World Cup Guide for New Football Fans

It's difficult to miss the buzz and excitement surrounding the Fifa World Cup.

Football (or soccer, as they call it in North America) is the world's most popular sport and the World Cup is the most prestigious prize of them all.

For the first time in the tournament's nearly 100-year history, it will be jointly hosted by three countries - Mexico, Canada and the United States.

The opening match will be played in Mexico City on 11 June. And the final is in the US state of New Jersey on 19 July.

For anyone new to the beautiful game, here's what you need to know:

The World Cup is staged every four years. The 2026 tournament is the largest ever, with 48 countries competing. Using world rankings, the teams have been drawn into 12 groups of four countries.

The top two teams in each group automatically go through to the next phase - which is known as the round of 32.

Winning a match earns a team three points. Draws (or tying the match) gives both teams one point. A loss means, you guessed it, zero points.

The rest of the round of 32 teams are made up of the teams who came in third during the group stage and had the best overall results. Sixteen teams are eliminated in this phase.

Matches are 90 minutes long, broken into two 45-minute halves. Players have a 15-minute break at half-time.

The game clock is constantly ticking, there's no pause for stoppages. A few extra minutes are added at the end of the halves to make up for any time spent treating players for injuries, delays and mandatory water breaks, which have been introduced by Fifa to help with the summer heat.

There are no penalty shootouts in the group stage to determine the winner of a match.

After the group stage, if a match is tied, an extra 30 minutes is played. If there is still no winner, there will be penalty kicks.

What are the host cities in each country?

Mexico: Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City

Canada: Toronto and Vancouver

US: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle

Who are the favourites?

Two-time winners France and 2010 champions Spain are two teams hotly tipped.

France have a stellar squad of players, including Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, who have powered their individual clubs in Europe's top competitions.

Spain will be banking on youthful talent such as 18-year-old Lamine Yamal to lead them to a second major trophy in two years.

England, after back-to-back heartbreak in the finals of two European Championships, are also in with a chance.

And there is of course the traditional favourites Brazil, the most successful country in the tournament.

Brazil are seeking their sixth world title, which would be their first since 2002.

Who are some players to watch?

Mbappé and Yamal are expected to be some of the most exciting players to watch this summer. Mbappé is appearing at his third World Cup for France and has powered Les Bleus to two successive finals.

He has won one (2018) and lost one (2022).

Yamal, for Spain, represents a new generation of talent and could became one of the sport's biggest stars of the future.

Eyes will inevitably also be on Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, whose rivalry has dominated the sport over the last two decades.

Messi will turn 39 later in June and Ronaldo is 41 years old, and this is likely to be their last major tournament before retiring.

Others to look out for are Brazilian playmakers Neymar and Vinícius Júnior, England's Jude Bellingham, USA's Christian Pulisic, Canada's Alphonso Davies, South Korea's Son Heung-min, Ghana's Antoine Semenyo and his Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland of Norway, who has scored the most goals in three out of the last four English Premier League seasons.

Who is debuting in the World Cup?

The expanded format of this World Cup has allowed for more countries to participate. It has also ensured that we will see some nations that have never been on football's biggest stage before.

Curaçao, with its population of just 156,000, will make a historic debut as the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, beating the record set in 2018 by Iceland.

Another small island making a premiere showing is Cape Verde. With a population of about 500,000 people, they are the third smallest country ever to make it the World Cup.

Jordan has had recent footballing success that have culminated in their maiden World Cup qualification. Their head coach, Jamal Sellami, who is originally from Morocco, was granted Jordanian citizenship by King Abdullah II as appreciation for leading the team to global heights.

Uzbekistan are the last of the debutantes, but they will have valuable experience in the team by way of head coach Fabio Cannavaro, who went to four World Cups as a player and led Italy as its captain to victory in the 2006 tournament.

Which matches have interesting story lines?

Football isn't just a sport; politics and history frame some of the most important games.

When France and Senegal meet on 16 June it will be with the backdrop of colonial history that has defined the relationship between the two nations.

Senegal previously caused an upset at the 2002 World Cup when they beat France, then reigning champions.

Ghana and England, who also have former colonial ties, will play in Philadelphia on 23 June.

Iran and Egypt will play in Seattle in a game that was locally dubbed the "Pride" match to celebrate the city's LGBT community, which led both nations' football federations to formally object to Fifa.

Haiti are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1974 and they are set to play against Scotland, who are also making a comeback after 28 years.