The draw took place two days after the previous round wrapped up. It involved the top two teams from each group from the second round.
Group A contains Central American trio Panama, El Salvador, and Guatemala, alongside Suriname. It will mean that El Salvador and Suriname will meet in both of the main rounds of qualifying, following their 1-1 stalemate on Tuesday. La Selecta, who last reached the final tournament in 1982, will also meet Panama in the final round of qualifying for the second straight edition.
An all-Caribbean Group B is headlined by Jamaica, who pariticipated in the World Cup finals in 1998. Joinning the Reggae Boyz are Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bermuda. It means that there will be at least one country from the Caribbean participating at the final tournament for the first time since 2006, when Trinidad qualified. The Soca Warriors are also the last Caribbean nation outside of Jamaica to reach the final round of qualifiers, having done so in 2010.
Group C features another three Central American countries - Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua - along with Haiti. Les Grenadiers were the first Caribbean nation to make the final tournament, doing so back in 1974. Costa Rica have the most third most appearances in the final tournament of any CONCACAF country, with six previous participations. Nicaragua are the only team in the section to have never featured in the finals.
The final round of qualifying will occur across the international breaks in September, October, and November, with the sides meeting their group opponents home and away. The winners of each section will join Canada, United States, and Mexico in next year's tournament. As for the two best runner ups, they will partake in the intercontinental playoffs next March for the final two spots.
It is the first time that CONCACAF will have at least six representatives at the same World Cup finals. Five of the teams involved at this stage have never played in the final competition. For Suriname, Nicaragua, Curacao, and Bermuda, it is the first time that they have reached the last round of qualifying.
Ten of the 12 nations at this stage will also be competing at the Gold Cup, which commences on Sunday. Only Bermuda and Nicaragua failed to qualify for that competition.