Your guide to the largest World Cup in history … with the largest number of problems
Can this start already?
That's no doubt the thought, in one of the seven languages he speaks, coursing through Gianni Infantino's head Wednesday as FIFA's president met with the media in Mexico City on the eve of a World Cup with the largest field in history and, it seems, the largest number of problems.
"The biggest event probably in the history of mankind," Infantino called it.
It is a common malady of major global sporting competitions, the run-up dominated by stories about this delay or that debacle in the absence of the athletes to create a diversion. To give the media something else to talk and write about.
But Wednesday, in his first press conference in months, Infantino faced one question after another about exorbitant ticket and hotel prices, about ticketing probes by attorney generals in California and three other U.S. states, about the World Cup host at war with one of the participating nations, about allowing players a hydration break in each half but not allowing fans to bring water into stadiums and forcing them to buy it inside, about a Somalian referee having his visa denied, about cartel violence in Mexico, about his chummy relationship with President Trump.
"No, I don't regret anything," said Infantino, who has presided over soccer's world governing body since 2016 and is expected to seek another term through 2031. "I have been organizing events for the last 30 years. I am used to dealing with issues. … There are issues; it's normal for an event of this magnitude. I would always hope there are no issues, but, hey, that's what we have to deal with.
"Some come from the United States, some from Canada, some from Mexico. We deal with all of them and we have the same positive spirit. Hopefully, we can solve all of them. Probably not, but we still do our best."
They get a reprieve, he hopes, when Mexico takes the field against South Africa in iconic Estadio Azteca on Thursday at noon PDT. Canada opens against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on Friday at noon. The United States, the third co-host, opens against Paraguay on Friday at 6 p.m. at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium.
The first rest day with no matches isn't until July 7.
It's a big, long, hot, unwieldy tournament, spread across 16 venues in three countries and four time zones. It will take 17 days and 72 matches - more than in any previous World Cup total - just to pare the field from 48 to 32.
"Maybe sometimes it's good as well to just chill, relax," Infantino said, responding to a question about Somalian referee Omar Artan being denied entry at the Miami airport Saturday. "We try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.
"Believe me when I tell you, or don't believe me if you don't want, but we try always to find solutions, always. But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces."
Here's a look at what to expect over the next 39 days and 104 matches.
The favorites
In 2014, a German mathematician created a computer model to predict the World Cup champion and it spit out his home nation, ignoring the fact that no European team had won when the tournament was hosted in the Americas.
Turns out, he was right. And right again picking France in 2018. And right again picking Argentina in 2022.
This year, his model is forecasting an all-European semifinal, with the Netherlands prevailing over Spain in the July 19 final at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.
EA Sports, running hundreds of simulations on its soccer video game, has been even more accurate, correctly predicting the last four champions. Its pick this year: Spain.
Yahoo Sports plugged in some statistics and had ChatGPT prognosticate all 104 games … and arrived at France, which has reached the last two World Cup finals and is No. 1 in the FIFA rankings.
Another computer simulation has football coming home to England, which went undefeated in World Cup qualifying, scoring 22 goals and conceding zero.
Brazil won the last time the World Cup was in the United States, in 1994. Lionel Messi and Argentina are the defending champs. Germany is lurking in the shadows with a 38-year-old coach and rejuvenated spirit.
Most oddsmakers have Spain as a narrow favorite ahead of France, followed by England, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina and Germany. But only eight nations have ever won this thing, and - interesting factoid - all border another World Cup champion. That limits your options, assuming history is your guide.
The dark horses
Portugal, with a roster culled from Europe's biggest clubs and the fourth favorite at 8-to-1, is not exactly traditional dark horse material. But for the purposes of this discussion, we'll include anyone who has never hoisted the planet's most coveted trophy.
Portugal (No. 6 in FIFA rankings): This is not a question of talent but chemistry, and whether 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo can accept a supporting role without being a cancer in the locker room.
Morocco (7): They made a historic run to the semis in 2022 in Qatar, with the Arab world united behind them. Much of that group returns, hoping to recapture the magic farther from home.
Netherlands (8): The Dutch have been bridesmaids three times, most recently in 2010 in South Africa, and reached the semifinals two other times. A couple key injuries make another deep run more complicated.
Belgium (9): The golden generation might not be as good as it once was, but can 34-year-old midfield maestro Kevin de Bruyne be good once as he ever was? They reached the quarterfinals in 2014 and semis in 2018 but were grouped in 2022.
Colombia (13): This is their best team since 1994, which ended in disaster after an own-goal against the United State cost them advancing from the group stage and cost defender Andres Escobar his life.
Ecuador (23): A tough, physical side that allowed only five goals in 18 South American qualifying matches (trailing for just 97 minutes total) and had a 19-game unbeaten streak. Good luck breaking them down.
Norway (31): Not much World Cup pedigree, qualifying only three times previously (and not since 1998) while never advancing past the round of 16. But don't sleep on an attack with Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Arsenal's Martin Odegaard.
The format
When the World Cup was last here, in 1994, there were 24 teams and 52 matches. This time: double that.
On most days, there will be four games starting at 8 or 9 a.m. PDT and continuing into the night.
Even after the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1998, it took two weeks to reach the round of 16. This time: 28 days and 88 matches.
Why, then?
The official explanation is offering opportunity to soccer's less privileged. The cynical explanation is that more games with $1,000 tickets means more money to FIFA, not to mention more qualification spots (and participation payouts) that help consolidate Infantino's power base ahead of his reelection campaign next year.
