Everything you need to know about the 2026 Concacaf W Championship

🌎 What is Concacaf?

Concacaf is one of FIFA’s six continental governing bodies, which are responsible for organizing international tournaments for their women’s and men’s national teams. “Concacaf” is an acronym for the Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football.

🏆 What is the Concacaf W Championship?

A quadrennial single-elimination tourney, where the top nations in Concacaf compete for regional glory, and of course, berths to the following year’s WWC. Qualification for the next Summer Olympics was added to the tournament’s scope in 2022.

👀 How does it all work?

Let’s start with qualifying for the 2027 WWC: Winners of all four W Championship quarter-finals (QFs) will book a ticket to Brazil. It’s that simple — win and you’re in.

• The dream isn’t over for the QF losers, though. They’ll head to the Play-In Tournament, where they’ll compete for Concacaf’s final two WWC spots.

2028 Summer Olympics qualification comes into play during the W Championship semifinals. The two semis winners will qualify for the LA28, along with the victor of the third-place game.

• As the LA28 hosts, the U.S. is already guaranteed a spot, so if they qualify, the last Concacaf bid would go to the loser of the third-place game. Told you the stakes were high.

📖 The No. 2 USWNT and No. 9 CanWNT are the highest globally ranked teams in Concacaf, not to mention the only two countries that have ever won the W Championship in its 35-year history. Canada’s last title came in 2010, while the U.S. has won every edition since.

🤔 Both teams are thinking beyond this tourney to the WWC, especially considering their respective subpar performances in 2023: The USWNT crashed out in the Round of 16, while CanWNT failed to advance out of the group stage. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though — the first step to redemption is qualifying for Brazil in the first place.

🇲🇽 Rounding out North America, No. 28 Mexico has long been considered the next best Concacaf team behind the USWNT and CanWNT. And they burst onto the scene in a major way when they defeated the U.S. 2–0 at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.

• La Tri missed the 2023 WWC, but have been on the rise thanks in large part to the success of their domestic women’s league, Liga MX Femenil.

🇸🇻 No. 78 El Salvador will make their W Championship debut after going undefeated in the qualifying stage. Never too late to make an arrival.

🇯🇲 No. 40 Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz reached the Round of 16 for the first time at the 2023 WWC, impressing along the way with draws against powerhouses France and Brazil in the group stage.

🇨🇷 No. 41 Costa Rica can score in bunches — Las Ticas netted a whopping 34 (!!!) golazos across four games in W Championship qualifying.

🇭🇹 Debutant No. 48 Haiti defied expectations during their 2023 WWC run with strong performances against England and Denmark. Les Grenadières are coached by Pia Sundhage, who famously led the USWNT to two Olympic golds and a WWC silver.

🇵🇦 No. 54 Panama won their first-ever women’s national team title last year (at the U-19 level), a sure sign that their game is on the rise. Combine that with their stellar undefeated record in W Championship qualifying and this squad should not be underestimated.

🇯🇲 No. 40 Jamaica vs. 🇨🇷 No. 41 Costa Rica — November 27th at 5 p.m. ET — One Soccer

• Despite dominating W Championship qualifying, Costa Rica failed to win a single friendly in 2026, including suffering a 6–0 shutout to Canada in June. Jamaica proved they can go the distance in their 4–3 October friendly victory over Mexico.

🇺🇸 No. 2 USWNT vs. 🇸🇻 No. 78 El Salvador — November 27th at 8:30 p.m. ET — One Soccer

• Let’s be frank: This one may not be pretty for first-timers El Salvador. The USWNT should dominate, especially with a trip to Brazil on the line — think that infamous match against Thailand at the 2019 WWC.

🇨🇦 No. 9 Canada vs. 🇵🇦 No. 54 Panama — November 28th at 1 p.m. ET — One Soccer

• Under new head coach Casey Stoney, CanWNT was busy in 2026, playing nine fixtures and recording five wins. On the flip side, this Panamanian squad failed to impress in their two most recent friendlies against Jamaica and haven’t scored a win since April.

🇲🇽 No. 28 Mexico vs. 🇭🇹 No. 48 Haiti — November 28th at 4:30 p.m. ET — One Soccer

• Mexico’s defense has been spotty at times this year, allowing seven goals in five matches — but Haiti isn’t exactly a scoring machine. Our prediction? A 2–0 Mexico win.

🇯🇲 No. 40 Jamaica vs. 🇨🇷 No. 41 Costa Rica — November 27th at 5 p.m. ET — Paramount+

• Despite dominating W Championship qualifying, Costa Rica failed to win a single friendly in 2026, including suffering a 6–0 shutout to Canada in June. Jamaica proved they can go the distance in their 4–3 October friendly victory over Mexico.

🇺🇸 No. 2 USWNT vs. 🇸🇻 No. 78 El Salvador — November 27th at 8:30 p.m. ET — Paramount+

• Let’s be frank: This one may not be pretty for first-timers El Salvador. The USWNT should dominate, especially with a trip to Brazil on the line — think that infamous match against Thailand at the 2019 WWC.

🇨🇦 No. 9 Canada vs. 🇵🇦 No. 54 Panama — November 28th at 1 p.m. ET — Paramount+

• Under new head coach Casey Stoney, CanWNT was busy in 2026, playing nine fixtures and recording five wins. On the flip side, this Panamanian squad failed to impress in their two most recent friendlies against Jamaica and haven’t scored a win since April.

🇲🇽 No. 28 Mexico vs. 🇭🇹 No. 48 Haiti — November 28th at 4:30 p.m. ET — Paramount+

• Mexico’s defense has been spotty at times this year, allowing seven goals in five matches — but Haiti isn’t exactly a scoring machine. Our prediction? A 2–0 Mexico win.