Concacaf Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. (Image courtesy: Concacaf)
Concacaf and FIFA have confirmed the schedule for the September and October Final Round matches of the Concacaf Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Following the conclusion of the First Round of qualifying, where 30 Concacaf Member Associations competed in six groups of five teams, and the Second Round of qualifying which included the six First Round group winners facing off in three home and away matchups, Canada, El Salvador and Panama qualified to join Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico and USA (top five ranked nations) in the Final Round.
For the Final Round (sometimes referred to as the “Octagonal”), the eight nations will play each other home and away during the FIFA Match Windows of September, October and November 2021, and January and March 2022, with each team playing 14 matches.
At the end of the Final Round, the top three finishing teams will qualify directly to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The fourth-placed team will advance to a FIFA Intercontinental Playoff, scheduled to be played in June 2022.
The order of matches for the Final Round was drawn in August 2020 and the schedule is as follows (home nation listed first):
(Concacaf)