Listed below are the dates and results for the tournament qualification. A total of 17 CONCACAF teams entered the competition.
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
withdrew before the matches were played. The remaining 16 teams were divided into 3 zones, based on geographical considerations, as follows:
*North American Zone had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would advance to the Final Round.
*Central American Zone had 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would advance to the Final Round.
*Caribbean Zone had 9 teams, which would be divided into 2 groups of 4 or 5 teams. The teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
CONCACAF North American Zone
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Canada and United States finished level on points and
goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.
Mexico and Canada advanced to the tournament.
CONCACAF Central American Zone
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Guatemala and El Salvador advanced to the tournament.
CONCACAF Caribbean Zone
Group A
First round
Suriname advanced to the Second Round.
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The
aggregate score
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
was tied 2–2, and a play-off was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.
Trinidad and Tobago advanced to the Second Round, via the play-off.
Second round
The
aggregate score
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
was tied 3–3, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the tournament.
Suriname advanced to the tournament, via the play-off.
Group B
Preliminary round
Haiti advanced to the First Round.
First round
Haiti advanced to the Second Round.
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Cuba advanced to the Second Round.
Second round
The
aggregate score
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
was tied 2–2, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.
Haiti advanced to the tournament, via the play-off.
Goalscorers
;6 goals
*
Emmanuel Sanon
Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 ...
Steve David
Steve David (born 11 March 1951 in Point Fortin, Trinidad) is a Trinidadian former North American Soccer League and international football player.
Club career
David began his professional career with Police in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1974, he ...
Selvin Pennant
Selvin Valentín Pennant Taylor (born 4 January 1950) is a Guatemalan former footballer and one of that country's most prolific goalscorers ever. He played for Deportes Aviación in the Chilean First Division for three years, and was a member ...
;2 goals
*
Bob Bolitho
Robert "Bob" Bolitho (born July 20, 1952, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a former Canadian national team, North American Soccer League and Canadian Soccer League player. He is of Cornish descent.
Club career
Bolitho played as a te ...
Francisco Fariñas
Francisco Fariñas Gutiérrez (born 2 April 1948) is a Cuban former footballer who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Club career
Born in Havana, Fariñas came through at Las Cañas before joining Industriales where he spent his entire senior ...
*
David Arnoldo Cabrera
David Arnoldo Cabrera Rivera (born January 27, 1949) is a retired football player from El Salvador.
Club career
Cabrera is the alltime top goalscorer of Primera División side C.D. FAS, with 242 goals scoredVictor Manuel Mejia Valencia
* Peter Sandoval
*
Remie Olmberg
Remie Jacques Olmberg (born August 28, 1950) is a retired Surinamese footballer who played as a defender for SV Robinhood in the Hoofdklasse, and the Suriname national team. He was the team captain for SV Robinhood for a decade during one of ...
Brian Budd
Brian "Budgie" Budd (April 8, 1952 – June 11, 2008) was a Canadian professional soccer player best known for winning the '' World Superstars'' competition three years in a row from 1978 to 1980. He was also a soccer sportscaster.
Early year ...
*
Bob Lenarduzzi
Robert Italo Lenarduzzi, OBC (born May 1, 1955) is a former North American Soccer League player, Canadian international, and coach of the Canadian national and Olympic soccer teams. He is currently club liaison for Vancouver Whitecaps FC. H ...
*
Buzz Parsons
Les "Buzz" Parsons (born 16 December 1950) is a Canadian former soccer player who played at both professional and international levels as a midfielder. During his career in North America with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Parsons was affectionately kno ...
Miguel Rivero
Miguel Rivero Bonilla (born 14 March 1952) is a Cuban former footballer who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* J ...
Julio César Anderson
Julio César Anderson Quiroga (27 November 1947 – 7 August 2021) was a Guatemalan professional football striker who played the majority of his career for C.S.D. Municipal, in the Liga Mayor A, the top tier in the country. He was on the sq ...
*
Leonardo McNish
Leonardo McNish Christie (14 October 1946 – 4 December 2021) was a Guatemalan association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender for C.D. Malacateco, Malacateco, Deportivo Marquense, Marquense, Tipograf ...
*
Felix McDonald
Felix McDonald (born 26 June 1954) is a Guatemalan former footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ...
Arsène Auguste
Arsène Auguste (3 February 1951 – 20 March 1993) was a Haitian international footballer who represented Haiti in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
He played professional club football with Racing Club Haïtien in Haiti and New Jersey Brewers, Tampa Bay ...
Agustín Sánchez
Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include:
Given name
* Agustín (footballer), Spanish footballer
* Agustín Calleri (born 1976), Argentine tennis player
* Agustín Cá ...
*
Luis Ernesto Tapia
Luis Ernesto Tapia Pérez (born October 21, 1944 in Panama) is a retired football forward, who is regarded as the best player ever in Panama.
He was active on the Panama national football team between 1963 and 1979.
Club career
A native of Bar ...
Rinaldo Entingh
Rinaldo Stanley Entingh (June 9, 1953) is a former Surinamese footballer. He played as a midfielder in the SVB Hoofdklasse for S.V. Robinhood and for the Suriname national team.
Biography
Entingh was born June 9, 1953. He began his career wi ...
Boris Bandov
Boris Bandov (born November 23, 1953) is a Bosnian American retired soccer player who currently coaches youth soccer. Bandov spent ten seasons in the North American Soccer League, two in the Major Indoor Soccer League and one in the United Soc ...
*
Miro Rys
Miro Rys (July 18, 1957 – September 1977) was a Czech American soccer forward who played professionally in the North American Soccer League. Rys earned three caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team. A talented striker with, acco ...
*
Juli Veee
Juli Veee (born Gyula Visnyei; February 22, 1950) is a Hungarian-American retired soccer forward. Announced as "Double-deuce, triple-E, the one and only Juli Veee", Veee experienced his greatest success as an indoor player with the San Diego So ...
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
qualification
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
qualification
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...