Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup: 5 Things You Need to Know | OneFootball

MIAMI – The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on September 4 to determine the region’s remaining participants in the FIFA World Cup 2026, joining co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Here are 5 things you need to know about the Third and Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

What

The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will determine the region’s remaining participants for next summer’s tournament.

Who

The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature 12 national teams who have progressed from the First and Second Rounds of Qualifying.

·      Bermuda

·      Costa Rica

·      Curaçao

·      El Salvador

·      Guatemala

·      Haiti

·      Honduras

·      Jamaica

·      Nicaragua

·      Panama

·      Suriname

·      Trinidad and Tobago

When

The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played during the FIFA Match Windows of September, October, and November 2025.

For kickoff times and additional match information click HERE.

Format

The Final Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup features 12 national teams divided into three groups of four. Each team will compete in a home-and-away round-robin format, playing six matches (three at home and three away) across three FIFA Windows.

The official draw for the Final Round took place in Miami on Thursday, June 12, 2025. The 12 qualified teams were drawn into three groups of four as follows:

Group APanama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Suriname

Group BJamaica, Curaçao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda

Group CCosta Rica, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua

At the conclusion of the Final Round (36 matches in total), the top team from each group will earn direct qualification to next summer’s FIFA World Cup, joining tournament co-hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

In addition, the two best second-place finishers from across the three groups will advance to a FIFA Intercontinental Playoff, where they will compete for two additional FIFA World Cup berths. The FIFA Intercontinental Playoff is scheduled to take place in March 2026.

For the first time in history, the Concacaf region could be represented by as many as eight teams in a men’s FIFA World Cup.

Concacaf’s Road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The Road to the FIFA World Cup 2026 for Concacaf Member Associations began in March 2024 and consists of three rounds of qualification, concluding with the last set of matches in the Final Round in November. The First Round featured the four lowest-ranked teams, who competed for two available spots in the Second Round.

The Second Round included the two First Round winners alongside the 28 remaining Concacaf Member Associations that are also FIFA members, excluding the three World Cup hosts.