The CONCACAF qualifiers were played between 8 nations, an increase from last year's 6, for the first time, between 1–5 December 2010, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the third year in a row, seeing Jamaica return after four years and newcomers Guatemala joining the tournament. However, inevitably, the qualifiers were fought out between the strongest four nations in CONCACAF: El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States, who met in the semi-finals of the tournament, clearly dominating as a 'big four' force. However, only the finalists could qualify for the World Cup, which led to two dramatic semi-final games which saw both matches go to penalty shootouts. In the end, it was El Salvador and Mexico who qualified, after tense 3-3 and 1-1 draws against Costa Rica and the United States respectively. The qualifying nations eventually went through on penalties, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively, meaning that El Salvador qualify for the World Cup consecutively after putting out Costa Rica, who qualified last year, whilst Mexico qualify after a two-year absence from the World Cup, meaning the United States have now failed to qualify since 2007. Mexico were favourites from CONCACAF in Ravenna after beating El Salvador in the final of the qualifiers. The United States finished third after beating Costa Rica in the third place play off.