2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers: 5 Things You Need to Know | OneFootball

MIAMI – The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers will kick off on February 23, with 32 participating Member Associations set to begin their journey towards qualification for the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship. 

Here are five things to know about the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers: 

What 

The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers, the qualifying competition for the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship, will take place from February 23 to March 4.

The 32 participating men's U-20 teams were split into two groups of six and four groups of five. 

After round-robin play, the first-place team from each group will advance to the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship, joining the six top-ranked nations that are pre-qualified directly to the tournament.

Where

The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers will see matches take place in Costa Rica, Curaçao, and Nicaragua. 

The host stadiums are as follows:

·       Group A and Group F: Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago in Managua, Nicaragua

·       Group B and Group D: Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca in Willemstad, Curaçao

·       Group C and Group E: Complejo Deportivo FCRF-Plycem in San Rafael de Alajuela, Costa Rica 

Who 

The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers will see 32 national teams compete among six groups, with the group winners advancing to the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship. 

The six groups were drawn as follows: 

Group A 

El Salvador, Suriname, Belize, Grenada, Saint Martin, French Guiana 

Group B 

Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bonaire 

Group C 

Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, British Virgin Islands, Dominica  

Group D

Haiti, Curaçao, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla  

Group E

Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Barbados, Sint Maarten  

Group F 

Canada, Nicaragua, Aruba, Martinique, U.S. Virgin Islands

Stars in the making

The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers will feature some of the rising stars across the Confederation, including Canada’s Aidan Evans, the Dominican Republic’s Cristian Ciccone, and Guyana’s Reiss Elliott-Parris.

To view the Official Rosters, click HERE. 

Path to U-20 World Cup, Olympics and more

The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers will not only serve as the qualification tournament for the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship, but it also serves to qualify for other international tournaments like the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games, and 2027 Pan American Games.

The 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers, scheduled to take place from July 25 to August 9, will serve as the qualifying competition for both the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.