Last night was the final matchday for Concacaf qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and at least 7 teams entered the night with a fighting chance of securing either an outright berth in the World Cup or a spot in the inter-confederation playoff. At the end of the night, three teams – Panama, Curaçao, and Haiti – were able to celebrate their spot in the World Cup, while Suriname and Jamaica still keep their hopes alive by advancing to the inter-confederation playoff. All the matches played simultaneously,
creating some incredible drama in the final international matchday of 2025.
In Group A, Panama was able to capture the group after beating El Salvador 3-0 and seeing Suriname take a 3-1 loss at Guatemala. With the results, Los Canaleros were able to leapfrog Suriname for the top spot. Suriname was able to secure the top inter-confederation spot despite the loss. It was just the second time Panama has ever made it to the World Cup, the last coming in 2018.
The biggest match of the evening was out of Group B, where Jamaica hosted Curaçao at The Office (Independence Park) needing a win to automatically qualify for the World Cup. Curaçao needed just a win or draw. They got the 0-0 draw and in the process, made history. They become the smallest team by population to ever qualify for a World Cup, bypassing Iceland in 2018. Cabo Verde, who qualified for the World Cup last month, is now the third smallest team to ever qualify. Both will hear their names called at the World Cup draw on December 5th.
With the draw, Jamaica was able to hold on for the second inter-confederation spot. In the other Group B match, Trinidad & Tobago defeated Bermuda at home 2-1 in a match that didn’t factor into the World Cup spots.
That left Group C, which entered the day with Haiti atop the group and playing Nicaragua. Both Honduras and Costa Rica had a chance to play their way into the World Cup or even an inter-confederation spot. Honduras and Costa Rica had some wild drama late in their match, but neither could get a goal that could shift things around and it ended 0-0. Meanwhile, Haiti – who has had to play their home games away from Port-au-Prince due to security concerns – played Nicaragua in Curaçao. It may have been fate for Haiti to be in Curaçao while they were on the road. Haiti took out Nicaragua with a 2-0 victory to qualify for their first World Cup since 1974.
Honduras and Costa Rica’s scoreless draw meant that neither could overtake Suriname or Jamaica for an inter-confederation spot, and both will miss out on the World Cup. For the Caribbean Football Union – which is comprised of 25 of Concacaf’s 41 teams – it was a day they could only dream of with the success they had. Of the five Concacaf slots that were up for grabs – three direct qualification spots and two inter-confederation playoff spots – the CFU grabbed four of them. And in the process, Curaçao qualified for their first ever World Cup and Haiti will return to the World Cup for the first time in over 52 years, while Suriname (never qualified) and Jamaica (only appearance in 1998) keep their hopes of World Cup qualification alive for a few more months.
The final standings for World Cup qualifying in Concacaf:
What a cycle for the Caribbean, and they will have terrific representation next summer when the World Cup comes to North America.
