MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Gold Cup champions United States will open final-round qualifying for the 2022 World Cup on September 2 at El Salvador under a match schedule released yesterday.

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) unveiled matches for September and October in the “Octagonal” round-robin tournament to decide 2022 Qatar World Cup berths.

The Americans and Salvadorans are joined in the eight-team showdown by Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, and Honduras. The top three finishers advance to Qatar, while the fourth-placed squad has a play-off next June to decide another berth.

Each team is to play 14 matches, seven home and seven away, over windows in September, October, and November 2021 and between January and March 2022.

The US squad, which defeated Mexico 1-0 at Las Vegas for the regional Gold Cup crown on August 1, will open at San Salvador, then return home to face Canada at Nashville on September 5 before an away encounter against Honduras on September 8.

The following month, the Americans will play Jamaica in Austin, Texas, on October 7, at Panama on October 10 and against Costa Rica at Columbus, Ohio, on October 13.

US Soccer Federation leadership has been revamped in the wake of the US men missing the 2018 Russia World Cup.

September-October qualifying matches (home team listed first):

Sept 2: Canada vs Honduras, El Salvador vs USA, Panama vs Costa Rica, Mexico vs Jamaica

Sept 5: USA vs Canada, El Salvador vs Honduras, Costa Rica vs Mexico, Jamaica vs Panama

Sept 8: Canada vs El Salvador, Honduras vs USA, Panama vs Mexico, Costa Rica vs Jamaica

Oct 7: Mexico vs Canada, Honduras vs Costa Rica, El Salvador vs Panama, USA vs Jamaica

Oct 10: Jamaica vs Canada, Mexico vs Honduras, Costa Rica vs El Salvador, Panama vs USA

Oct 13: Canada vs Panama, Honduras vs Jamaica, El Salvador vs Mexico, USA vs Costa Rica