The format for qualification has changed since the 2017 edition. The qualifying competition no longer features Caribbean and Central American zones.
The 41 CONCACAF teams were ranked based on the CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Ranking as of May 2017. A total of 35 teams entered the tournament. The highest-ranked 16 entrants were exempt from qualifying and advanced directly to the group stage of the final tournament, while the lowest-ranked 19 entrants had to participate in qualifying, where the four group winners advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage of the final tournament.[1][2]
The draw for the group stage took place on 19 February 2019, 11:00 EST (UTC−5), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.[1][2] Based on the CONCACAF Men's Under-17 Ranking, the top four ranked teams were seeded into position one of each group, while the remaining 12 teams were distributed in the other pots, as follows:[3]
Players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible to compete.
Group stage
The top three teams in each group will advance to the round of 16, where they are joined by the four teams advancing from the qualifying round.
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
Greater number of points in matches between the tied teams;
Greater goal difference in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams finish equal on points);
Greater number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams (if more than two teams finish equal in points);
Greater goal difference in all group matches;
Greater number of goals scored in all group matches;