The 23rd FIFA World Cup is co-hosted by America, Mexico and Canada. In this tournament of 39 days, 48 teams will play 104 matches. The total prize money is ₹6240 crore.
Mexico City: The wait of millions of football fans around the world is now over. Football’s biggest tournament, the FIFA World Cup, starts on Thursday. The colorful beginning of the 23rd World Cup will take place in Mexico City at midnight today. This World Cup is being held after 4 years and this time it is very special because three countries are hosting it together – America, Mexico and Canada. This tournament will run for 39 days, in which a total of 104 matches will be played between 48 teams. The final match will be held on July 19. A total of 16 stadiums are fully prepared for this big event.
The Argentine team will enter the field as the defending champion (winner of 2022). At the same time, Brazil is the team that has won this title maximum 5 times. This time, 48 teams selected from a total of 6 federations including the Asian Football Federation (AFC) will try hard for the trophy.
What is the format of the tournament?
The 48 teams participating in the tournament have been divided into 12 groups of 4 teams each. In the group stage, each team will play one match each against the other teams of its group. After the end of the group stage, the top 2 teams of each group (i.e. total 24 teams from 12 groups) and the best 8 teams out of the 12 third placed teams will advance to the knockout stage.
This means that a total of 32 teams will reach the knockout round. There will be pre-quarter finals between these teams. The 16 winning teams will reach the quarter-finals and after this the semi-finals and final matches will be played.
today’s match
Mexico vs South Africa, 12.30 pm
Where to watch live in India?
The matches will be telecast live in India on ZEE5 app and Unite8 sports channel.
₹6240 crore: This is the total prize money of this World Cup. This amount will be distributed among all the teams along with the winning team.
₹476.3 crore: The team that wins the 2026 FIFA World Cup will receive approximately Rs 476.3 crore ($50 million).