2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF third round
International football competition
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The third round of CONCACAF matches of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification took place during September, October, and November 2025. This round determined the final three CONCACAF teams to directly qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as well as the two CONCACAF representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 September – 18 November 2025 |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 36 |
| Goals scored | 89 (2.47 per match) |
| Attendance | 506,236 (14,062 per match) |
| Top scorer |  Duckens Nazon (4 goals) |
← 2022 2030 → | |
Format
As Canada, Mexico, and the United States qualified for the final tournament as hosts, they did not take part in the qualification tournament. Twelve teams – the second round group winners and runners-up – were drawn into three groups of four teams each playing a home-and-away league format. The group winners qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the two best group runners-up advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.[1]
Qualified teams
The following teams finished first or second in their respective second round groups:[2]
Seeding
The draw took place at 19:00 EDT (UTC–4:00) on 12 June 2025. Teams were seeded based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking of June 2025[3] (April 2025 rankings shown in parentheses). The draw started with Pot 1; the first team drawn was placed into position A1, the second team drawn into position B1, and the third team drawn into position C1. The process was repeated with Pots 2, 3, and 4.[3]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Schedule
Matches took place in September, October, and November 2025.[3][4]
| Matchday | Date(s) | Fixtures |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 4–5 September 2025 | 3 v 2, 4 v 1 |
| Matchday 2 | 8–9 September 2025 | 1 v 3, 2 v 4 |
| Matchday 3 | 9–10 October 2025 | 2 v 1, 4 v 3 |
| Matchday 4 | 13–14 October 2025 | 1 v 4, 2 v 3 |
| Matchday 5 | 13 November 2025 | 3 v 1, 4 v 2 |
| Matchday 6 | 18 November 2025 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
Groups
Group A
Panama  | 1–1 |  Guatemala |
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Suriname  | 1–1 | Guatemala |
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El Salvador  | 0–1 | Guatemala |
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Group B
Curaçao  | 2–0 |  Jamaica |
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| Jamaica | 4–0 |  Bermuda |
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Trinidad and Tobago  | 1–1 | Jamaica |
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Group C
Costa Rica  | 3–3 | Haiti |
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Nicaragua  | 0–3 | Haiti |
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| Costa Rica | 4–1 | Nicaragua |
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| Haiti | 1–0 | Costa Rica |
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| Costa Rica | 0–0 |  Honduras |
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| Haiti | 2–0 | Nicaragua |
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Ranking of second-placed teams
Goalscorers
There were 89 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 2.47 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Kane Crichlow- Ne-Jai Tucker
Francisco Calvo- Alexis Gamboa
- Manfred Ugalde
- Juan Pablo Vargas
- Kenneth Vargas
Juninho Bacuna- Leandro Bacuna
- Livano Comenencia
- Sontje Hansen
- Ar'jany Martha
- Tyrese Noslin
- Roshon van Eijma
Harold Osorio
Olger Escobar- Rudy Muñoz
- Arquímides Ordóñez
Danley Jean Jacques- Frantzdy Pierrot
- Ruben Providence
Anthony Lozano- Rigoberto Rivas
- Alexy Vega
Bailey Cadamarteri- Bobby De Cordova-Reid
- Damion Lowe
- Kasey Palmer
- Dujuan Richards
- Jon Russell
Junior Arteaga- Byron Bonilla
- Bancy Hernández
- Jaime Moreno
César Blackman- Eric Davis
- Ismael Díaz
- Carlos Harvey
- José Luis Rodríguez
Radinio Balker- Tjaronn Chery
- Virgil Misidjan
Nathaniel James- Kevin Molino
- Dante Sealy
1 own goal
- Dante Leverock (against Jamaica)
- Nicolás Samayoa (against Suriname)
- Anfernee Dijksteel (against El Salvador)
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:[5]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious infractions)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to further qualification rounds, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the third round:
| Team | Player | Infraction(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica | Orlando Galo |  vs Haiti (9 September 2025) vs Honduras (9 October 2025) | vs Nicaragua (13 October 2025) |
| Alexis Gamboa | vs Nicaragua (5 September 2025) vs Honduras (9 October 2025) | vs Nicaragua (13 October 2025) | |
| El Salvador | Brayan Gil | vs Suriname (8 September 2025) vs Suriname (13 November 2025) | vs Panama (18 November 2025) |
| Jefferson Valladares | vs Guatemala (4 September 2025) vs Suriname (13 November 2025) | vs Panama (18 November 2025) | |
| Haiti | Carlens Arcus | vs Costa Rica (9 September 2025) vs Nicaragua (9 October 2025) | vs Honduras (13 October 2025) |
| Danley Jean Jacques | vs Costa Rica (9 September 2025) vs Costa Rica (13 November 2025) | vs Nicaragua (18 November 2025) | |
 Honduras | Getsel Montes | vs Costa Rica (9 October 2025) vs Haiti (13 November 2025) | vs Costa Rica (18 November 2025) |
| Jamaica | Isaac Hayden | vs Bermuda (5 September 2025) vs Trinidad and Tobago (9 September 2025) | vs Curaçao (10 October 2025) |
| Nicaragua | Óscar Acevedo | vs Honduras (9 September 2025) vs Costa Rica (13 October 2025) | vs Honduras (13 November 2025) |
| Jason Coronel |  vs Costa Rica (5 September 2025) | vs Honduras (9 September 2025) vs Haiti (9 October 2025) | |
| Christian Reyes | vs Haiti (9 October 2025) vs Costa Rica (13 October 2025) | vs Honduras (13 November 2025) | |
| Panama | Aníbal Godoy | vs Guatemala (8 September 2025) vs Guatemala (13 November 2025) | vs El Salvador (18 November 2025) |
| Suriname | Dhoraso Klas | vs Panama (4 September 2025) vs El Salvador (8 September 2025) | vs Guatemala (10 October 2025) |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Alvin Jones |  vs Costa Rica (10 June 2025) | vs Curaçao (5 September 2025) |