Previewing CONCACAF's big World Cup Qualifying Weekend

Back in November, I posted a summary of the Women’s World Cup qualifying campaigns for each of the continental confederations. Having a formal regional tournament double as a qualifying tournament is common for the upcoming 2027 World Cup. In Asia and Africa, their regional tournaments (the Women’s Asian Cup and Women’s African Cup of Nations, respectively) are their regions top international tournament. Winning them makes that nation the champions of that continent for the next two to four years. But to ease fixture and cost burdens on the individual countries, these tournaments are doubling as the qualifying tournaments for the World Cup, and CONCACAF is no different.

Each continental confederation hosts a tournament to crown that regions champions among the constitution national federation members. In the intro, I high lighted the Women’s Asian Cup and Women’s African Cup of Nations. The most famous of these tournaments is probably Europe’s UEFA Women’s European Championships. South America’s Copa América Femenina tournament is also quite well know. For CONCACAF, the region representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, this tournament is known as the CONCACAF W Championship.

For the 2026 edition of the tournament, the final stage is comprised of an 8-team knockout tournament. Two teams have already reached this knockout stage of the tournament: the United States and Canada. Because they are the two highest-ranked nations from the region, they did not have to go through the group stage to reach this final round of the tournament. However, the other nations in the region (including giants like Mexico, Jamaica, and Costa Rica) are having to qualify, and the possibility of upsets is what makes this upcoming weekend exciting.

CONCACAF will have a minimum of 4 nations from the region participating in the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Another 2 nations have the possibility of qualifying for the Women’s World Cup through the Inter-confederation playoffs (a play-off between teams from different regions instead of within one region).

These 6 teams (the 4 qualifiers and 2 playoff teams) will be determined via the CONCACAF W Championship. As noted above, the final stage is an 8-team knockout tournament.

The nations will play each other in a single-elimination tournament, advancing from the quarterfinal round until a winner is ultimately crowned. In the above image, NATION 7 ends up the ultimate winner of the CONCACAF W Championship.

Additionally, this tournament will be determining the qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup. We will know, after the quarterfinal round, which teams have automatically earned qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. As indicated by the green bar, the 4 teams that reach the semifinal round will be the 4 teams that are guaranteed qualification for the Women’s World Cup.

The teams that lose in the quarterfinal stage are our of the CONCACAF W Championship, but they are not eliminated from World Cup qualification just yet.

The four teams that lose in the quarterfinal round will then be paired and play for the chance to enter the Inter-confederation Playoffs. This is only related to World Cup Qualification. Remember from above? There are 6 teams that COULD qualify for the World Cup. The four semifinalists from above DO qualify for the World Cup.

Well, the two teams that win from these pairings MIGHT qualify for the World Cup. They are represented by that yellow-ish bar. In the image above, these teams are NATION 2 and NATION 8. They still haven’t guaranteed qualification for the World Cup, but they also haven’t been eliminated. They will determine their ultimate fate in the Inter-confederation Playoffs.

The two teams that lose in the above image (NATION 4 and NATION 6) are eliminated from World Cup Qualification. They will be done.

This final stage of the CONCACAF W Championship is scheduled for November 2026.

(Oh, the tournament is also serving as qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympics, but I’m casually glossing over that for expediency’s sake.)

Although the United States and Canada have already qualified for that final knockout stage of the CONCACAF W Championship, the other 6 teams need to be determined, and that’s what’s coming to conclusion on April 17th and 18th.

The remaining teams in the region have been divided into 6 groups, and they have been playing each other in a round-robin tournament within these groups. The final matches for each group will be played on April 17th and April 18th. Whether by luck or by design, this final weekend will feature matchups between the best teams in most of the groups.

Let’s review:

Group A is topped by Mexico, but Puerto Rico has been on their heels the entire time. As you can see from the goal differential, both teams have been able to put up big victories over the other teams in the group. They will face each other on April 18th to determine who moves on to the knockout stage.

Naturally, we’ll be inclined to think Mexico has this handled, and they will certainly be the favorites. On top of having the more established set of players, the kay match will be played in Mexico.

But Puerto Rico are no pushovers. They have a squad composed of a number of players in the USL Super League as well as players on clubs throughout Europe. The squad is filled out by players on college teams in the US. Puerto Rico has a roster of players competing at a decent level. They will be the underdogs, but a win over Mexico isn’t beyond them.

The two standouts from the Puerto Rico side are Jill Aguilera and Danielle Marcano. Aguilera plays defense for the Carolina Ascent, but she tends to play in the midfield for Puerto Rico, and she leads the team with 9 goals in the group stage. Marcano plays as a striker for LigaF side, Valencia. Marcano has a respectable 7 goals in the group stage, herself.

For Mexico, they haven’t qualified for a Women’s World Cup since 2015, and this is a side that should not just be qualifying for the World Cup, but should genuinely be thinking about a run for the CONCACAF W Championship. But that’s where some of the drama rests. Just because you’re the better team and should be qualifying, that doesn’t mean it will happen, and Mexico look past Puerto Rico at their own peril.

Match Details: Mexico vs Puerto Rico | Saturday, April 18 | Kickoff: 8pm eastern | Steaming: Paramount+ & CONCACAF YouTube.

Group B is likely more settled than Group A. The top contenders in the group are Jamaica, and they’ve already played and defeated their biggest opposition in the form of Nicaragua. It wasn’t an easy match. Jamaica had to come from behind to beat Nicaragua, but they got they win in the end.

