;Legend • '''''' – Champions • '''''' – Runners-up • '''''' – Third place • '''''' – Fourth place •
QF – Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8) •
R3 – Round 3 (2026–present: knockout round of 16) •
R2 – Round 2 (1974–1978: second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16; 2026–present: knockout round of 32) •
R1 – Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage) • — Qualified but withdrew • — Did not qualify • — Did not enter / withdrew / banned • — Hosts For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.
FIFA World Cup Only twelve CONCACAF members have ever reached the
FIFA World Cup since its inception in
1930, four of them accomplishing the feat only once. No team from the region has ever reached the
final at the World Cup, but the United States reached the semi-finals in the
inaugural edition, for which they were awarded third place. CONCACAF members have reached the quarter-finals five times: Cuba in
1938, Mexico as hosts in
1970 and
1986, the United States in
2002, and most recently, Costa Rica in
2014. Jamaica is the smallest country to ever win a World Cup match, by virtue of their 2–1 victory over Japan in
1998. The following table shows the CONCACAF representatives at each edition of the World Cup, sorted by number of appearances:
FIFA World Cup hosting CONCACAF nations have hosted the FIFA World Cup three times. The
1970 FIFA World Cup took place in Mexico, the first World Cup tournament to be staged in North America, and the first held outside Europe and South America. Mexico was chosen as the host nation in 1964 by FIFA's congress ahead of the only other submitted bid from Argentina. The tournament was won by
Brazil. The victorious team led by
Carlos Alberto, and featuring players such as
Pelé,
Gérson,
Jairzinho,
Rivellino, and
Tostão, is often cited as the greatest-ever World Cup team. They achieved a perfect record of wins in all six games in the finals. Despite the issues of altitude and high temperature, the finals produced attacking football which created an average goals per game record not since bettered by any subsequent World Cup Finals. The 1970 Finals attracted a new record television audience for the FIFA World Cup and, for the first time, in color. In 1986, Mexico became the first country to host the FIFA World Cup twice when it stepped in to stage the
1986 FIFA World Cup after the original host selection, Colombia, suffered financial problems. FIFA hoped that by staging the world's most prestigious football tournament there, it would lead to a growth of interest in the sport; one condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional football league,
Major League Soccer, starting in 1996. The U.S. staged a hugely successful tournament, with average attendance of nearly 69,000 breaking a record that surpassed the
1966 FIFA World Cup average attendance of 51,000 thanks to the large seating capacities the American stadiums provided for the spectators in comparison to the smaller venues of Europe and Latin America. To this day, the total attendance for the final tournament of nearly 3.6 million remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition to 32 teams at the 1998 World Cup. Canada, Mexico, and the United States have won the bidding to host the
2026 FIFA World Cup, competing against a
Moroccan bid.
FIFA Women's World Cup Olympic Games Men's tournament Women's tournament CONCACAF Gold Cup Copa América Mexico have finished runners-up twice and third place three times at the
Copa América, making
El Tri the most successful non-
CONMEBOL nation. The United States have reached the semi-final stage in the South American tournament twice, followed by Canada and Honduras, who have each reached it once. Costa Rica has reached the quarter-finals twice, while Panama has done so once.
CONCACAF W Championship ==Comprehensive team results by tournament==