Twelve teams contest the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, three from North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States), four from Central America and five from the Caribbean. The tournament was increased from eight to 12 teams for the 2011 event, and with Mexico selected to host the 2011 Under-17 World Cup, its berth was reallocated to Central America.
CONCACAF staged the championship, initially as an under-16 event, from 1983 through 1996 in a single country to crown a winner, but altered the format beginning in 1999 as a two-group competition strictly to qualify teams for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The tournament, which qualifies four teams for the U-17 World Cup, returned to a championship at a single venue for the 2009 event, in Tijuana, Mexico.
| Year | Venue | Champion |
| 1983 | Trinidad & Tobago | United States |
| Year | Venue(s) | World Cup qualifiers |
| 1985 | Mexico | Costa Rica, *Mexico, ^United States |
| 1987 | Honduras | #Canada, *Mexico, United States |
| 1988 | Cuba | Canada, *Cuba, United States |
| 1991 | Trinidad & Tobago | Cuba, *Mexico, United States |
| 1992 | Cuba | Canada, Mexico, *United States |
| 1994 | El Salvador | Canada, *Costa Rica, United States |
| 1996 | Trinidad & Tobago | Costa Rica, *Mexico, United States |
| 1999 | El Salvador, Jamaica | Jamaica, Mexico, United States |
| 2001 | Honduras, United States | Costa Rica, #Trinidad & Tobago, United States |
| 2003 | Canada, Guatemala | Costa Rica, Mexico, United States |
| 2005 | Costa Rica, Mexico | Costa Rica, Mexico, United States |
| 2007 | Honduras, Jamaica | Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Trinidad & Tobago, United States |
| 2009 | Mexico+ | Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, United States |
| 2011 | Jamaica | Canada, Jamaica, #Mexico, Panama, *United States |
+No title awarded; semifinals and finals cancelled due to influenza outbreak
^United States qualified for the 1985 U-17 World Championship as the 1983 CONCACAF champion
#World Cup host
