There are only six matches left in CONCACAF regional World Cup qualifying and things are looking good for four nations entering the Jan. 27 match slate. The top three teams earn automatic berths to the 2022 World Cup, while fourth-place advances to a play-in match against a team from Oceania.
Undefeated Canada (1st, 16 points) surprisingly leads the qualifying table with a trip on tap to face the last-place team. But road matches in Honduras have been a struggle for the Canadians in the past, and they will travel without superstar Alphonso Davies, who will miss the next three matches with post-COVID myocarditis.
Traditional powers USA and Mexico are right behind Les Rouges in the standings. The Americans (2nd, 15 points) can take advantage of any slip-up by Canada when they host El Salvador in Ohio. Mexico (3rd, 14 points) will have a trickier test on the road at Jamaica, which played El Tri tough in the first meeting on Mexican soil.Â
MORE: How the USA can qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Panama (4th, 14 points) will seek to insert itself in one of those top three places. But the Canaleros will be facing a desperate Costa Rica (5th, 9 points) team likely facing its last best chance to make a case for the fourth-place position currently occupied by Panama.
The remaining teams are in precarious position. Jamaica (6th, 7 points) and El Salvador (7th, 6 points) have little margin for error and need to string together wins to keep dreaming. Meanwhile, it’s unlikely that Honduras will be able to recover from a paltry three-point haul and it will be playing the role of spoiler from here on out.
The first standings tiebreakers are (1) goal difference, (2) goals scored and (3) most points obtained from matches between teams that are tied. The full list of tiebreakers and results for Matchdays 1-8 follow at the bottom of this post.
CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Standings & Results
| Team |
PTS |
GP |
W |
L |
D |
GF |
GA |
GD |
| 1.* Canada |
16 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
13 |
5 |
+8 |
| 2.* USA |
15 |
8 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
5 |
+7 |
| 3.* Mexico |
14 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
7 |
+4 |
| 4.* Panama |
14 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
9 |
+2 |
| 5. Costa Rica |
9 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
7 |
-1 |
| 6. Jamaica |
7 |
8 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
-4 |
| 7. El Salvador |
6 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
10 |
-6 |
| 8. Honduras |
3 |
8 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
15 |
-10 |
* The top three teams earn direct berths to Qatar 2022, while fourth place will head to an intercontinental playoff against a nation from Oceania.
Matchday 9
| Date |
Match |
Time (ET) |
TV |
Stream |
| Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 |
USA vs. El Salvador |
7 p.m. |
ESPN2, UniMas, TUDN |
fuboTV, ESPN+ |
| Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 |
Jamaica vs. Mexico |
7 p.m. |
CBSSN, Telemundo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 |
Honduras vs. Canada |
8:05 p.m. |
— |
Paramount+ |
| Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 |
Costa Rica vs. Panama |
9:05 p.m. |
Universo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
Matchday 10
| Date |
Match |
Time (ET) |
TV |
Stream |
| Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 |
Canada vs. USA |
3:05 p.m. |
Telemundo, Universo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 |
Mexico vs. Costa Rica |
6 p.m. |
Univision, TUDN |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 |
Panama vs. Jamaica |
6:05 p.m. |
Universo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 |
Honduras vs. El Salvador |
7:05 p.m. |
Universo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
Matchday 11
| Date |
Match |
Time (ET) |
TV |
Stream |
| Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 |
Jamaica vs. Costa Rica |
7 p.m. |
Universo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 |
USA vs. Honduras |
7:30 p.m. |
FS1, Univision, TUDN |
fuboTV |
| Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 |
El Salvador vs. Canada |
9 p.m. |
Universo |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 |
Mexico vs. Panama |
10 p.m. |
Univision, TUDN |
fuboTV, Paramount+ |
Matchday 12
| Date |
Match |
Time (ET) |
Stream |
| Thurs, March 24, 2022 |
Costa Rica vs. Canada |
TBD |
TBD |
| Thurs, March 24, 2022 |
Panama vs. Honduras |
TBD |
TBD |
| Thurs, March 24, 2022 |
Jamaica vs. El Salvador |
TBD |
TBD |
| Thurs, March 24, 2022 |
Mexico vs. USA |
TBD |
TBD |
Matchday 13
| Date |
Match |
Time (ET) |
Stream |
| Sun, March 27, 2022 |
Canada vs. Jamaica |
TBD |
TBD |
| Sun, March 27, 2022 |
Honduras vs. Mexico |
