# 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

The CONCACAF qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup consisted of four rounds of competition, in which the 35 member nations competed for three automatic berths at the finals in Brazil.
The United States, Costa Rica, and Honduras qualified. The fourth-place finisher, Mexico, played a two-game series against New Zealand, the first-placed team from Oceania and qualified to the Finals.

## Format

In March 2011, following news that CONCACAF would not receive four spots in the 2014 World Cup, officials within CONCACAF indicated that the first format proposed would be revised. Several days later, officials within CONCACAF announced the qualifying format they would present to FIFA. The proposed format, which was subsequently accepted by FIFA, consists of 4 stages.
* Round One. Teams ranked 26–35 will play-off to reduce the number of entrants to 30.
* Round Two. 6 groups of 4 teams. This round includes the 5 qualifiers from the preliminary round plus teams ranked 7–25. The top team in each group advances to the next stage.
* Round Three (Semifinal round). 3 groups of 4. Teams ranked 1–6 face off against the 6 group winners from the previous round. The top two in each group advance.
* Round Four (Hexagonal). The top two teams in each group from the semifinal round compete in one group of 6. The top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the 4th place team advances to an intercontinental play-off.

## Entrants

All 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF entered qualification. The seeding – used to draw the first three rounds of the qualifiers – was based on the FIFA World Rankings of March 2011. (World rankings shown in parentheses)
| Bye to third round (ranked 1st to 6th) | Bye to second round (ranked 7th to 25th) | Competing in first round (ranked 26th to 35th) |
| United States (19) Mexico (27) Honduras (38) Jamaica (48) Costa Rica (53) Cuba (64) | Panama (68) Canada (84) El Salvador (92) Grenada (94) Trinidad and Tobago (95) Haiti (99) Antigua and Barbuda (101) Guyana (109) Suriname (114) Saint Kitts and Nevis (119) Guatemala (125) Dominica (130) Puerto Rico (131) Barbados (137) Curaçao (146) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (148) Cayman Islands (158) Nicaragua (164) Bermuda (165) | Belize (166) Dominican Republic (166) British Virgin Islands (177) Saint Lucia (182) Turks and Caicos Islands (193) Bahamas (193) Aruba (199) U.S. Virgin Islands (200) Anguilla (202) Montserrat (202) |

## Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.
| Round | Matchday | Date |
| First round | First leg | 15 June – 17 July 2011 |
| First round | Second leg | 15 June – 17 July 2011 |
| Second round | Matchday 1 | 2–18 September 2011 |
| Second round | Matchday 2 | 2–18 September 2011 |
| Second round | Matchday 3 | 7–15 October 2011 |
| Second round | Matchday 4 | 7–15 October 2011 |
| Second round | Matchday 5 | 11–15 November 2011 |
| Second round | Matchday 6 | 11–15 November 2011 |
| Third round | Matchday 1 | 8–12 June 2012 |
| Third round | Matchday 2 | 8–12 June 2012 |
| Third round | Matchday 3 | 7–11 September 2012 |
| Third round | Matchday 4 | 7–11 September 2012 |
| Third round | Matchday 5 | 12–16 October 2012 |
| Third round | Matchday 6 | 12–16 October 2012 |
| Round | Matchday | Date |
| Fourth round | Matchday 1 | 6 February 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 2 | 22–26 March 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 3 | 22–26 March 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 4 | 4–18 June 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 5 | 4–18 June 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 6 | 4–18 June 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 7 | 6–10 September 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 8 | 6–10 September 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 9 | 11–15 October 2013 |
| Fourth round | Matchday 10 | 11–15 October 2013 |
The inter-confederation play-off between the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF (Mexico) and the winning team from OFC (New Zealand) was played between 13 and 20 November 2013.

## First round

The first round of the CONCACAF qualifiers saw the bottom 10 teams being paired up into five home-and-away series, with the highest ranked team facing the lowest ranked team and so on. The winners of these series proceeded to the second round.
The matchups were announced by FIFA on 26 April 2011. Early indications were that the matches would be played on 3 and 7 June 2011; However, the matches were postponed to scattered days in June and July, between 15 June and 17 July. The 5 winners (in bold, below) advanced to the second round of the CONCACAF qualifiers: Belize, Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Lucia, and the Bahamas.
The two wins for the U.S. Virgin Islands were their first two ever in World Cup play, with their only other win prior to this coming in 1998.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Montserrat | 3–8 | Belize | 2–5 | 1–3 |
| Anguilla | 0–6 | Dominican Republic | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 4–1 | British Virgin Islands | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Aruba | 6–6 (4–5 p) | Saint Lucia | 4–2 | 2–4 (a.e.t.) |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 0–10 | Bahamas | 0–4 | 0–6 |
* Note 1: Order of legs reversed from originally published draw.

## Second round

In the second round, the teams ranked 7–25 were joined by the 5 winners from the first round. These teams were drawn into six groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011. The matches were played from 2 September to 15 November 2011.
The top team from each group advanced to the third round.

