Wednesday World Cup schedule features Portugal, England, Ghana and Colombia

Four more teams begin their World Cup campaigns on Wednesday as the tournament continues with matches involving Portugal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama, Uzbekistan and Colombia.

Portugal face DRC at Houston Stadium in the United States at 12pm local time (17:00 GMT). England meet Croatia at Dallas Stadium in the United States at 3pm local time (20:00 GMT). Ghana play Panama at Toronto Stadium in Canada at 7pm local time (23:00 GMT). Colombia take on World Cup debutants Uzbekistan at Mexico City Stadium in Mexico at 8pm local time (02:00 GMT on Thursday).

Opta's pre-match simulations favour Portugal in their Group K opener against DRC. The supercomputer gave fifth-ranked Portugal victory in 54.6 percent of 25,000 simulations, compared with 23.1 percent for DRC and 22.3 percent for a draw. DRC have risen from 56th to 45th in FIFA's world rankings after qualifying for the tournament.

England are also favoured in their Group L meeting with Croatia, a fixture that renews a rivalry seen several times at major tournaments this century. Opta's model gave England victory in 55.9 percent of 10,000 simulations. Croatia won 20.8 percent, while 23.3 percent ended level.

In the other Group L game, Panama were rated slightly ahead of Ghana. Opta gave Panama victory in 45.2 percent of 25,000 simulations, while Ghana won 29.6 percent and 25.2 percent ended in a draw. The teams have not previously met.

Colombia were the strongest favourite among Wednesday's teams, according to Opta. In Group K, the supercomputer gave Colombia a 62.4 percent chance of beating Uzbekistan, who are making their World Cup debut. Uzbekistan won 17.5 percent of the simulations, while 20.1 percent ended in a draw.

Away from the fixtures, Cristiano Ronaldo is pursuing another World Cup milestone. The Portugal captain is expected to lead the attack against DRC and could become the first player to score in six different World Cups.

DRC coach Sebastien Desabre said he wished Ronaldo well, while joking that he hoped the forward would not score against his side. Ronaldo said before Portugal's departure last week: “We go match by match, but not with the expectations of winning it all. It has to be step by step. A good start is the most important thing.”

Lionel Messi added another landmark on Tuesday. The Argentina forward marked his sixth World Cup appearance by scoring the first World Cup hat-trick of his career in a 3-0 win over Algeria. With three goals, he matched Miroslav Klose's record of 16 World Cup goals. The feat came in Messi's 200th international appearance.

Kylian Mbappe also moved up the World Cup scoring charts. The France forward scored twice in a 3-1 win over Senegal and became his country's all-time leading scorer with 58 goals. He now has 14 World Cup goals, level with Gerd Muller and behind only Messi and Klose.

Teams are also dealing with off-field issues. Media reports said Germany, Switzerland and Norway discussed encounters with venomous snakes at training bases in the United States. Germany captain Joshua Kimmich said his team had seen such an animal near their camp in North Carolina, while Switzerland designated part of its San Diego training site as a "snake area".

There were also crowd trouble concerns before Argentina's match with Algeria. Supporters of both teams were involved in a large brawl in Times Square in New York on the eve of the Group J game in Kansas City. Videos posted on social media showed punches and objects being thrown before police restored order.

The tournament's schedule is also testing supporters worldwide. FIFA expects about six billion people to engage with the 2026 World Cup, but many fans outside North America face difficult kickoff times.

In the UK, 35 of the 72 group-stage matches start between midnight and 5am. Fans in Germany, France and Spain also face overnight or early-morning starts. In Qatar and Saudi Arabia, most matches fall between 10pm and 7am local time, while in the United Arab Emirates they are scheduled between 11pm and 8am. Egypt's final group-stage match kicks off at 6am, Jordan's match against Algeria also starts at 6am, and Egypt versus New Zealand begins at 4am.

With the tournament spread across three countries, 16 cities and four North American time zones, and featuring a record 104 matches across 13 kickoff slots, following the World Cup has become more complicated for audiences outside the host region. For many fans, the challenge may be less about finding a way to watch than about staying awake.