2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)


The CONCACAF qualification stage for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa consisted of 35 national teams competing for the three berths given automatically to CONCACAF by FIFA. The United States, Mexico and Honduras qualified. The fourth-place finisher, Costa Rica, played a two-game playoff with the [2010 FIFA World Cup 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification|qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL] fifth-place finisher, Uruguay, for a possible fourth berth.

Format

For the first three rounds, a three group structure was created that spanned all three rounds. Each of the three groups had four sub-groups, with the winners of the 12 sub-groups advancing to the third round. The first and second rounds reduced the 35 entrants to 24 and 12 teams, respectively. The remaining 12 teams were then placed into three third-round groups of four based on the preliminary draw, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the fourth and final qualification group. The top three teams from the fourth round group of six qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fourth-placed team competed in a home-and-away playoff against the 5th-place team from CONMEBOL.

Seeding

The draw for the first three rounds took place on 25 November 2007 in Durban, South Africa, and it determined paths into each of the 12 slots of the three third round groups. In addition, because second round winners are paired off for the third round, the top 13 seeds were subdivided as follows:
  • Pot A: The top 3 teams, who would be top seeds of each third round group.
  • Pot B: The next 3 teams, who would be the seconds seeds of the third round groups.
  • Pot C: The next 6 teams, who would receive a bye to the second round, and would not be drawn against a Pot A or Pot B team in that round.
  • Pot D: St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who also receive a bye in the first round, but would be paired against one of the top 12 teams in Round 2.
In the second round, the 13 top-ranked CONCACAF teams from the May 2007 FIFA World Ranking joined 11 winners from the first round.
Pot A
Pot B
Pot C

  • Pot DPot E
    		Pot F

  • First round

    The 22 teams ranked 14 to 35 competed in the first round. Teams ranked 14th–24th were randomly drawn against teams ranked 25th–35th. Teams played home and away against their opponents, except three ties: Puerto Rico–Dominican Republic, Grenada–U.S. Virgin Islands and Montserrat–Suriname, which were played over one leg in late March due to several Member Associations failing to meet the new FIFA Stadium standards and being unable to secure a home venue. The winners advanced to the second round.
    ;Group [|1]
    ;Group 2
    ;Group 3

    Second round

    In the second round, the 11 first round winners joined the 13 teams which received a bye to the second round. Teams ranked 1st–12th were randomly drawn against the unseeded teams. Teams played home and away against their opponents and the winners advanced to the next round. Matches took place in June 2008.
    ;Group 1
    ;Group 2
    ;Group 3

    Third round

    The winners from the second round were placed into three groups of four teams, where they played a double round robin home and away schedule. The top two teams from each group advanced to the fourth round.

    Fourth round

    The six teams that reached the fourth round formed one double-round-robin, home-and-away group nicknamed the "Hexagonal." The top three teams qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fourth place team qualified for a home-and-away [|play-off] against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL.
    The allocation of teams in the draw took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on 22 November 2008.

    Inter-confederation play-offs

    The 4th place team played the 5th place team from the CONMEBOL (South American Zone) Qualification in a home and away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
    The draw for the order in which the two matches were played was held on 2 June 2009 during the FIFA Congress in Nassau, the Bahamas. The CONCACAF side played the first leg at home.

    Qualified teams

    The following three teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament.
    TeamQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA World Cup1
    8
    13
    1

    Top goalscorers

    Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:
    • First round
    • Second round
    • Third round
    • Fourth round