The top four teams of the tournament would have qualified for the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia as the CONCACAF representatives.
The qualifying competition no longer features Caribbean and Central American zones.
The highest-ranked 16 entrants were exempt from qualifying and advanced directly to the group stage of the final tournament, while the lowest-ranked 17 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.
[6] The draw for the group stage took place on 20 November 2019, 11:00 EST (UTC−5), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami.
[7] Based on the CONCACAF Under-20 Ranking, the 16 teams were distributed into four pots, with teams in Pot 1 assigned to each group prior to the draw, as follows:[8] Players born on or after 1 January 2001 are eligible to compete.