The 2026 World Cup is just a few months away, but we now know the roadmap for the next World Cup cycle in our region. Today, Concacaf announced its men’s international calendar for the next four years, including for 203 World Cup qualification, the Gold Cup, and the Concacaf Nations League.
Fans won’t have to wait long for 2030 World Cup qualifying to begin, as Round One will begin in the September-October 2027 international window featuring the Concacaf teams ranked 14-35 in the FIFA rankings. The
22 teams will divide into 11 pairs for home-and-home series. The 11 winners on aggregate will advance to Round Two.
Round Two will begin in the second half of the September-October 2027 window, and this is where the United States Men’s National Team will enter qualifying. The top 13 teams in Concacaf will join the 11 teams that advanced from Round One and will be split into six groups of four. Each team will face each other home and away in a double round robin in the September-October 2027, November 2027, and March 2028 international windows. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the Final Round of qualifying.
In the Final Round, the 12 remaining teams will split into three groups of four, again playing a double round robin, home and away. The top two finishers in each group will qualify directly for the 2030 World Cup. The two best third place finishers will advance to a Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers Play-In, a home-and-home series where the winner will represent Concacaf in the inter-confederation playoff. In total, Concacaf will have 6 teams directly qualify to the 2030 World Cup, with a 7th team possible via the inter-confederation playoff.
The Concacaf Nations League and Concacaf Gold Cup also had their schedules set by Concacaf. Concacaf Nations League will start up this fall in the September-October international window. Similar to the previous two editions, the USMNT will bypass the group stage for League A and enter at the Quarterfinal round. They will play a home-and-away series with the aggregate winner advancing to the Concacaf Nations League Finals in March 2027. New this time around, Leagues B and C will also have a finals tournament similar to League A, and those will also take place in March 2027. There will also be a Concacaf Nations League in 2028-2029.
The Gold Cup is set for its next two editions: Summer 2027 and Summer 2029. Concacaf Nations League will serve as qualifying for the Gold Cup. Locations for those tournaments have yet to be announced, but it will be extremely surprising if they are not held in the United States.
The USMNT has their pathway set for Concacaf tournaments along with World Cup qualifying. Once the 2026 World Cup is done, they will be able to start their focus on the regional competitions with an eye on World Cup qualifying in a year’s time.
