2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

The North, Central American and Caribbean section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams which are members of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Three direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot in the final tournament are available for CONCACAF teams.[1]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
Tournament details
DatesSeptember 2020 – October 2021
Teams35 (from 1 confederation)

Format

On 10 July 2019, CONCACAF announced a restructured qualifying format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[2] After CONCACAF initially announced in March 2018 that they would use the CONCACAF Ranking Index to determine the seeding of CONCACAF teams for qualifying to international tournaments,[3] it was determined that FIFA Rankings would be used instead.

  • Top-seeded Hexagonal group: The top 6 ranked CONCACAF teams based on the FIFA rankings of June 2020 will play home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group (often referred to as the "Hexagonal"). The top three teams will qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth-placed team will advance to the CONCACAF play-off round.
  • Lower-seeded group stage and knockout stage: The remaining CONCACAF teams (ranked 7 to 35 based on the FIFA rankings of June 2020) will be divided into eight groups (five groups of four teams and three groups of three teams) to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winners of each group will advance to a knockout stage, consisting of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to be played in a two-legged home-and-away series. The winner of the knockout stage will advance to the CONCACAF play-off round.
  • Play-off round: The fourth-placed team of the Hexagonal group will face the winner of the knockout stage in order to advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Entrants

All 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF will enter qualification. Teams will be seeded based on their June 2020 FIFA rankings.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[4]

Stage Matchday FIFA international dates
Top-seeded round
Hexagonal Matchday 1 TBD (originally September 2020)
Matchday 2
Matchday 3 5–13 October 2020
Matchday 4
Matchday 5 9–17 November 2020
Matchday 6
Matchday 7 22–30 March 2021
Matchday 8
Matchday 9 30 August – 7 September 2021
Matchday 10
Lower-seeded round
Group stage Matchday 1 TBD (originally September 2020)
Matchday 2
Matchday 3 5–13 October 2020
Matchday 4
Matchday 5 9–17 November 2020
Matchday 6
Knockout stage Quarter-finals First leg 22–30 March 2021
Second leg
Semi-finals First leg 31 May – 8 June 2021
Second leg
Final First leg 30 August – 7 September 2021
Second leg
Play-off round
Play-off First leg 4–12 October 2021
Second leg

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played in June 2022.

Top-seeded round (Hexagonal)

The top six CONCACAF teams in the FIFA rankings of June 2020 will enter into the Hexagonal round, featuring a round-robin format. The top three teams will qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while the fourth-placed team will advance to the play-off round.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to 2022 FIFA World Cup — TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD — TBD TBD TBD TBD
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD — TBD TBD TBD
4 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-off round TBD TBD TBD — TBD TBD
5 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD TBD — TBD
6 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Lower-seeded round

The 29 teams ranked from 7 to 35 in the FIFA rankings of June 2020 will enter into the lower-seeded round, featuring a group stage followed by a knockout stage.

Group stage

The participants of the lower-seeded round will be split into eight groups. Five groups (A to E) will feature four teams, while three groups (F to H) will feature three teams. Matches will take place in September, October and November 2020, with the eight group winners advancing to the knockout stage.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20 TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 — TBD '20
4 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20 TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 — TBD '20
4 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20 TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 — TBD '20
4 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20 TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 — TBD '20
4 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20 TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 — TBD '20
4 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TBD TBD TBD
1 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage — TBD '20 TBD '20
2 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 — TBD '20
3 TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD '20 TBD '20 —
First match(es) will be played on September 2020. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Knockout stage

The eight group winners will advance to the knockout stage, featuring the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Teams will face each other over two legs, with the winner of the knockout stage advancing to the play-off round.

Bracket
  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                                   
Group winner        
Group winner        
  Quarter-final winner        
  Quarter-final winner        
Group winner      
Group winner        
  Semi-final winner      
  Semi-final winner      
Group winner        
Group winner        
  Quarter-final winner      
  Quarter-final winner        
Group winner      
Group winner        

Quarter-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Group winner QF1 Group winner Mar '21 Mar '21
Group winner QF2 Group winner Mar '21 Mar '21
Group winner QF3 Group winner Mar '21 Mar '21
Group winner QF4 Group winner Mar '21 Mar '21

Semi-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Quarter-final winner SF1 Quarter-final winner Jun '21 Jun '21
Quarter-final winner SF2 Quarter-final winner Jun '21 Jun '21

Final
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Semi-final winner F Semi-final winner Sep '21 Sep '21

Play-off round

The winner of the knockout stage will face the fourth-placed team of the Hexagonal round over two legs, taking place in October 2021. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Knockout stage winner Hexagonal 4th place Oct '21 Oct '21

Inter-confederation play-offs
Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs)

The inter-confederation play-offs format will be announced during the confederation's preliminary draw at a later date, with matches scheduled to be played in March 2022.[4]

References
  1. "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup™ confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. FIFA. 30 May 2015.
  2. "Concacaf Announces Format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Confederation Qualifiers". www.concacaf.com. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. "Concacaf Nations League". www.concacaf.com. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  4. "INTERNATIONAL MATCH CALENDAR 2018–2024" (PDF). FIFA. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
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