If you are new to the World Cup, or new to soccer, the only reason for shame is if you let another of these pass without finding out why it's the greatest sporting event on the planet, why the entire world pauses for a month to get lost in it.
The best soccer nations convene every four years for the World Cup and battle for the chance to join Pele, Maradona, Zidane and the other greats of the game who have lifted the golden trophy — smallish, not particularly attractive, but as precious as any award in sports — that goes to the winners.
MORE: Full World Cup schedule
This is a brief guide to the ins and outs of the tournament. The game is not complicated, and neither is the World Cup.
But both are beautiful.
World Cup 2018
Host
Russia
Sites
| Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow |
| Spartak Stadium, Moscow |
| Saint Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg |
| Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad |
| Mordovia Arena, Saransk |
| Volgograd Arena, Volgograd |
| Fisht Stadium, Sochi |
| Kazan Arena, Kazan |
| Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod |
| Samara Arena, Samara |
| Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don |
| Ekaterinburg Arena, Yekaterinburg |
Opening match
Russia vs. Saudi Arabia, June 14, 11 a.m. ET, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Final
TBD, July 15, 11 a.m. ET, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Number of teams
32
Format: Eight groups of four teams. All entrants play one game each against the other three teams in their group, with three points awarded for a victory, one for a draw, none for a defeat. The top two teams in each group advance to a single-elimination tournament Round of 16.
Qualification
The host country qualified automatically. Each confederation within FIFA (the acronym for soccer's world governing body) is assigned a set number of bids based on the number of competing nations and past tournament success and conducts its own competition for those World Cup bids. The split for 2018 was: Europe 13 (plus Russia), Africa 5, South America 4.5, Asia 4.5, North America 3.5, Ocean 0.5. The half-bids meant teams from different confederations would be matched in a one-game playoff for the right to compete in Russia.
Breakdown of teams in Russia by continent:
Europe 14 (Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Russia Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland).
Africa 5 (Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia).
Asia 5 (Australia, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea).
South America 5 (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay).
North America 3 (Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama).
Groups
| A: Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay |
| B: Iran, Morocco, Portugal, Spain |
| C: Australia, France, Denmark, Peru |
| D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria |
| E: Brazil, Costa Rica, Serbia, Switzerland |
| F: Germany, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden |
| G: Belgium, England, Panama, Tunisia |
| H: Colombia, Japan, Poland, Senegal |
Favorites to win the World Cup
Brazil: 4-1 odds
Germany: 5-1
Spain: 6-1
France: 7-1
Argentina: 9-1
Players to watch
Lionel Messi, Argentina. Messi will be playing in his fourth World Cup, although it may seem like even more as Argentine fans wait for their hero to deliver the nation’s first title since 1986. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or as world player of the year five times and finished as runner-up another five times, so he has been either the best or second-best player in the world for more than a decade. But Argentina has been beyond the quarterfinals just once in his tenure, when Messi led his teammates to the 2014 final. He scored four goals in that tournament and has five World Cup goals for his career.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal. Ronaldo has waged a rivalry with Messi for top player in Spain’s La Liga and, obviously, in the entire world. He has won the Ballon d’Or five times and finished as runner-up five times and has led his club team, Real Madrid, to three consecutive UEFA (the acronym for European soccer's governing body) Champions League titles. Ronaldo also was a major factor in Portugal's run to the 2016 European Championship, where he scored three times for a squad that won while averaging only 1.3 goals per game.
Kylian Mbappe, France. Still only 19, Mbappe will make his World Cup debut with the opportunity to be a difference-maker in the France attack. Antoine Griezmann is expected to score, and thus perhaps receive more defensive attention, and so Mbappe’s emergence in the last two years could make the French that much more difficult to contain. He still has scored only four times in 15 appearances, but he is considered one of the most valuable young players in the world.
Neymar, Brazil. At the 2014 World Cup, Neymar opened the tournament scoring by rolling in a shot from beyond the 18-yard box, one of his 55 goals in 88 appearances for his country. He is so much more than a goal scorer, however. He is a creative force capable of playing any position in the attack. Still only 26, Neymar legitimately could threaten the all-time record for international goals (109, by Ali Daei of Iran) but definitely has a chance to finish in the top three.
Joshua Kimmich, Germany. The reigning World Cup champions have bigger names in more prominent positions, but Kimmich is a dynamo at right back who helps make the German attack that much more dangerous. He was named to the all-tournament team at Euro 2016 and excelled at last summer’s Confederations Cup.
Sadio Mane, Senegal. One of the fastest players in England's Premier League, Mane scored 10 goals for Liverpool in its run to the Champions League final and another 10 in the league season. He is a nightmare for defenders if given space to run in counterattack situations and is an excellent finisher when he gets opportunities inside the box. He plays centrally most often for Senegal, rather than on the wing as at LFC.
Hirving Lozano, Mexico. Coach Juan Carlos Osorio has many options in attack, but it seems it will be hard to exclude Lozano as well as he has played — most often on the left wing — in his young international career. At 22, he already has appeared 26 times for Mexico and scored seven goals, including last summer at the Confederations Cup and four times in World Cup qualifiers.
Harry Kane, England. Kane is being chosen to captain the England side as coach Gareth Southgate transitions to a younger, more cohesive outfit than the fractious, star-laden squads that struggled in the past two World Cups. One of the world’s top strikers at age 24, Kane still has only 24 caps (a soccer term for appearances) with England but has produced 13 goals. For Tottenham Hotspur, he has scored 108 times in 150 games.
Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium. In his second World Cup, De Bruyne is a tone-setter in the midfield whose impact on a game might be best compared to the great Zinedine Zidane. De Bruyne can control a game with his vision and energy and can contribute goals when the opportunity presents.
Radamel Falcao, Colombia. An accomplished forward expected to serve as a focal point for Colombia in the 2014 World Cup in nearby Brazil, Falcao wound up missing the event because of a torn ACL. He tried to accelerate his recovery in time to make the team, but ultimately decided he wasn’t ready. Now he’s healthy, and at 32 this is his last chance to carry Colombia deep into the World Cup. He is Colombia’s all-time leader in goals.