NEW DELHI: CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, said on Friday it will have six automatic qualifying spots for the 2030 World Cup, with a seventh available through an intercontinental playoff.
FIFA said later on Friday that it is yet to announce each confederation’s allocation of berths. Meanwhile, the president of the South American confederation CONMEBOL has proposed expanding the tournament again, to 64 nations.
CONCACAF said its qualifying campaign will begin in September 2027, with teams ranked 14th through 35th playing a home-and-away, total-goals first round.
The 11 winners will advance to the second round along with the top 13-ranked nations. The 24 teams will be split into six four-team groups, with each nation playing six matches between October 2027 and March 2028.
The top two teams in each group will advance to a 12-nation final round, to be played between June 2028 and October 2029.
There will be three final-round groups, and each nation will play six matches. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the 2030 World Cup, which will be staged primarily in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with one match each in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The best two third-placed teams will advance to a CONCACAF playoff in November 2029. The winner will progress to FIFA’s intercontinental playoffs.
Under the format, the United States and Mexico are unlikely to meet during qualifying.
With the World Cup expanding from 32 teams in 2022 to 48 this year, CONCACAF doubled its automatic berths to six. The United States, Mexico and Canada received automatic spots as co-hosts, while Curaçao, Haiti and Panama earned berths through qualifying. Jamaica has a chance to earn a seventh berth next month in the playoffs against New Caledonia and Congo. CONCACAF also said its 2027 Nations League semifinals and final will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Agencies
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