CONCACAF Gold Cup - Qualification

CONCACAF Gold Cup - Qualification (CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification) - the confederation’s qualifying pathway to the Gold Cup final tournament, which is staged with a group stage of 16 teams and may include one invited guest team from outside the confederation at the organiser’s discretion. Regulations: the primary route is the Concacaf Nations League, through which a portion of teams qualify directly, while the remaining places are decided via qualifying rounds, including a play-in stage and the Gold Cup Prelims. Qualifying ties are typically played as home-and-away two-leg series, with the winner determined by aggregate score, and if aggregate is level at the end of regulation time in the second leg the tie-breakers are applied in order as away goals scored in regulation time, then extra time of two 15-minute periods with away goals carrying no additional value, and then a penalty shoot-out if required. Seeding and matchups can be based on Concacaf rankings and Nations League results, while the exact allocation of berths between direct qualification and the qualifying rounds is set by the organiser for each cycle.