The biggest World Cup ever kicks off tonight at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Forty-eight teams are divided into twelve groups, with three host nations (USA, Mexico, and Canada) starting at 9:00 PM with the first Group A match between Mexico and South Africa .

An unprecedented three-country edition, where even the opening ceremony is split into a triptych: not just the Azteca, but also Toronto and Los Angeles. Italy is watching for the third time in a row , but at least the mind behind the ceremonies is Italian: Marco Balich, fresh from the Milan-Cortina Olympics. While Kate Perry will be in the US, the star in Mexico City is Shakira, returning to the World Cup after her hit song 'Waka Waka' in South Africa 2010. In Canada, Alanis Morissette and Michael Bublé are among the performers .

A World Cup spread across three countries, each almost as large as a continent, with a staggering 48 national teams competing for the title: sixteen stadiums, twelve groups, and for the first time a round of 32, for a total of one hundred and four matches spread across the Americas . The top two in each group, plus the eight best third-placed teams, advance.

A tournament so open to the world that it welcomes national teams like Curaçao and Cape Verde, yet in some ways closed. At least in the United States, with the highly controversial cases of the refusal of the Somali referee and the shocking checks on only a few national teams—primarily Uzbekistan and Senegal—which even world champion Fabio Cannavaro, coach of Uzbekistan, paid the price for.

In Mexico, the arriving teams found forests of sombreros to welcome them, in an atmosphere of celebration and folk dancing, while foreign fans were already mingling with locals in the streets of the host cities.

"I don't regret this World Cup. If you want to criticize me, go ahead. But please, promote the fact that football unites the world," defended FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "Let's get the right people in," Trump emphasized .

In any case, from this evening the controversies will give way to the pitch.

There are, as we said, 48 teams: 16 European, six South American, six North American, 10 African, nine Asian, and one Oceanian. Twelve groups of four teams compete in round-robin style: the top two teams from each group plus the eight best third-placed teams advance to the knockout stage. The round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final are played .

A 40-day World Cup. The group stage matches will run until the night of June 28th, the round of 32 from July 28th to 4th, the round of 16 from July 4th to 7th, and the quarterfinals from July 9th to 12th. And finally, the semi-finals will take place on July 14th and 15th, the third-place play-off on July 18th, and the grand final at 9 p.m. on July 19th at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey .

Pay attention to the time zones : matches will be played in different time slots. In Italy, they will be played at 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM, and 9:00 PM, but also in the middle of the night (midnight, 1:00 AM, 3:00 AM, 4:00 AM) or in the very early hours of the morning, at 6:00 AM.

The groups

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic
Group B: Canada, Bosnia, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

(Unioneonline/L)

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