CONCACAF to start 2026 World Cup qualifying in March 2024

MIAMI: Thirty-two Central American and Caribbean nations will start qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in March 2024 as part of a competition in which teams will play up to 12 matches to reach the tournament.

The US, Mexico and Canada receive automatic berths as co-hosts of the World Cup, to be played in June and July 2026. The number of possible matches was reduced from the 20 Canada played to reach last year’s tournament in Qatar.

The Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football said Tuesday that qualifying will start with a first round in March 2024 involving the four lowest teams in the FIFA rankings as of November 2023, who will play a home-and-home series in which the highest-ranked team meets the lowest-ranked.

If current rankings were used, No. 206 Turks and Caicos Islands would play No. 210 Anguilla, and No. 208 US Virgin Islands would play No. 209 British Virgin Islands.

CONCACAF’s remaining 28 teams in qualifying will join in a second round to be played in June 2024 and June 2025. There will be six groups of five teams in a single round-robin, with each nation hosting two matches.

Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador and Honduras appear likely to be the highest-ranked teams in qualifying.

First- and second-place teams in each group advance to a 12-nation final round that includes three groups of four teams. A double round-robin will be played in autumn 2025, and each group winner will qualify for the first 48-nation World Cup.

CONCACAF also said the four quarterfinal winners from CONCACAF Nations League A this November will qualify for next year’s Copa America, the South American championship that was moved from Ecuador to the US. The four quarterfinal