Previously, Olympic qualification was determined through a separate CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification tournament that occurred in March prior to the Games.

The decision to release players for Olympic qualifying was previously left to the clubs, which led to some leading names missing out.

"To provide member associations with a better opportunity to select their best young players, the CONCACAF Council has approved a new streamlined approach which will link FIFA U-20 World Cup qualification and Olympic qualification to the Confederation’s regional men’s U-20 Championships, which will take place in the summer starting in 2022," the regional governing body announced.

The 2022 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship will qualify its four semi-finalists to the FIFA Men’s U-20 World Cup Indonesia 2023 and its two finalists to Paris 2024.

Mexico and Honduras were CONCACAF’s two representatives at Tokyo 2020 after reaching the final at the Olympic Qualification tournament held in Mexico in March.

Mexico won the bronze medal after beating hosts Japan 3-1 in the third-place playoff, while Honduras finished bottom of their qualifying group and failed to reach the next stage.

Following the conclusion of the qualifiers, 20 teams are slated to participate at the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship in summer 2022 in a country still to be announced. 

This will include the top four teams from the qualifiers and the region’s top 16 ranked teams based on the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 rankings who will receive a bye to the Championship.

This year's CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Qualifiers are all be played in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic from November 5 to 14.

The United States have won the previous two editions of the Championship, which could be a boost to their Olympic hopes having failed to qualify for the Games since Beijing 2008.

Last month CONCACAF has refreshed its international women's competitions - with a new W Gold Cup added to the calendar and the W Championship tweaked.

It was part of a series of changes set to come into force from this year and will have an impact on the 2024 Olympics in Paris, chiefly as the W Championship will determine which sides from the CONCACAF region compete at the Games.

The winner of the 2022 W Championship will qualify directly for Paris 2024, while the teams finishing second and third will contest a play-in game for the final spot in 2023.