TBD |
TBD |
| Sun, March 27, 2022 |
El Salvador vs. Costa Rica |
TBD |
TBD |
| Sun, March 27, 2022 |
USA vs. Panama |
TBD |
TBD |
Matchday 14
| Date |
Match |
Time (ET) |
Stream |
| Wed, March 30, 2022 |
Panama vs. Canada |
TBD |
TBD |
| Wed, March 30, 2022 |
Jamaica vs. Honduras |
TBD |
TBD |
| Wed, March 30, 2022 |
Mexico vs. El Salvador |
TBD |
TBD |
| Wed, March 30, 2022 |
Costa Rica vs. USA |
TBD |
TBD |
CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying results & highlights
Matchday 1
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 |
Canada 1, Honduras 1 |
Highlights |
| Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 |
Panama 0, Costa Rica 0 |
Highlights |
| Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 |
Mexico 2, Jamaica 1 |
Highlights |
| Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 |
El Salvador 0, USA 0 |
Highlights |
Matchday 2
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 |
Jamaica 0, Panama 3 |
Highlights |
| Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 |
Costa Rica 0, Mexico 1 |
Highlights |
| Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 |
El Salvador 0, Honduras 0 |
Highlights |
| Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 |
USA 1, Canada 1 |
Highlights |
Matchday 3
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 |
Canada 3, El Salvador 0 |
Highlights |
| Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 |
Panama 1, Mexico 1 |
Highlights |
| Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 |
Costa Rica 1, Jamaica 1 |
Highlights |
| Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 |
Honduras 1, USA 4 |
Highlights |
Matchday 4
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 |
USA 2, Jamaica 0 |
Highlights |
| Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 |
Honduras 0, Costa Rica 0 |
Highlights |
| Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 |
Mexico 1, Canada 1 |
Highlights |
| Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 |
El Salvador 1, Panama 0 |
Highlights |
Matchday 5
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 |
Panama 1, USA 0 |
Highlights |
| Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 |
Jamaica 0, Canada 0 |
Highlights |
| Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 |
Costa Rica 2, El Salvador 1 |
Highlights |
| Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 |
Mexico 3, Honduras 0 |
Highlights |
Matchday 6
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 |
USA 2, Costa Rica 1 |
Highlights |
| Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 |
Canada 4, Panama 1 |
Highlights |
| Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 |
Honduras 0, Jamaica 2 |
Highlights |
| Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 |
El Salvador 0, Mexico 2 |
Highlights |
Matchday 7
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 |
Honduras 2 , Panama 3 |
Highlights |
| Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 |
USA 2 , Mexico 0 |
Highlights |
| Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 |
Canada 1 , Costa Rica 0 |
Highlights |
| Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 |
El Salvador 1 , Jamaica 1 |
Highlights |
Matchday 8
| Date |
Match |
 |
| Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 |
Jamaica 1 , USA 1 |
Highlights |
| Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 |
Costa Rica 2 , Honduras 1 |
Highlights |
| Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 |
Panama 2 , El Salvador 1 |
Highlights |
| Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 |
Canada 2, Mexico 1 |
Highlights |
How CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying works
Eight nations from the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) are competing for three automatic berths to the 2022 Qatar World Cup in the final “octagonal” qualifying round.
The eight countries are facing off in a round-robin format with each team playing the other seven opponents once at home and once on the road. The 14 total matches for each national team began in September 2021 and will wrap up in March 2022.Â
The top three finishers will earn automatic berths to Qatar, while the fourth-place team will head to an intercontinental playoff with a final ticket to Qatar on the line. Here are the standings tiebreakers for teams even on points:
- Goal difference in all group matches
- Most goals scored in all group matches
- Most points obtained from group matches between teams concerned
- Goal difference from group matches between teams concerned
- Most goals scored in group matches between teams concerned
- Goals scored away from home (if two teams tied)
- Discipline points (based on yellow/red cards)
- Drawing of lots by FIFA
The Qatar World Cup will be played from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022. Â
