	4 Jun	—

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nicaragua	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	6	Advance to third round		—	—	6 Jun	4–1	—
2	Panama	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	6			10 Jun	—	2–0	—	—
3	Guyana	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3			—	—	—	10 Jun	3–1
4	Montserrat	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0			—	1–3	—	—	4 Jun
5	Belize	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	0			0–4	7 Jun	—	—	—

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Guatemala	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9	6	Advance to third round		—	—	6 Jun	6–0	—
2	Jamaica	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	6			10 Jun	—	1–0	—	—
3	Dominican Republic	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3	3			—	—	—	10 Jun	4–0
4	Dominica	2	0	0	2	2	9	−7	0			—	2–3	—	—	4 Jun
5	British Virgin Islands	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	0			0–3	7 Jun	—	—	—

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Suriname	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	6	Advance to third round		—	6 Jun	—	4–1	—
2	Puerto Rico	2	1	1	0	8	0	+8	4			—	—	—	10 Jun	8–0
3	El Salvador	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4			10 Jun	0–0	—	—	—
4	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0			—	—	1–3	—	4 Jun
5	Anguilla	2	0	0	2	0	12	−12	0			0–4	—	7 Jun	—	—

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

Group B

Group C

Ranking of second-placed teams

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.

Qualified teams

The following teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup
Canada	Co-hosts	14 February 2023	2 (1986, 2022)
Mexico	Co-hosts	14 February 2023	17 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
United States	Co-hosts	14 February 2023	11 (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022)
TBD	Third round Group A winners	2025
TBD	Third round Group B winners	2025
TBD	Third round Group C winners	2025

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.

Top goalscorers

There have been 115 goals scored in 33 matches, for an average of 3.48 goals per match (as of 11 June 2024). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.

3 goals

• Rangelo Janga
• Shamar Nicholson

2 goals

• Niall Reid-Stephen
• Orlando Galo
• Rafael Núñez
• Dorny Romero
• Myles Hippolyte
• Alejandro Galindo
• Rubio Rubin
• Deon Moore
• Edwin Rodríguez
• Bancy Hernández
• Jaime Moreno
• José Luis Rodríguez
• Jeremy de León
• Wilfredo Rivera
• Oalex Anderson
• Tyrone Conraad
• Reon Moore
• Duane Muckette
• Malcolm Shaw

Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:

• First round
• Second round

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. "Draw Procedures for the CONCACAF Preliminary Draw for the FIFA World Cup 26" (PDF). FIFA. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
6. "FIFA Men's Ranking – December 2023". FIFA. 21 December 2023.
7. "Men's International Match Calendar 2023–2030" (PDF). FIFA. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
8. "Draw reveals groups for second round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers". CONCACAF. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
9. "Cayman forfeits Cuba game after first match win in WC". Cayman News. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
10. "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.

External links

• Official FIFA World Cup website

• 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
• FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 2023–24 in CONCACAF football
• 2024–25 in CONCACAF football
• 2025–26 in CONCACAF football