2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF first round
The first round of CONCACAF matches for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was played in March and June 2021.
Format
A total of 30 teams were divided into six groups of five teams each. In each group, teams played against each other once in a single round-robin format, for a total of four matches per team. The top team of each of the six groups advanced to the second round.Seeding
The draw for the first round was held, along with the draw for the third round, on 19 August 2020, 19:00 CEST, at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2020. Teams in Pot 1 were pre-seeded to positions A1 to F1 based on their ranking. The remaining teams were drawn by pot into the first available group alphabetically. Each team was assigned the position in their group based on their pot number.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
Schedule
The matches were originally scheduled for 7–13 October and 11–17 November 2020. However, CONCACAF announced on 8 September 2020 that the matches would be postponed, and would not begin until March 2021. The schedule for the March 2021 matches was announced on 26 February 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America and related quarantine and travel restrictions in certain countries, some matches took place at neutral venues.| Match | Original date | Revised date |
| 2 v 4 | 7 October 2020 | 24 March 2021 |
| 1 v 3 | 8 October 2020 | 25 March 2021 |
| 5 v 2 | 10 October 2020 | 27 March 2021 |
| 4 v 1 | 11 October 2020 | 28–29 March 2021 |
| 3 v 5 | 13 October 2020 | 30 March 2021 |
| 4 v 5 | 11 November 2020 | 2 June 2021 |
| 2 v 3 | 13 November 2020 | 4 June 2021 |
| 5 v 1 | 14 November 2020 | 5 June 2021 |
| 3 v 4 | 17 November 2020 | 8 June 2021 |
| 1 v 2 | 17 November 2020 | 8 June 2021 |
Groups
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Group E
Saint Lucia withdrew before playing.
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Group F
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