# 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

The North, Central American and Caribbean section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as the 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 were available for CONCACAF teams.

## Format
### Original format

On 10 July 2019, CONCACAF announced a restructured qualifying format for the 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.
* Top-seeded Hexagonal group: The top 6 ranked CONCACAF teams based on the FIFA rankings of June 2020 were to play home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group (often referred to as the "Hexagonal"). The top three teams would have qualified for the World Cup, and the fourth-placed team would have advanced 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) were to 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 would have advanced 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 would have also advanced to the CONCACAF play-off round.
* Play-off round: The fourth-placed team of the Hexagonal group would have faced the winner of the knockout stage in order to advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Original qualifying schedule (pre-format change) :
| Stage | Matchday | Matchday | FIFA international dates |
| Top-seeded round ||||
| Hexagonal | Matchday 1 | Matchday 1 | 31 August – 8 September 2020 |
| 31 August – 8 September 2020 ||
| Hexagonal | Matchday 3 | Matchday 3 | 5–13 October 2020 |
| 5–13 October 2020 ||
| Hexagonal | Matchday 5 | Matchday 5 | 9–17 November 2020 |
| 9–17 November 2020 ||
| Hexagonal | Matchday 7 | Matchday 7 | 22–30 March 2021 |
| 22–30 March 2021 ||
| Hexagonal | Matchday 9 | Matchday 9 | 30 August – 7 September 2021 |
| 30 August – 7 September 2021 ||
| Lower-seeded round ||||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | Matchday 1 | 31 August – 8 September 2020 |
| 31 August – 8 September 2020 ||
| Group stage | Matchday 3 | Matchday 3 | 5–13 October 2020 |
| 5–13 October 2020 ||
| Group stage | Matchday 5 | Matchday 5 | 9–17 November 2020 |
| 9–17 November 2020 ||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | First leg | 22–30 March 2021 |
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | Second leg | 22–30 March 2021 |
| Knockout stage | Semi-finals | First leg | 31 May – 8 June 2021 |
| Knockout stage | Semi-finals | Second leg | 31 May – 8 June 2021 |
| Knockout stage | Final | First leg | 30 August – 7 September 2021 |
| Knockout stage | Final | Second leg | 30 August – 7 September 2021 |
| Play-off round ||||
| Play-off | First leg | First leg | 4–12 October 2021 |
| 4–12 October 2021 ||
However, on 25 June 2020, following FIFA's decision to postpone the September 2020 international window because of 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 World Cup.
* First round: 30 CONCACAF teams, ranked 6 to 35 based on the FIFA rankings of July 2020, were drawn into six groups of five and played single round-robin matches (two home and two away), with group winners qualifying for the second round.
* Second round: Six first round group winners played in a two-legged home-and-away series. The three winners advanced to the third round.
* Third round: Eight teams, three second round winners and top five CONCACAF teams based on those FIFA rankings, played home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group. The top three teams qualified for the World Cup, and the fourth-placed team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.

## Entrants

All 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF originally entered qualification. Teams were seeded based on their July 2020 FIFA rankings. However, Saint Lucia later withdrew, reducing the total number of teams to 34.
From the July 2020 FIFA World Rankings :
| Bye to third round (ranked 1st to 5th) | Competing in first round (ranked 6th to 35th) | Competing in first round (ranked 6th to 35th) |
| Mexico (11) United States (22) Costa Rica (46) Jamaica (48) Honduras (62) | El Salvador (69) Canada (73) Curaçao (80) Panama (81) Haiti (86) Trinidad and Tobago (105) Antigua and Barbuda (126) Guatemala (130) Saint Kitts and Nevis (139) Suriname (141) Nicaragua (151) Dominican Republic (158) Grenada (159) Barbados (162) Guyana (166) | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (167) Bermuda (168) Belize (170) Saint Lucia (176)$^W$ Puerto Rico (178) Cuba (179) Montserrat (183) Dominica (184) Cayman Islands (193) Bahamas (195) Aruba (200) Turks and Caicos Islands (203) U.S. Virgin Islands (207) British Virgin Islands (208) Anguilla (210) |
$^W$ Later withdrew

## Schedule

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, and that the June 2021 window would be extended from two matchdays to four for CONCACAF. On 8 September 2020, CONCACAF announced that the matches scheduled for October and November 2020 would be rescheduled to 2021. On 4 December 2020, FIFA announced that the September 2021, October 2021, January 2022 and March 2022 windows in the FIFA International Match Calendar would each be extended by one day to allow for three matchdays to be played per window. On the same day, CONCACAF announced the revised qualification schedule, which was updated on 16 June 2021.
| Round | Matchday | Dates |
| First round | Window 1 | 24–30 March 2021 |
| First round | Window 2 | 2–8 June 2021 |
| Second round | First leg | 12 June 2021 |
| Second round | Second leg | 15 June 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 1 | 2 September 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 2 | 5 September 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 3 | 8 September 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 4 | 7 October 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 5 | 10 October 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 6 | 13 October 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 7 | 12 November 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 8 | 16 November 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 9 | 27 January 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 10 | 30 January 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 11 | 2 February 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 12 | 24 March 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 13 | 27 March 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 14 | 30 March 2022 |
Original qualifying schedule (revised format) :
| Stage | Matchday | FIFA international dates |
| First round | Window 1 | 7, 8, 10, 11 & 13 October 2020 |
| First round | Window 2 | 11, 13, 14 & 17 November 2020 |
| Second round | First leg | 22–30 March 2021 |
| Second round | Second leg | 22–30 March 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 1 | 31 May – 15 June 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 2 | 31 May – 15 June 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 3 | 31 May – 15 June 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 4 | 31 May – 15 June 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 5 | 30 August – 7 September 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 6 | 30 August – 7 September 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 7 | 4–12 October 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 8 | 4–12 October 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 9 | 8–16 November 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 10 | 8–16 November 2021 |
| Third round | Matchday 11 | 24 January – 1 February 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 12 | 24 January – 1 February 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 13 | 21–29 March 2022 |
| Third round | Matchday 14 | 21–29 March 2022 |

