CONCACAF announces five rounds of qualification

Just as in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, CONCACAF will begin with two rounds of home-and-away ties in order to trim its field down to its top twelve teams.

Round three will once again divide the dozen teams into three groups of four teams. Every team in a group plays all of the other teams once at home and once on the road. After six matches, the top two teams from each group move on to the fourth round.

Round four will keep all six teams in one group. Each team will visit and host all of the other teams once. After the teams have played ten games each, the top three teams will automatically qualify for South Africa, with the fourth-place team headed to the fifth round.

The fifth round will be the CONCACAF-CONMEBOL interzonal qualifier. The fourth-place team from North America will play home and away fixtures with the fifth-place team of South America for one of the last two spots in the 2010 World Cup.