2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF third round


The third round of CONCACAF matches for World Cup qualification, nicknamed the Octagonal, was played from September 2021 to March 2022. Canada, Mexico, and the United States qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while Costa Rica advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs. Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Honduras were eliminated in this round.
The match on 16 November 2021 between Canada and Mexico, held in Edmonton, marked the coldest match played in Mexican football history, kicking off at with a heavy snowstorm the day before. The match was seen by 2.1 million viewers in the United States on the day of its original broadcast, becoming Telemundo's most-watched sporting event since the 2019 Copa América final.
WWW fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...

Format

Eight teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format for a total of 14 matches per team. The top three teams qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, while the fourth-placed team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs to get one of the last 2 places in the tournament.

Schedule

The third round was originally scheduled to begin in June 2021, but was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The full schedule for the third round was announced on 16 June 2021, and confirmed on 9 August 2021.
MatchdayDatesMatchesOriginal dates
Matchday 12 September 20211 v 2, 3 v 4, 5 v 6, 7 v 8June 2021
Matchday 25 September 20214 v 1, 3 v 2, 6 v 7, 8 v 5June 2021
Matchday 38 September 20211 v 3, 2 v 4, 5 v 7, 6 v 8June 2021
Matchday 47 October 20217 v 1, 2 v 6, 3 v 5, 4 v 8June 2021
Matchday 510 October 20218 v 1, 7 v 2, 6 v 3, 5 v 4September 2021
Matchday 613 October 20211 v 5, 2 v 8, 3 v 7, 4 v 6September 2021
Matchday 712 November 20211 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 8, 4 v 7October 2021
Matchday 816 November 20211 v 7, 6 v 2, 5 v 3, 8 v 4October 2021
Matchday 927 January 20222 v 1, 4 v 3, 6 v 5, 8 v 7November 2021
Matchday 1030 January 20221 v 4, 2 v 3, 7 v 6, 5 v 8November 2021
Matchday 112 February 20223 v 1, 4 v 2, 7 v 5, 8 v 6January 2022
Matchday 1224 March 20226 v 1, 5 v 2, 8 v 3, 7 v 4January 2022
Matchday 1327 March 20221 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5March 2022
Matchday 1430 March 20225 v 1, 8 v 2, 7 v 3, 6 v 4March 2022

Qualified teams

The top five teams based on the FIFA rankings of July 2020 received a bye to the third round. For consistency, the three winners of the second round are shown with their FIFA rankings as of July 2020.
Bye to third roundSecond round winners

Draw

The draw for the third round was held, along with the draw for the first round, on 19 August 2020, 19:00 CEST, at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.
Teams were drawn from a single pot, and then were allocated a position to determine the match schedule. The identity of the three second round winners was not known at the time of the draw.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the World Cup. Costa Rica advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Draw
position		Team
1'
2
3
4'
5
6'
7'''
8

Standings


Matches

Matchday 1

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Matchday 2

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Matchday 3

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Matchday 4

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Matchday 5

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Matchday 6

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Matchday 7

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Matchday 8

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Matchday 9

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Matchday 10

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Matchday 11

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Matchday 12

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Matchday 13

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Matchday 14

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Statistics

Awards

;Best XI
CONCACAF announced the following squad as the best eleven of the third round of qualifying after the conclusion of the campaign.
GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Keylor Navas César Montes
Francisco Calvo
Walker Zimmerman		 Christian Pulisic
Edson Álvarez
Stephen Eustáquio
Héctor Herrera		 Joel Campbell
Cyle Larin
Jonathan David