Panama is seeded in the Concacaf elimination draw

Preliminary draw CONCACAF official for FIFA World Cup 2026 will be held this Thursday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m. (Panama time) at the headquarters FIFA in Zurich (Switzerland).

The draw will be managed by Manolo Zubiria, director FIFA Tournament Division (United States) i It will be presented by sports journalist Alexis Nunes. They will be accompanied by two FIFA legends: former Costa Rica international Paulo Wanchope Watson and former Jamaica international Ricardo Gardner, who will assist in the drawing process.

The Senior men’s national team of Panama will be in pot 1 as seed for the second round. This is due to its position as the best-ranked team in the region, according to the latest FIFA rankings for the month of December 2023.

Selection of Canada, Mexico and the United States They will not be included in the Concacaf qualifiers as they automatically qualify for the finals as host associations.

In the case of dand Panama, A total of 30 teams divided into 6 groups of 5 teams will participate in the second round of qualifications.

The group stage matches will be played between June 2024 and June 2025.

Each country will face the other four in their group once in the second round, so they will play a total of four games (two at home and two away). After playing this one-color league, the first and second place in each of the six groups will advance to the finals.

For the final round, the 12 qualified teams will be divided into 3 groups of 4 teams each where they will play all against all in a round-robin format = 6 matches per team. The winners of the 3 groups go directly to the World Cup.

In short, the playoffs CONCACAF consist of three rounds in which 32 member federations participate FIFA will fight for two places for the qualifying rematch tournament for FIFA World Cup 26 and three direct placements in the World Championship.

Here we share the second round draw procedure:

The 30 participating teams will be divided into five groups of six teams, each according to FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for 21 December 2023

The five reels will be numbered from 1 to 5.

The top six ranked teams will be placed in Group 1, the next six in Group 2 and so on until Group 5 is completed.

Groups will be made up of selections from each drum:

Drum 1: PanamaCosta Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti.

Basket 2: Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname

Basket 3: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Cuba.

Basket 4: Bermuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Montserrat, Barbados, Dominica.

Pot 5: Belize, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Winner of Qualifier 1, Winner of Qualifier 2.

The drawing will start by drawing the selection from the 1st pot and will end by drawing the last combination from the 5th pot. All balls will be drawn from each pot before moving on to the next.

Teams will be assigned to groups according to the order in which their names are drawn, from A to F. So the team that is drawn first becomes part of Group A, the next team will be assigned to Group B, and so on until all five drums are empty.

The position each team occupies within its group will depend on the hype from which its name is drawn.

FIRST ROUND: Four teams will play two games each in March 2024

Four selections from CONCACAF worst ranked (based on FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking 21 December 2023) will compete in the first round. is around Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands.

Based on the above order, they will be distributed as follows:

Turks and Caicos – Anguilla
British Virgin Islands – US Virgin Islands

Home and away matches will be played during the international period next March. The winner of each doubleheader goes to the second round.

SECOND ROUND: The 30 teams will play four matches each between June 2024 and June 2025

The two winners of the first round and the other 28 participating confederation member associations will compete in the second round of the qualification phase.

The 30 teams will be divided into four groups according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as of December 21, 2023.

In the preliminary draw of the tournament CONCACAF for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It will be held on January 25 at the FIFA headquarters, and the 30 teams will be divided into six groups of five teams each. Each team will face the other teams in their group once, so they will play a total of four games (two at home and two away).

The second round matches will be played during the FIFA international periods from June 2024 and June 2025. At the end of the second round, the first and second teams in each group (twelve teams in total) will qualify for the final round.

LAST ROUND: September, October and November 2025, 12 member associations (6 matches)

At the end of the second round, a draw will be held to determine the groups for the final round.

In the last round of the qualifying phase, the first and second teams from the second round (twelve teams in total) will compete.

Those 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four teams each. Each team will meet the other teams from their group at home and away, so they will play a total of six games (three at home and three away).

The final round matches will be played during the FIFA international periods in September, October and November 2025. At the end of the final round, the top three in the group will qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, joining the hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States , while the two best runners-up will represent Concacaf at the FIFA qualifying tournament. It will be the first time that up to eight national teams from the region will choose to participate in the World Cup.

CONCACAF will be the fourth confederation, after CONMEBOL, AFC and CAFwho will begin their qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.