Following their successful navigation of the Second Round of the 2026 Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be jointly held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, the T&T Soca Warriors will now await today's 12-team draw from 7 pm.
The Soca Warriors went under to Costa Rica in their final Group B match in the five-team round-robin with seven points, five adrift of the Costa Ricans, while Grenada also ended with seven points, but with an inferior goal-difference to T&T.
Following the end of the Second-Round qualifiers, T&T and Costa Rica were joined by Group A (Honduras, Bermuda); Group B (Costa Rica, T&T); Group C (Curacao, Haiti); Group D (Panama, Nicaragua); Group E (Jamaica, Guatemala) and Group F (Suriname, El Salvador).
The final round will feature the group winners and runners-up (12 teams in total) of the second round, divided into three groups of four teams each.
The draw will be executed using a single-blind system involving four pots, with the participating 12 teams distributed into the pots according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola men's world ranking as follows and based on the pots the two T&T, ranked 100th, are assured not to face are Haiti, ranked 86th, and Guatemala, ranked 105th, as they are all in Pot Three.
Pot 1: #31 Panama, #50 Costa Rica, #62 Jamaica (Three highest-ranked teams)
Pot 2: #73 Honduras, #81 El Salvador, #85 Curacao (Three next highest-ranked teams)
Pot 3: #86 Haiti, #100 T&T, #105 Guatemala (Three next highest-ranked teams)
Pot 4: #131 Nicaragua, #134 Suriname, #162 Bermuda (Three lowest-ranked teams)
The draw will begin by randomly selecting a sphere from Pot 1 and placing that team into Group A, position A1. The second sphere drawn will place a team into Group B, position B1, and the third into Group C, position C1.
This process will then be repeated for Pots 2, 3 and 4, sequentially placing teams into Groups A, B and C. At the end of the draw, each group will contain one team from each pot.
In the final round, teams will play every other team in their group home and away, playing a total of six matches (three at home and three away). These matches will be played during September, October and November 2025.
Following the completion of the final round, the three group winners will qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup 2026, joining hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Additionally, the two best runners-up will represent Concacaf in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament where they will be joined by one team each from AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC in the inter-confederation play-offs.
The teams will be ranked according to the FIFA men's world ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches.
The winners will meet the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For the first time, the Concacaf region could have up to eight teams at the FIFA World Cup.
Concacaf World Cup Qualifying Third Round schedule:
September 1 - 9, 2025: Matchday 1 & Matchday 2
October 6 -14, 2025: Matchday 3 & Matchday 4
November 10-18, 2025: Matchday 5 & Matchday 6