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. Three direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot in the final tournament are available for CONCACAF teams.

Format

Original format

On 10 July 2019, CONCACAF announced a restructured qualifying format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 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, it was determined that FIFA Rankings would be used instead.
However, on 25 June 2020, following FIFA's decision to postpone the September 2020 international window due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONCACAF noted that "The challenges presented by postponements to the football calendar, and the incomplete FIFA rankings cycle in our confederation, means our current World Cup qualifying process has been compromised and will be changed".

New format

On 27 July 2020, CONCACAF announced a new qualifying format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
All 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF will enter qualification. Teams were seeded based on their July 2020 FIFA rankings.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is expected to be as follows, according to the FIFA International Match Calendar.
On 25 June 2020, FIFA announced that the inter-confederation play-offs, originally scheduled to be played in March 2022, were moved to June 2022.
StageMatchdayFIFA international dates
First roundMatchday 15–13 October 2020 and 9–17 November 2020
First roundMatchday 25–13 October 2020 and 9–17 November 2020
First roundMatchday 35–13 October 2020 and 9–17 November 2020
First roundMatchday 45–13 October 2020 and 9–17 November 2020
First roundMatchday 55–13 October 2020 and 9–17 November 2020
Second roundFirst leg22–30 March 2021
Second roundSecond leg22–30 March 2021
Final roundMatchday 131 May – 8 June 2021
Final roundMatchday 231 May – 8 June 2021
Final roundMatchday 3TBC June 2021
Final roundMatchday 4TBC June 2021
Final roundMatchday 530 August – 7 September 2021
Final roundMatchday 630 August – 7 September 2021
Final roundMatchday 74–12 October 2021
Final roundMatchday 84–12 October 2021
Final roundMatchday 98–16 November 2021
Final roundMatchday 108–16 November 2021
Final roundMatchday 11TBC January 2022
Final roundMatchday 12TBC January 2022
Final roundMatchday 1321–29 March 2022
Final roundMatchday 1421–29 March 2022

First round

The six highest ranked teams of the first round have been pre-seeded into groups A through F. Teams in their groups will play each other once, a total of four matches; two home and two away matches. The draw for the first round will be held in mid-August 2020.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Second round

The second round will see the six group winners from the first round in three home-and-away ties. The winners will advance to the final round.

Final round

As a result of CONCACAF's revision to their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying format, the traditional Hexagonal has been expanded to two more teams, as its final and decisive round. The top five CONCACAF teams in the July 2020 FIFA rankings immediately enter in the final round, with the three winners of the second round.

Inter-confederation play-offs

The inter-confederation play-offs will be determined by another draw to be held at a later date. They are scheduled to be played in June 2022.