The governing body for North and Central American and Caribbean soccer, CONCACAF, has confirmed that it will have six automatic qualifying spots for the 2030 World Cup. Additionally, there will be a seventh spot available through an intercontinental playoff.
The announcement was made on Friday, though it remains unclear when FIFA will officially announce the allocation of spots for each confederation. Notably, the president of the South American confederation, CONMEBOL, has also suggested a potential expansion of the tournament to include 64 nations.
An email from FIFA’s media office indicated they were looking into the matter of confederation allocations.
CONCACAF disclosed that the qualifying rounds will begin in September 2027, with teams ranked 14th through 35th competing in a home-and-home format in the initial round, with total goals being counted.
The 11 winners from this stage will advance to the second round, where they will compete alongside the top 13-ranked nations. These 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four, each playing six matches in October and November of 2027, as well as in March 2028.
The leading two teams from each group will then enter a final round of 12 nations, scheduled for June 2028 and September/October of 2029. In this final phase, three groups will be formed with each nation again playing six matches, and the top two from each group will qualify for the 2030 World Cup, which will take place primarily in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with one match each being held in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Furthermore, the top two third-placed teams will engage in a CONCACAF playoff in November 2029, with the winner advancing to the FIFA intercontinental playoffs.
With the expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams starting in 2026, CONCACAF has doubled its automatic entries to six. The United States, Mexico, and Canada receive spots as co-hosts, while Curacao, Haiti, and Panama have secured berths through qualifying.
In addition, Jamaica has an opportunity to secure a seventh spot in upcoming playoffs against New Caledonia and Congo.**
It has also been announced that the semifinals and finals of the 2027 Nations League will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
