2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying

2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying
Tournament details
Host countries	Costa Rica; Curaçao; Nicaragua
Dates	23 February – 4 March 2026
Teams	32 (from 1 confederation)
Venue	3 (in 3 host cities)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	14
Goals scored	56 (4 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Xavi Dors ; (4 goals)
	← 2024 2028→ All statistics correct as of 24 February 2026.

Last updated February 26, 2026

The 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying tournament will select the six nations joining Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and the United States at the 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in July and August. The qualifying tournament also serves as the first stage in qualifying for the 2027 Pan American Games, 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and 2028 Olympics.^[1]

Entrants

Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and the United States received byes to the 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship as the six highest-ranked teams based on the CONCACAF Under-20 Ranking released on 5 August 2024.^[2] Thirty-two teams entered qualifying and were seeded into six draw pots based on the same rankings.^[2] On 6 November 2025, the teams entering qualifying were drawn into two groups of six teams and four groups of five teams to play single round-robin matches. The top-ranked team of each group will qualify for the final tournament.^[3]

Bye to final tournament
United States Mexico Honduras Panama Cuba Guatemala

Qualifying tournament draw pots^[a]
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Costa Rica El Salvador Canada Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica	Trinidad and Tobago Nicaragua Curaçao ^[b] Antigua and Barbuda Suriname Puerto Rico	Bermuda Aruba Saint Kitts and Nevis Belize Saint Lucia Guyana
Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Grenada Saint Vincent and the Grenadines British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Barbados Martinique ^[b]^[c]	Dominica Saint Martin ^[b]^[c] Sint Maarten ^[b]^[c] Anguilla ^[b] U.S. Virgin Islands Turks and Caicos Islands ^[b]	French Guiana ^[b]^[c] Bonaire ^[b]^[c]

↑ Teams in bold qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Not a member of the IOC, therefore ineligible for the 2028 Summer Olympics
1 2 3 4 5 Not a member of FIFA, therefore ineligible for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Schedule

Qualifying matches will be played from 23 February to 4 March.^[4]

Matchday	Groups
Matchday	A, B, C	D, E, F
1	23 February	24 February
2	25 February	26 February
3	27 February	28 February
4	1 March	2 March
5	3 March	4 March

Tiebreakers

Teams will be ranked according to the following criteria:^[1]

Greater number of points obtained in all matches
Greater overall goal difference
Greater overall number of goals scored

If two or more teams are tied, the following criteria will be applied:

Greater number of points scored in matches between the tied teams
Greater goal difference in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams are tied)
Greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams are tied)
Lower number of disciplinary points:
- First yellow card: 1 point
- Second yellow card/indirect red card: 3 points
- Direct red card: 4 points
- Yellow card and direct red card: 5 points
Higher ranking in the CONCACAF Under-20 ranking published most recently before qualification started

Results

Group A

All matches will be played at Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago in Managua. All match times are UTC–6.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Suriname	2	2	0	9	2	+7	6	Final tournament
2	El Salvador	1	1	0	3	0	+3	3
3	Belize	2	1	1	5	7	−2	3
4	Grenada	2	1	1	2	4	−2	3
5	Saint Martin	1	0	1	1	2	−1	0
6	French Guiana	2	0	2	0	5	−5	0

Updated to match(es) played on 25 February 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

23 February 2026