### Seeding

Teams were seeded into four pots – designated Pots 4 to 7 in the draw. Pot 4 included teams ranked 7–12, Pot 5 teams ranked 13–18, Pot 6 teams ranked 19–24, and Pot 7 the team ranked 25 along with the 5 first round winners.
| Pot 4 | Pot 5 | Pot 6 | Pot 7 |
| Panama  Canada  El Salvador  Grenada  Trinidad and Tobago  Haiti | Antigua and Barbuda  Guyana  Suriname  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Guatemala  Dominica | Puerto Rico  Barbados  Curaçao  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Cayman Islands  Nicaragua | Bermuda  Belize$^†$  Dominican Republic$^†$  Saint Lucia$^†$  Bahamas$^†$  U.S. Virgin Islands$^†$ |
$^†$ First round winners

### Groups
#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | El Salvador | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 18 | Advance to third round | — | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Dominican Republic | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 8 | | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Suriname | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 7 | | 1–3 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Cayman Islands | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 15 | −13 | 1 | | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Guyana | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | Advance to third round | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Trinidad and Tobago | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 12 | | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Bermuda | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Barbados | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 14 | −12 | 0 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |
* ↑ Match awarded

#### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | |
| 1 | Panama | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 12 | Advance to third round | — | 5–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Nicaragua | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 6 | | 1–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 3 | Dominica | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | −11 | 0 | | 0–5 | 0–2 | — |
* Bahamas withdrew from the tournament on 19 August 2011 and were not replaced.

#### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Canada | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1 | +17 | 14 | Advance to third round | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Puerto Rico | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 9 | | 0–3 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 7 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Saint Lucia | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 23 | −19 | 1 | | 0–7 | 0–4 | 2–4 | — |
* 1 2 Match awarded

#### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Guatemala | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 | +16 | 18 | Advance to third round | — | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Belize | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 7 | | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–4 |
| 3 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 5 | | 0–3 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Grenada | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 4 | | 1–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | — |

#### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Antigua and Barbuda | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 5 | +23 | 15 | Advance to third round | — | 1–0 | 5–2 | 10–0 |
| 2 | Haiti | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 6 | +15 | 13 | | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 6–0 |
| 3 | Curaçao | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 7 | | 0–3 | 2–4 | — | 6–1 |
| 4 | U.S. Virgin Islands | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 40 | −38 | 0 | | 1–8 | 0–7 | 0–3 | — |
* ↑ Match awarded

## Third round

The third round saw the top 6 seeds joined by the 6 group winners from the second round. These teams were drawn into three groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011. These matches were played from 8 June to 16 October 2012.
The top two teams from each group advanced to the fourth round.

### Seeding

As the draw for the third round was held before the previous matches were held, only the six teams with byes to the round were known at the time of the draw. Teams were seeded into three pots, with Pot 1 containing the top 3 seeds, Pot 2 seeds 4 to 6, and Pot 3 the 6 group winners from the second round. Each third round group contains one team from Pot 1, one team from Pot 2 and two teams from Pot 3.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
| United States  Mexico  Honduras | Jamaica  Costa Rica  Cuba | El Salvador$^†$  Guyana$^†$  Panama$^†$  Canada$^†$  Guatemala$^†$  Antigua and Barbuda$^†$ |
$^†$ Second round winners whose identity was not known at the time of the draw

### Groups
#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | United States | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 13 | Advance to fourth round | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| 2 | Jamaica | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 | Advance to fourth round | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| 3 | Guatemala | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 10 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Antigua and Barbuda | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 1 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — |

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Mexico | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 18 | Advance to fourth round | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 10 | Advance to fourth round | 0–2 | — | 2–2 | 7–0 |
| 3 | El Salvador | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 5 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 |
| 4 | Guyana | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 24 | −19 | 1 | | 0–5 | 0–4 | 2–3 | — |

#### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Honduras | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 11 | Advance to fourth round | — | 0–2 | 8–1 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Panama | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 11 | Advance to fourth round | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Canada | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 10 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 |
| 4 | Cuba | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 10 | −9 | 1 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |

## Fourth round

In the fourth round, the three group winners and three runners-up from the third round competed in a double round robin, including a home and away match against the other five teams between 6 February and 15 October 2013. The round is informally referred to as the 'Hexagonal' or just 'The Hex'. The draw for 'The Hex' was conducted by FIFA on 7 November 2012.
The top three teams qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals, while the fourth-placed team, Mexico, played a home-away series against New Zealand, the winner of Oceania qualifying. Teams are ranked first by total points in all games, then, if tied, by best goal differential in all games, then by total goals in all games. If still tied, the same criteria are applied to games among the tied teams.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | United States | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 22 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 18 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Honduras | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 15 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Mexico | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 11 | Advance to inter-confederation play-offs | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| 5 | Panama | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 8 | | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 |
| 6 | Jamaica | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 5 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Inter-confederation play-offs

The winner of the OFC qualification tournament, New Zealand, played against CONCACAF's fourth-placed team, Mexico, in a home-and-away play-off. Mexico, the winner of this play-off, qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The first leg was played on 13 November 2013 in Mexico City, and the second leg was played on 20 November 2013 in Wellington.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Mexico | 9–3 | New Zealand | 5–1 | 4–2 |

## Qualified teams

The following four teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
| United States | Fourth round winners | 10 September 2013 | 9 (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
| Costa Rica | Fourth round runners-up | 10 September 2013 | 3 (1990, 2002, 2006) |
| Honduras | Fourth round third place | 15 October 2013 | 2 (1982, 2010) |
| Mexico | CONCACAF–OFC play-off winners | 20 November 2013 | 14 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

## Top goalscorers

There were 435 goals scored in 142 matches, for an average of 3.06 goals per match.
11 goals
* Deon McCaulay
10 goals
* Peter Byers
* Oribe Peralta
* Blas Pérez
9 goals
* Jerry Bengtson
8 goals
* Álvaro Saborío
* Clint Dempsey
7 goals
* Carlo Costly
* Luis Tejada
6 goals
* Tamarley Thomas
* Rocky Siberie
* Carlos Ruiz
* Osael Romero
5 goals
* Lesly St. Fleur
* Erick Ozuna
* Jean-Eudes Maurice
* Javier Hernández
Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:
* First round
* Second round
* Third round
* Fourth round