The draw for the first group phase of CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2026 Men’s World Cup will take place on THU 25 JAN 2024 in Zürich, Switzerland. The 30 teams to take part will be allocated into six groups of five teams each.

The CONCACAF qualifiers open with the preliminary round in MAR 2024. The four lowest CONCACAF teams in the FIFA rankings will take part, with the pairings decided automatically based on their rankings. 35th ranked Anguilla face 32nd ranked Turks-Caicos Is, and 34th ranked US Virgin Is meet 33rd ranked British Virgin Is. Each series will be played over two legs, and the winners will advance to the first group phase.

The draw will determine the groups in the first group phase, with the teams allocated by pots based on their rankings. One team from each pot will be drawn into each group. Teams will play four matches, one against each opponent in their group. Each team will play two matches in JUN 2024, and two more in JUN 2025. The top two teams in each group will advance to the CONCACAF final round, with three places at the Men’s World Cup and two at the playoff tournament up for grabs.

• Preliminary round:
  • Series 1: Turks-Caicos Is v Anguilla
  • Series 2: British Virgin Is v US Virgin Is
• First group phase pots:
  • Pot 1: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama
  • Pot 2: Antigua-Barbuda, Curaçao, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago
  • Pot 3: Cuba, Dominican Rep, Guyana, Puerto Rico, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia
  • Pot 4: Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Vincent-Grenadines
  • Pot 5: Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Is, Winner TCA-AIA, Winner VGB-VIR