Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)

• The 12 winners of the first round will qualify for the second round.

• The 6 winners of the second round will qualify for the third round.

• The 3 winners of the third round will qualify for the semifinal round.

• The 3 losers from the 3rd Round will play the runners-up of the Central American Zone (Groups A+B) & Canada. The three winners qualify for the semi-final round.

• There are two groups of three teams each. The 2 group winners will qualify for the semi-final round. The 2 runners-up will qualify for the 4th Round in the Caribbean Zone.

• The 12 teams qualified for the semi-final round are drawn into 3 groups of 4 teams, each playing in a round robin on a home-and-away basis. The two top teams of each group will advance to the final round.
• Mexico is seeded in Group C, Jamaica in Group D and USA in Group E (based on FIFA World Cup 1998 participation). Costa Rica also directly qualified for semi-final round.

• The 6 qualified teams of the semi-final round form one final group, playing a round robin on a home-and-away basis. The 3 top teams of that final group are qualified for the final competition of the 2002 World Cup Korea/Japan.