CONCA-what?

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) governs football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Teams from Anguilla to the Virgin Islands via Canada, Nicaragua and Surinam are represented therein.

However, of CONCACAF’s 40 members, only 9 have ever qualified for the World Cup:

• Mexico – 13 World Cup appearances
• USA – 8
• Costa Rica – 3
• El Salvador – 2
• Haiti – 1
• Honduras – 1
• Jamaica – 1
• Canada – 1
• Trinidad & Tobago – 1

This year, four CONCACAF teams will be represented at the World Cup: Trinidad & Tobago, USA, Mexico and Costa Rica. This is the highest number to date – last year, there were 3 CONCACAF teams – USA, Mexico and the Jamaican Reggae Boyz.

CONCACAF enjoys 3.5 places qualifying slots in the World Cup – the top three teams in the federation automatically qualify, and the fourth placed team plays the winner of a play-off between the third placed teams in the AFC.

No CONCACAF team has ever won a World Cup. Well, not yet…