CONCACAF unveils 2026 World Cup qualifying format with co-host Canada on sidelines

Football

Published 28.02.2023

CONCACAF unveils 2026 World Cup qualifying format with co-host Canada on sidelines

Qualifying within the CONCACAF area for the 2026 World Cup will kick off in March 2024 with co-hosts Canada, the U.S. and Mexico watching from the sidelines.

FIFA confirmed earlier this month that the three co-hosts will qualify mechanically for the expanded 48-team area on the males’s soccer showcase.

On Tuesday, CONCACAF laid out the qualifying street map protecting its remaining 32 FIFA-affiliated member associations. CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, really has 41 member associations however solely 35 are FIFA members.

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FIFA has stated CONCACAF may have as much as eight groups on the 2026 match, with an extra three direct qualification berths and two extra potential berths through intercontinental playoffs.

As co-host, Canada will probably be free to set its pre-tournament schedule of friendlies.

CONCACAF despatched 4 groups to the 32-team World Cup in Qatar final yr. Canada, Mexico and the U.S. superior by ending within the prime three of the eight-country ultimate qualifying round-robin whereas fourth-place Costa Rica beat Oceania’s New Zealand in a playoff to hitch them.

The first spherical of qualifying will function the 4 lowest-ranked groups within the area (primarily based on the November 2023 FIFA rankings), with the highest-ranked group taking over the lowest-ranked nation and the second-highest versus third-highest in home-and-away matches within the FIFA match window of March 2024.

The two winners advance to the second spherical, becoming a member of 28 different groups from the confederation. The 30 groups will probably be break up into six teams of 5 groups for round-robin play in June 2024 and June 2025 with every nation enjoying 4 video games.

The six group winners and runners-up advance to the ultimate spherical, which encompass three teams of 4 groups. After round-robin play that can see every group play six video games within the fall of 2025, the three group winners will ebook their tickets to the 2026 World Cup, becoming a member of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

The two greatest second-place finishers will qualify for intercontinental playoffs.

CONCACAF additionally introduced Tuesday that it’s revamping the format for the 2023-24 version of the Nations League, which is ready to begin in September. The new format will decide CONCACAF’s six entries within the 2024 Copa America.

The 41 groups within the area will probably be assigned to League A, B, and C relying on outcomes of the earlier Nations League.

League A and B will every function 16 groups (with Group B rising in measurement from 12 groups) with 9 in League C.

For League A gaggle stage play, the 12 lowest-ranked groups (primarily based on the March 2023 CONCACAF rankings) will probably be break up into two teams of six groups with every group enjoying a complete of 4 video games (two dwelling and two away).

The prime two groups from every group advance to the quarterfinals, the place they’ll be part of the 4 top-ranked groups (primarily based on the CONCACAF rankings as of March 2023).

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The new quarterfinal spherical will function a home-and-away format, with the mixture winners transferring on to the Nations League finals. And for the 2023-24 version of the match, the quarterfinal winners will qualify for the 2024 Copa America.

Two extra CONCACAF groups will be part of them at Copa America through a play-in — single-elimination matches between the 4 League A dropping quarterfinalists to be performed in March 2024 at a centralized venue.

The 2024 Copa America will probably be performed within the United States in the summertime with 10 groups from CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, and 6 CONCACAF groups.

League B’s Nations League format stays the identical with the 16 groups divided into 4 teams of 4 groups. League C will function 9 groups divided into three teams of three.

CONCACAF says there will probably be promotion however no relegation within the present version of the Nations League, as a result of new format beginning in 2023-24 that entails enlargement of League A.

Promotion and relegation will resume on the conclusion of the 2023-24 Nations League, which can happen throughout FIFA Match home windows in September, October, and November 2023, adopted by the finals in March 2024.

The official draw for the competitors’s third version is scheduled for May 16.

The 2024-25 Nations League will function qualifying for the 2025 Gold Cup.

The Nations League was launched in 2018 with the U.S. the inaugural winner, defeating Mexico within the June 2021 ultimate in Denver.

The second version of the match is underway with Canada as a result of go to Curaçao on March 26 earlier than internet hosting Honduras in Toronto three days later in League A Group C play.

The 4 League A gaggle winners will advance to the 2022-23 finals, to be performed in June. The Nations League may also decide the 24 groups that qualify for the 2023 Gold Cup preliminary and group stage.

CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, a Vancouver native, known as the revamped codecs and competitions “a tremendous platform” for males’s nationwide groups within the area.

As a part of the current CONCACAF-CONMEBOL settlement, CONCACAF has invited the highest 4 CONMEBOL girls’s nationwide groups to take part within the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup, a brand new 12-team match.

The two CONCACAF groups that can take part within the 2024 Summer Olympics (the U.S. and Jamaica or Canada) will qualify straight for the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. The remaining six CONCACAF groups will qualify by the 2023 Road to CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

The 4 visitor CONMEBOL groups to take part have been decided primarily based on the outcomes of the 2022 Women’s Copa America: Brazil (champion) Colombia (runner-up), Argentina (third place) and Paraguay (fourth place).