World Cup football fever grips world

With the 23rd edition of the World Cup football tournament knocking on the door, excitement is soaring to an all time high  with every dawn of  a  new day around the globe.

The  much  eagerly anticipated world’s  most popular and numero uno sport is  expected to keep sports enthusiasts of diverse groups of people of all ages and backgrounds around  the world one hundred percent focused on the tournament and on the edge of their seats. 

Come June 11th,the starting date of the competition,football fans are bound to  have their adrenaline pumped up and go into a frenzy as they  feverishly wait for the world’s  best teams to fight out for  football’s biggest ,most prestigious  and recognizable coveted trophy .

Like in the past,the month plus long action packed and drama filled  championship of the highest quality held every four years  is estimated to be watched by five billion people across the five continents.

Without a shadow of doubt, fans will be overwhelmed by the  intense excitement, thrill, and emotions evoked by the tournament.

They will be  glued to the television watching matches from start to finish, rooting their respective teams. Depending on the outcome of the matches,they will be either engulfed in ecstasy or agony.

Both print and electronic media coverage is expected to be dominated by the  coverage of the tournament.

The expanded edition of the World Cup, featuring 48 national teams, is  being  jointly hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico for the first time in the history of the World Cup.

Having  hosted the World Cup for the first time in 1994,the United States is  co-hosting for the second time.

While Canada is co-hosting for the first time. Mexico is the first country ever  to host  and co-host the  biggest footballing event  for the third time.

The bulk of matches(78), including quarterfinals, semifinals, third place and final will take place in the United States.While both Mexico and Canada will host 13 matches each.

The final will be held at New Jersey’s East Rutherford Met Life stadium with a capacity  of over 82,000.

In  the last World Cup held in Qatar in 2022, the number of participating countries was 32. The increase in the number of participants in the 2026 edition is 16,which includes debutants Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

The participating countries are from Asia(9),North America(6),Europe(16)  South America(6), Africa(10) and Oceania region (1) .

In the United States matches will be held in  Houston, Kansas City, NewYork/ New Jersey,Atlanta, San Francisco, Los  Angeles,Philadelphia, Seattle, Boston and Miami .

Likewise, Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara in Mexico are host cities for the matches.Canada’s  World Cup action will be in two cities, Vancouver and Toronto.

All three host countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada will  start their World Cup campaign on their respective home soil .

 

The   Group A inaugural fixture between Mexico vs South Africa in Mexico City will  officially mark the start of  the 2026 World Cup on June 11th. On the same day, it  will be followed by the second match of  the same Group between South Korea snd Czech Republic  in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The World Cup match will hit Canadian soil for the first time ever on June 12th with the home team taking on  Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group B game in Toronto.

On the same day,Los Angeles is expected to witness a chaotic  atmosphere with  partisan football fans expected to fill in every seat at the SoFi stadium with a seating capacity  of 70,000  plus to rally around the United States playing their opener against Paraguay in Group D.

The stadium can  accommodate   100,000 plus  people for a  big event like the World  Cup.

The 48 teams have been divided into 12 groups with 4 teams in each group. 

The top two  finishers in each group and eight  best third-place teams will advance to  the round of  32.

As per bookmakers and football experts' predictions based on recent performances, quality of players and strengths, Spain, France , England and Brazil are heavy favorites for the title. 

In the power rankings, Spain leads the list followed by France, Argentina, Brazil. England, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.

Defending champions Argentina and Portugal  might not   figure in  the list of contenders,but  they can turn the tide in their favour provided  they  perform  consistently to their ability.

There is no guarantee that the World Cup will  be lifted by one  of the  teams picked by experts and bookmakers. We cannot rule out unexpected results and a less favoured team or a rank outsider triumph at the end of the day.

Under the spotlight will be two legendary  superstars Christiano Ronaldo  and Lionel

Messi playing their last World Cup.

One of the world's greatest footballers Ronaldo is desperate to end his career with the World Cup trophy in his kitty. Should he fulfill his  long cherished wish, his career will come to a complete and fully glorified end.

 

The prolific goal  scorer and  out of the  ordinary player leads a very experienced, talented side that has the potential to fulfill Portugal’s long quest for World Cup success.

On the other hand,the highly talented Messi has virtually  won everything in his outstanding  career and is looking forward to  adding another feather in his glorious legacy by  winning back to  back World Cup.

Besides, going into the competition he already has 13 goals to his credit and will be eyeing to add more to become the top World Cup goal scorer.

There are a slew of other highly experienced and recognized players in the likes of  Englishman Harry Kane, Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Croatian Luka Modric,  Brazilian duo  Casemiro and Neymar Jr  in World Cup action  probably  for the last time.They will add fuel to the fire in terms of mesmerizing spectators by their quality performance. 

 

The  young generation of footballers  Lamin  Yamal (Spain), Erling Haaland(Norway), Michael Olise(France), Morgan Rogers (England), Ibrahim Mbaye ( Senegal), Nico Paz ( Argentina), Arda Guler ( Turkey), Vinicius  Junior(Brazil) and many more will be under the scanner and  their  footballing skills should  light up the tournament.

Striker Kylian Mbappe (France) a household name in international football having already scored 12 goals  will be looking to surpass World Cup’s top goal  scorer  Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s longstanding 16 goals record.

  

Since the World Cup started  in 1930 Brazil  tops the list of winners having won  5 times, followed by  Germany (4),  Italy (4 ), Argentina (3). France( 2) ,Uruguay (2), England (1 ) and Spain (1). 

 

Unbelievably four times  World Cup winners  Italy  has failed to qualify for the  championship round since 2014.

On the contrary, Brazil is the only country that has played in every World Cup to date.

Although  as per the latest odds, Spain  is the top favorite, followed  by France  and England  to win  the 2026 World Cup, I expect  the tournament to be  highly competitive and fiercely fought  between top contenders.

Do not be taken aback  if  there are surprises,shocking upsets and eliminations.After all it  is football, therefore,anything is possible.Therefore, be primed  for a thrilling,compelling, intriguing, exciting, suspenseful,enjoyable  and action packed sporting spectacle of the highest order.