It’s nearly time! Find out all about the FIFA World Cup | OneFootball

The moment we’ve been eagerly waiting for is finally knocking on the door.

The FIFA World Cup will have its opening match played this Thursday (11), with Mexico facing South Africa at the Azteca Stadium.

In addition to renewing our hopes for a sixth title, the tournament also promises to bring great stories on the pitch.

To help you get even more into the World Cup spirit, OneFootball brings you the main information and latest updates on the tournament below.

Check it all out here:

Groups

Group A

🇲🇽 Mexico, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇿🇦 South Africa, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic

Group B

🇨🇦 Canada, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇶🇦 Qatar, 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Click here to see the detailed preview of Groups A and B

Group C

🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇲🇦 Morocco, 🏴 Scotland, 🇭🇹 Haiti

Group D

🇺🇸 United States, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇵🇾 Paraguay, 🇹🇷 Turkey

Click here to see the detailed preview of Groups C and D

Group E

🇩🇪 Germany, 🇪🇨 Ecuador, 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast, 🇨🇼 Curaçao

Group F

🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇹🇳 Tunisia, 🇸🇪 Sweden

Click here to see the detailed preview of Groups E and F

Group G

🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇮🇷 Iran, 🇪🇬 Egypt, 🇳🇿 New Zealand

Group H

🇪🇸 Spain, 🇺🇾 Uruguay, 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia, 🇨🇻 Cape Verde

Click here to see the detailed preview of Groups G and H

Group I

🇫🇷 France, 🇸🇳 Senegal, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇮🇶 Iraq

Group J

🇦🇷 Argentina, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇩🇿 Algeria, 🇯🇴 Jordan

Click here to see the detailed preview of Groups I and J

Group K

🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇨🇴 Colombia, 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan, 🇨🇩 DR Congo

Group L

🏴 England, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇵🇦 Panama, 🇬🇭 Ghana

Click here to see the detailed preview of Groups K and L

Match and goal records

Important milestones could be broken or extended at this World Cup, with some of the game’s biggest stars at the center of it.

Lionel Messi is already the player with the most appearances in the tournament’s history and could widen the gap over second place.

But Cristiano Ronaldo has a chance to climb the list and perhaps join the Argentine in the top two spots.

See the current ranking below:

Lionel Messi: Argentina, 26 matches

Lothar Matthäus: Germany, 25

Miroslav Klose: Germany, 24

Paolo Maldini: Italy, 23

Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal, 22

Diego Maradona: Argentina, 21

Uwe Seeler: Germany, 21

Wladislaw Zmuda: Poland, 21

As for goals, Messi’s battle is with Kylian Mbappé.

Both have a chance to catch German striker Miroslav Klose, the top scorer in World Cup history. 

Miroslav Klose (Germany): 16 goals in 24 matches

Ronaldo (Brazil): 15 goals in 19 matches

Gerd Müller (Germany): 14 goals in 13 matches

Lionel Messi (Argentina): 13 goals in 26 matches

Just Fontaine (France): 13 goals in 6 matches

Kylian Mbappé (France): 12 goals in 14 matches

Pelé (Brazil): 12 goals in 14 matches

Brazil on top

Brazil have not won a World Cup since 2002, when they lifted their fifth title.

The 24-year title drought is the country’s longest since our first World Cup triumph in 1958.

The last time Brazil went this long without winning the World Cup, we ended the drought in a tournament played in the United States, in 1994.

And even with that drought, Brazil still holds hugely significant records in the tournament’s history.

No other country has more matches played, wins, goals scored, and, of course, titles.

The supercomputer’s favorite

You may like Opta’s supercomputer or not (hey there, Casimiro Miguel!), but it has already become a reference point for probabilities across different competitions in the football world.

For the World Cup, it points to Spain as the favorite to lift the trophy, with an 18% chance of becoming champions.

Brazil appear in sixth place on the list, with 6.6% (this sentence has so many sixes that I’m taking it as a sign of a sixth title).

Check out the full ranking below:

Format

This year’s World Cup will be the first with 48 participating teams. They have been divided into 12 groups of four countries each.

The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage, along with the eight best third-placed teams.

There will therefore be 32 teams advancing, giving the tournament one extra round.

Instead of starting with the round of 16, the first knockout stage will be the round of 32.

From there on, it will be as we already know well: single-elimination matches all the way to the final that will decide the champion.

Throughout the knockout stage, if a match is level after 90 minutes, the qualifier will be decided in extra time. If the score is still tied, it will go to a penalty shootout.

Tiebreakers

Until 2022, goal difference was the first tiebreaker if two teams were level on points in the group stage. 

For 2026, FIFA introduced changes, giving greater value to head-to-head results between teams on the same number of points.

If two or more teams in the same group are tied on points after the group stage is completed, the following criteria, in the order below, will be applied to determine the standings:

Step one

- Highest number of points obtained in group matches between the teams concerned;

- Superior goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;

- Highest number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned.

If no decision can be reached through this procedure, the criteria below will be applied as follows to the two or more teams that remain tied on points:

Step two

- Superior goal difference in all group matches;

- Highest number of goals scored in all group matches;

- Highest team conduct score (players and coaching staff) based on the number of yellow and red cards received.

If no decision can be reached through the procedures in steps one and two above, the standings will be determined by the most recently published FIFA ranking.

New rules

The World Cup will also mark the debut of new football rules at major tournaments. Check out the main changes below:

- A player seen covering their mouth during an argument may receive a red card

- If a player leaves the field in protest at a refereeing decision, they may receive a red card

- If a goalkeeper takes too long to restart with a goal kick, the referee will begin a five-second countdown. If the ball is not put back into play within that time, the opposing team will be awarded a corner kick

- If a player takes too long to take a throw-in, the referee will begin a five-second countdown. If the ball is not put back into play within that time, the throw-in will be awarded to the opposing team

- Players may not take more than ten seconds to leave the field when being substituted. If they fail to do so, they will still have to leave the field, but the substitute will have to wait one minute (or until the next stoppage in play) to come on, leaving the team with one fewer player during that period

- If a player needs medical treatment on the field, they will have to leave the field and wait one minute (or until the next stoppage in play) before returning to the game

- VAR may intervene in new situations:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors