Three teams from the North American Zone automatically qualify for the competition while the top five football teams to compete at the Central American Cup, and the four top nations from the Caribbean Cup qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup football tournament.
The qualifying nations are split into three groups of four each via a systemized draw, which prevents too many nations from each of the qualifying nations being drawn in the same group. Each group will consist of six round-robin matches, with each football team playing against the three other football teams in the group.
For every win achieved in the group stage, a nation will be awarded three points, while a draw will merit one point, with no points being given for a loss. The top two football teams in each group are assured a quarter-final spot, while the top two third-placed football teams will also progress.
From here on in the tournament functions on a knockout basis – only the winning nations from quarter-finals will progress to the semis, with the winners of those two matches going on to contest the final. Should a match be tied after the regulation 90 minutes have been played, an additional 30 minutes will be played. Should this fail to separate the football teams, the result will be decided via a penalty shoot-out.