## First round

The six highest ranked teams of the first round were pre-seeded into groups A through F. Teams in their groups played each other once, a total of four matches; two home and two away matches. The draw for the first round was held on 19 August 2020, 19:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. The top team from each group advanced to the second round. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many "home" games to be played at neutral venues.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | El Salvador | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | +12 | 10 | Advance to second round | — | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | — |
| 2 | Montserrat | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 8 | | 1–1 | — | — | — | 4–0 |
| 3 | Antigua and Barbuda | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 7 | | — | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | — |
| 4 | Grenada | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 3 | | — | 1–2 | — | — | 1–0 |
| 5 | U.S. Virgin Islands | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | −15 | 0 | | 0–7 | — | 0–3 | — | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Canada | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | +26 | 12 | Advance to second round | — | 4–0 | 5–1 | — | — |
| 2 | Suriname | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 9 | | — | — | 6–0 | — | 3–0 |
| 3 | Bermuda | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 4 | | — | — | — | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Aruba | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 | −16 | 3 | | 0–7 | 0–6 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Cayman Islands | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 18 | −16 | 1 | | 0–11 | — | — | 1–3 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Curaçao | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 10 | Advance to second round | — | 0–0 | — | 5–0 | — |
| 2 | Guatemala | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | +14 | 10 | | — | — | 1–0 | 10–0 | — |
| 3 | Cuba | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | | 1–2 | — | — | — | 5–0 |
| 4 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 3 | | — | — | 0–1 | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | British Virgin Islands | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | −19 | 0 | | 0–8 | 0–3 | — | — | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Panama | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | +18 | 12 | Advance to second round | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | — |
| 2 | Dominican Republic | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 7 | | — | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |
| 3 | Barbados | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | | — | — | — | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Dominica | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | | 1–2 | — | — | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Anguilla | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 23 | −23 | 0 | | 0–13 | 0–6 | — | — | — |

### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Haiti | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | +13 | 9 | Advance to second round | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | — |
| 2 | Nicaragua | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 6 | | — | — | 3–0 | — | — |
| 3 | Belize | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | | — | — | — | 5–0 | — |
| 4 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | −22 | 0 | | 0–10 | 0–7 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Saint Lucia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | — | — | — | — | — |

### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 | Advance to second round | — | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | — |
| 2 | Trinidad and Tobago | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 8 | | 2–0 | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| 3 | Puerto Rico | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 7 | | — | 1–1 | — | — | 7–0 |
| 4 | Guyana | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 | | — | — | 0–2 | — | 4–0 |
| 5 | Bahamas | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 15 | −15 | 1 | | 0–4 | 0–0 | — | — | — |

## Second round

The second round saw the six group winners from the first round playing in three home-and-away ties of predetermined pairings. The winners advanced to the third round.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0–6 | El Salvador | 0–4 | 0–2 |
| Haiti | 0–4 | Canada | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Panama | 2–1 | Curaçao | 2–1 | 0–0 |

## Third round

As a result of CONCACAF's revision to their World Cup qualifying format, the traditional Hexagonal with six teams and ten games per team was expanded to eight teams and fourteen games per team for the final and decisive round. The top five CONCACAF teams in the July 2020 FIFA rankings entered in the third round, joining the three winners of the second round. The draw to determine the schedule for the third round was held on 19 August 2020, 19:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Canada | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 28 | 2022 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Mexico | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 28 | 2022 FIFA World Cup | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | United States | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 10 | +11 | 25 | 2022 FIFA World Cup | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Costa Rica | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 25 | Inter-confederation play-offs | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| 5 | Panama | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 19 | −2 | 21 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| 6 | Jamaica | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 22 | −10 | 11 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| 7 | El Salvador | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 10 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| 8 | Honduras | 14 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 26 | −19 | 4 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — |

## Inter-confederation play-off

The inter-confederation play-offs was determined by a draw held on 26 November 2021. The fourth-placed team from CONCACAF qualification third round was drawn against the representative team from the OFC. The play-off was played as a single match in Qatar (host country of the World Cup) on 14 June 2022.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Costa Rica | 1–0 | New Zealand |

## Qualified teams

The following four teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
| Canada | Third round winners | 27 March 2022 | 1 (1986) |
| Mexico | Third round runners-up | 30 March 2022 | 16 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) |
| United States | Third round third place | 30 March 2022 | 10 (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) |
| Costa Rica | CONCACAF v OFC play-off winners | 14 June 2022 | 5 (1990, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2018) |
    $^1$ Italic indicates hosts for that year.

## Top goalscorers

There were 345 goals scored in 118 matches, for an average of 2.92 goals per match.
13 goals
* Cyle Larin
9 goals
* Jonathan David
8 goals
* David Rugamas
7 goals
* Cecilio Waterman
6 goals
* Nigel Hasselbaink
5 goals
* Lucas Cavallini
* Alphonso Davies
* Lyle Taylor
* Gabriel Torres
* Christian Pulisic
4 goals
* Duckens Nazon
* Rolando Blackburn
* Ricardo Rivera
* Keithroy Freeman
Links to the lists of goalscorers for each round are below:
* First round
* Second round
* Third round