After considerable delays and a format change, the CONCACAF Men’s World Cup qualifiers opened with 28 matches in the first round, played WED 24-TUE 30 MAR 2021. The remaining matches are to be played in JUN 2021.

Group F favourites Trinidad-Tobago opened strong with a 3-0 win over Guyana before settling for a 1-1 draw with Puerto Rico. They sit two points behind group leaders St Kitts-Nevis.

Groups A [Antigua-Barbuda and El Salvador], B [Canada and Suriname], C [Curaçao and Guatemala], and D [Dominican Rep and Panama] all see two teams tied for the lead. In each case, the two teams are due to face off on the last day of the round, TUE 08 JUN 2021.

But Group E is the tightest, with Nicaragua, Belize, and Haiti all on three points. Haiti and Nicaragua have a match in hand – which comes against one another on TUE 08 JUN 2021.

At the conclusion of the round, the first placed team in each group advances to the second round. In that round, Group A’s winner faces that of Group F, as do the winners of Groups B and E, and the winners of Groups C and D. Each series is to be played over two legs, SAT 12-TUE 15 JUN 2021.