2026 World Cup qualifying - CONCACAF: Fixtures, results, table & how it works

The 2026 World Cup in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico promises to be a historic one as the shift is made from 32 to 48 teams.

Ahead of the tournament proper, hundreds of football matches will be played all around the world to determine which 45 teams will join the three host nations already guaranteed of a place.

Here's how the CONCACAF section of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will be played out.

How does CONCACAF World Cup qualifying work?

CONCACAF is the federation that represents countries in North America, Central America and Caribbean areas. It's a huge geographical space but arguably the two biggest teams in the area - the USA and Mexico - have already qualified as hosts. Canada's place is also assured so things look a bit different this time.

Originally, CONCACAF was going to get six direct qualification slots and two inter-confederation play-off spots. In a change of format, there would be no dedicated host country slot, with the slots of host countries being taken out of their confederation's quota.

That means that after the USA, Canada and Mexico were chosen as hosts, only three more CONCACAF sides will qualify directly and two will join the inter-confederation play-offs.

First round

The first round of CONCACAF qualifying essentially exists to get a better number of teams. The four teams ranked 29-32 based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023 will be divided into two ties and play home and away.

The two winners go into the second round. It's not decided yet, but in the current rankings, those teams would be Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla.

Second round

By shaving those two teams off, you get to 30 nations. They are drawn into six groups of five teams, playing single round-robin games, two at home and two away. Group winners and runners-up qualify for the third round.

Third round

Those 12 advancing teams are drawn into three groups of four teams. They play double round-robin home and away matches and the three group winners get into the 2026 World Cup. The two best-ranked runners-up go into the inter-confederation play-offs.

Which teams compete in CONCACAF qualifying?

With Canada, Mexico and the USA already confirmed as 2026 World Cup participants, the following teams are competing in qualifying.

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Aruba
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bermuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Curacao
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Montserrat
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Puerto Rico
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• US Virgin Islands

When does CONCACAF 2026 World Cup qualifying start?

As one of the smaller confederations with fewer rounds of action, there will be no sign of who is joining USA, Mexico and Canada until late in March 2024.