Jamaica do still have one match remaining against Guyana, so they can’t assume they’re through, but they should be able to handle Guyana. This one doesn’t sit high on the upset meter, but it is the likely decider of the group.

Match Details: Jamaica vs Guyana | Saturday, April 18 | Kickoff: 8pm eastern | Steaming: Paramount+ & CONCACAF YouTube.

Group C has, to my mind, the biggest chance of an upset. As with Group A, the two teams with a chance to advance will face off in a winner-moves-on matchup. Costa Rica are the favorites in this group, and they just posted a ridiculous 21-0 win over the Cayman Islands, but that score line flatters them a little. Costa Rica supplanted Mexico as the third-best team in the region for a good decade, but the Ticas’s star is falling, and they are a team that is seeing some shining talent wind down their careers while integrating newer players who have not yet reached the heights of teams past.

For their part, Guatemala has been implementing an approach to the national team similar to El Salvador, looking to utilize their diaspora (especially in the US) to help build a roster of players competing at a higher level than the Guatemalan domestic league. While the side is built around home-grown stars, Ana Lucía Martínez and Aisha Solórzano, the side is filled out with players at US-based colleges and a sprinkling of domestic league standouts.

When you look at the standings, you can see the Guatemala has matched Costa Rica in performances. They’ve scored boatloads of goals against the weaker opposition and barely conceded any. This is where the match can get interesting and an upset is on the table. Despite the high goals-scored count for Costa Rica, they can struggle to score goals.

As with Group A, the most established side as the advantage of playing at home, and they should win the match, but also like the Group A matchup, this underdog is exactly the kind of team that, if overlooked, will punish you.

Match Details: Costa Rica vs Guatemala | Saturday, April 18 | Kickoff: 8pm eastern | Steaming: Paramount+ & CONCACAF YouTube.

Like with Group B, the key matchup for Group D has likely already happened when Haiti beat Suriname 2-0, on the back of two second-half goals. But Haiti aren’t in the clear yet, as they have to get a draw or better against the Dominican Republic to ensure reaching the knockout stage.

The Dominican Republic are built primarily around players at the NCAA-level and youth squads in the US, especially in midfield and defense. But they do have a few players of note that can give Haiti trouble.

Mía Asenjo and Alyssa Oviedo are a genuine attacking threat for Las Quisqueyanas. Asenjo plays for Spanish club side DUX Logroño, and Oviedo plays for Puebla in Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil. They have provided the bulk of Dominican Republic’s goals in the previous matches in the group. Along with the two attackers, the side can look to Lucía Marte as an anchor in the midfield. Marte will often captain the side, and brings experience from the WSL in England, LigaF in Spain, and Australia’s A-League, where’s she’s played the last couple seasons.

As with all of the matchups, Haiti should see out this result and move on to the knockout round. They have way more depth and experience than this Dominican Republic side, who will rely heavily on younger players. But a single match can go a lot of ways, and like so many of the other underdogs in these previews, the Dominican Republic has the talent to snag an upset.

Match Details: Haiti vs Dominican Republic | Friday, April 17 | Kickoff: 8pm eastern | Steaming: Paramount+ & CONCACAF YouTube.

Group E’s key matchup is a tricky one. Panama have a much stronger roster of players to pull from, and they’ve notched some decent victories of late, in friendlies against Australia and Peru in 2025. Aside from Guyana looking to upset Jamaica, this may be the biggest gap between the two sides in the key matchup.

But small teams looking to pull off an upset need to find goals, and Cuba have a bona fide goal scorer in Cecil Aldana. She’s played the last few seasons with Ecuador’s Liga de Quito, earning golden boot honors in 2025. She recently made a move to Universidad de Chile as a result of her solid play. This will have to be a smash and grab from Cuba. They’ll likely have to defend for their lives and sneak a goal to pull this off, but they’ve got an attacker capable to making goals for herself and her teammates. It will come down to holding off Panama.

Match Details: Panama vs Cuba | Friday, April 17 | Kickoff: 8pm eastern | Steaming: Paramount+ & CONCACAF YouTube.

I expected this group to come down to a winner-takes-all faceoff between Trinidad & Tobago and El Salvador, but Honduras upset that balance by getting out to an early 2-0 lead when they hosted Trinidad & Tobago. The Caribbean side were able to fight back for a 2-2 draw, but it meant El Salvador would be better positioned for this key matchup.

This should be a straightforward match for El Salvador. La Selecta boast way more depth and talent than the Soca Princesses can draw from, who have called up a squad comprised primarily of a mix of players on domestic squads and US-based college players. But T&T will be playing at home; the one underdog side with that advantage.

Match Details: Trinidad and Tobago vs El Salvador | Friday, April 17 | Kickoff: 6pm eastern | Steaming: Paramount+ & CONCACAF YouTube.

These are all matchups where the stronger team should win, but there are definitely upsets on the table, and that is what makes these moments fun. If we go no upsets in this stage, we can look for them in the knockout stage. But the fact that we can see if a Guatemala or Cuba can upset the expectations and eliminate a favored team is what makes these earlier stages worth the watch.

There are qualifying matches in the middle of the week as well, but they feature teams already eliminated. You should definitely check them out. Watching these smaller nations develop over time is fun, and these are the fixtures that help make that possible. But the big fixtures wrapping up this group stage are set for Friday, April 17th and Saturday, April 18th.