1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification

A total of 15 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. The 15 teams were divided into 3 zones, based on geographical considerations, as follows:
 * North American Zone had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would advance to the Final Round.
 * Central American Zone had 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would advance to the Final Round.
 * Caribbean Zone had 7 teams, which would be divided into 2 groups - Group A had 4 teams and Group B had 3 teams. 2 teams in Group A played in the preliminary round, against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner advancing to Group A proper. The 3 teams in each group would then play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.

Entrants

 * 🇨🇦 canada
 * 🇨🇷 costa rica
 * 🇨🇺 cuba
 * 🇸🇻 el salvador
 * 🇬🇩 grenada
 * 🇬🇹 guatemala
 * 🇬🇾 guyana
 * 🇭🇹 haiti
 * 🇭🇳 honduras
 * 🇲🇽 mexico
 * 🇵🇦 panama
 * 🇸🇷 suriname
 * 🇹🇹 trinidad and tobago
 * 🇺🇸 united states
 * 🇺🇸 united states

North American Zone
Canada and Mexico advanced to the finals.

Central American Zone
Honduras and El Salvador advanced to the finals.

Group A Preliminary Round
Guyana won 8-4 on aggregate and advanced to Group A.

Group A
Cuba advanced to the finals.

Group B
Haiti advanced to the finals.

Qualified Teams

 * 🇨🇦 canada (CONCACAF North American Zone Winners)
 * 🇲🇽 mexico (CONCACAF North American Zone Runners-up)
 * 🇭🇳 honduras (CONCACAF Central American Zone Winners)
 * 🇸🇻 el salvador (CONCACAF Central American Zone Runners-up)
 * 🇨🇺 cuba (CONCACAF Caribbean Zone Group 1 Winners)
 * 🇭🇹 haiti (CONCACAF Caribbean Zone Group 2 Winners)

Goalscorers

 * 5 goals


 * 🇸🇻 Jorge González
 * Salvador Bernárdez


 * 4 goals


 * 🇬🇾 Clyde Watson
 * Roberto Bailey
 * 🇲🇽 Hugo Sánchez


 * 3 goals


 * Julio Roberto Gómez Rendón
 * José Emilio Mitrovich
 * José Roberto Figueroa


 * 2 goals


 * Omar Morera Barrantes
 * 🇨🇺 Luis Hernández
 * 🇨🇺 Roberto Pereira
 * 🇸🇻 Norberto Huezo
 * 🇸🇻 José María Rivas
 * Selvin Pennant
 * 🇬🇾 Ashton Canterbury Taylor
 * Serge Crispin
 * 🇲🇽 Adrián Camacho
 * 🇵🇦 Daniel Montillo Ruíz
 * 🇸🇷 Johan Leisbergen
 * 🇺🇸 Steve Moyers


 * 1 goal


 * 🇨🇦 Gerry Gray
 * 🇨🇦 Robert Iarusci
 * 🇨🇦 Branko Šegota
 * 🇨🇦 Mike Stojanović
 * Omar Arroyo
 * Javier Jiménez
 * William Jiménez Mora
 * Rodolfo Mills
 * 🇨🇺 Regino Delgado
 * 🇨🇺 Roberto Espinosa
 * 🇨🇺 Andrés Roldán
 * 🇸🇻 Óscar Gustavo Guerrero
 * Carlton Belfon
 * Douglas Cherubin
 * Jude Julien
 * Jude Mitchell
 * Óscar Enrique Sánchez
 * Allan Wellmann
 * 🇬🇾 Gordon Braithwaite
 * 🇬🇾 Clyde Ford
 * Fritz Bobo
 * Carlo Brevin
 * Fernando Bulnes
 * Allan Anthony Costly
 * Moisés Tomás Velásquez Torres
 * 🇲🇽 José Luis González China
 * 🇲🇽 Guillermo Mendizabal
 * Glenn Kwidama
 * 🇵🇦 Ricardo Paschal Chambers
 * 🇸🇷 Ricardo Calor
 * 🇸🇷 Roy George
 * 🇸🇷 Kenneth Stjeward
 * Leroy Spann
 * 🇺🇸 Rick Davis
 * 🇺🇸 Greg Villa