The 41 CONCACAF teams were ranked based on the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Ranking as of June 2019.[2] A total of 34 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 18 entrants participated in qualifying, where the four group winners advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage of the final tournament.[3]
The draw for the qualifying round took place on 17 September 2021, 11:00 EST (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami.[4] The 19 teams which initially entered the qualifying stage were drawn into four groups: three groups of five teams and one group of four teams.[5] Montserrat, initially drawn into Group C, later withdrew before the start of the tournament.[6]
^Match suspended and later awarded to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines due to Puerto Rico failing to comply with Concacaf's COVID-19 protocols ahead of the fixture.[8][9]