2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF second round
International football competition
The second round of CONCACAF matches of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification is expected to take place during the months of June 2024 and June 2025.
Format
As Canada, Mexico, and the United States qualified for the final tournament as hosts, they will not take part in the qualification tournament. Thirty teams – the top twenty-eight from the December 2023 FIFA World Ranking and the two first round winners – were drawn into six groups of five teams each, and each team will play each other team in their group once with two home matches and two away matches (one-off matches each). The winners and runners-up from each group will advance to the third round.[1]
Seeding
The draw took place on 25 January 2024 in Zürich, Switzerland.[2] Teams were seeded based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking of December 2023 (shown in parentheses).[3]
^ abWinners of the first round, whose identities were not known at the time of the draw
Schedule
The fixtures were predetermined based on the pots that the teams were drawn from.[3] CONCACAF confirmed the match dates on 29 January 2024, with fixtures to be played from 5–11 June 2024 and 4–10 June 2025.[5]
Updated to match(es) played on 11 June 2024. Source: FIFA Rules for classification: Tiebreakers Notes:
^Cuba were awarded a 3–0 victory by forfeit after Cayman Islands were unable to travel to Cuba due to visa issues stemming from the United States government's policy on travel to Cuba.[6]
^Postponed from originally scheduled start time of 15:30 UTC−5.
^Cuba were awarded a 3–0 victory by forfeit after Cayman Islands were unable to travel to Cuba due to visa issues stemming from the United States government's restrictions on travel to Cuba.[6]
References
^"FIFA announces draw details for Concacaf FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers". CONCACAF. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
^"Draw reveals groups for second round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers". CONCACAF. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
^ ab"Draw Procedures for the CONCACAF Preliminary Draw for the FIFA World Cup 26" (PDF). FIFA. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
^"FIFA Men's Ranking – December 2023". FIFA. 21 December 2023.
^"CONCACAF announces schedule for first two rounds of CONCACAF Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026". CONCACAF. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
^ ab"Cayman forfeits Cuba game after first match win in WC". Cayman News. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.