The risk, of course, is that there is too much time and too few compelling matchups to sustain the usual World Cup fervor until the business end of the tournament begins July 4 with the round of 16. Even the more intriguing group encounters - Brazil vs. Morocco, Spain vs. Uruguay, Portugal vs. Colombia, England vs. Croatia - likely won't have the usual drama of potential elimination, since a favorite can afford a slip-up with eight third-place teams advancing.
Instead, on most days, an overwhelmed minnow will bunker in its own half against a superior opponent, hoping not to lose 7-nil: Brazil vs. Haiti, Germany vs. Curacao, Belgium vs. New Zealand, Spain vs. Cape Verde, France vs. Iraq, Portugal vs. Uzbekistan, England vs. Ghana, Argentina vs. anyone in its group (Jordan, Algeria and Austria).
The Yanks
The definition of success depends on your definition of expectations. This is a nation, remember, that has won only one knockout game in its history, and that was 2-0 in 2002 against fellow CONCACAF foe Mexico.
The round of 16 is the usual bar, and that is certainly achievable with a manageable group (Paraguay, Australia and Türkiye) and a favorable geographic draw that keeps them on the West Coast if they finish first. But Belgium likely awaits in the round of 16, and Spain in the quarterfinals.
The problem: The 3-2 loss against Germany in Chicago in their final tune-up was their ninth straight in all competitions against European opposition. In the World Cup, they have faced 20 European teams since 1990 and beat just one, a fluky 3-2 victory against Portugal in 2002.
Eventually, they're going to have to beat a European team and likely two or three to make the kind of deep run that U.S. Soccer so desperately craves to further advance the sport here.
Goalkeeping and the back line are shaky, and the run-up to the Cup hasn't been exactly impressive (1-3 while allowing 2.75 goals per game), but there is enough talent and experience in attacking positions to make things interesting on home soil. Get past the round of 16 and get the country behind them, and who knows?
El Tri
"El quinto partido" - the fifth game - has become a national obsession, given Mexico's penchant for surviving the group stage but not the round of 16. In this tournament, the fifth game is technically the round of 16 (with an added round of 32), so the goal is el sexto partido.
Mexico, like the U.S., has seemingly regressed since winning the Concacaf Gold Cup last summer, and injuries to several starters haven't helped. But Javier Aguirre, back for his third stint with El Tri, is a veteran, pragmatic coach who understands that World Cups are historically won with defense more than offense, and he'll have Mexico organized and compact. And keep an eye on 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, the Tijuana Xolos midfielder who is the region's most promising talent.
They'll also have the advantage of altitude, playing their group games in Mexico City (7,200 feet) and Guadalajara (5,138 feet). If they finish atop Group A with South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic, they stay in Mexico City for the fourth and fifth games - against teams that won't be acclimated to the thin air - before coming to the States for the quarterfinals.
Mexico becomes the first nation to host three World Cups, and in each of the previous two it reached the quarters. Realistic or not, that will be the expectation again.
Local ties
San Diego missed out on World Cup matches in 1994 because Qualcomm Stadium was still the Padres' home field and the team would have had to take a monster road trip that the players' association balked at. The city was passed over again, this time because the 35,000-capacity Snapdragon Stadium isn't large enough.
But there are still several World Cup connections in the region. New Zealand picked USD's Torero Stadium as its base camp, and Switzerland is training at the San Diego Jewish Academy in Carmel Valley. Switzerland played Australia last Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium in its final tune-up match, and a day later, 28,831 fans showed up for Colombia against Jordan.
Iran initially planned to be based in Tucson, Ariz., but moved to Tijuana and the Xolos' facility instead, flying into the United States for group games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
San Diego FC has two players on World Cup rosters - midfielder Anibal Godoy of Panama and goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos of Cape Verde.
The 36-year-old Godoy figures to have a bigger role as Panama's captain with 159 career appearances. Dos Santos, born in the United States to a Cape Verdean father and Portuguese mother, just received clearance this spring to represent the island nation off the western coast of Africa with a population of 611,000.
MIA
With 48 teams and rosters expanded to 26, the list of absentees is shorter than past tournaments.
Still, four-time champion Italy somehow managed to bungle qualifying for a third straight time and rob us of seeing players like goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, midfielder Sandro Tonali and defender Riccardo Calafiori.
Poland didn't make it as well, so striker Robert Lewandowski is staying home. Same with Nigeria (Victor Osimhen), Hungary (Dominik Szoboszlai) and Cameroon (Bryan Mbeumo). Georgia wasn't expected to qualify, but it means scintillating Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia won't grace our TV screens.
England coach Thomas Teuchel left Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Maguire off the roster. Injuries claimed Brazil's Rodrygo, France's Hugo Ekitike and the Netherlands' Jurrien Timber and Xavi Simons.
New rules
They range from the logical to the bizarre.
VAR video reviews can now reverse a second yellow card and corner kick decisions. You get five seconds on restarts like goal kicks and throw-ins, or lose possession. Players have 10 seconds to depart the field when being substituted, or their team plays down a man for a minute. Players receiving medical treatment on the field must wait a minute to re-enter.
The World Cup balls are also equipped with a 14-gram motion sensor that captures data at a rate of 500 times per second, tracking speed, spin and exact location in three dimensions. The benefit for VAR is knowing the precise moment when a pass is struck for more accurate offside decisions.
The weird one? Players using their hand, arm or shirt to cover their mouth when confronting the referee or an opposing player is now punishable … by a straight red card? It's a noble attempt to deter racist and other untoward comments, but good luck enforcing that.
It's one thing Somalia's Artan won't have to worry about.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 6:13 PM.