The World Cup continues on Wednesday with four more teams getting their tournaments under way.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal take on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while England face Croatia in one of the most anticipated matches of the day. Ghana meet Panama, and World Cup newcomers Uzbekistan face Colombia in the late game.
Away from the action, Ronaldo is chasing another World Cup record, Lionel Messi has made more history, and fans around the world are adjusting to some challenging kickoff times.
Here’s what to know:
DRC have climbed from 56th to 45th in FIFA’s world rankings after securing their place at this year’s edition, but Opta’s supercomputer still favours fifth-ranked Portugal to win this Group K opener.
Based on 25,000 pre-match simulations, Portugal came out on top in 54.6 percent of scenarios, while a draw occurred 22.3 percent of the time.
DRC were given a 23.1 percent chance of victory, suggesting the Leopards are far from without hope. However, Sebastien Desabre’s side could hardly have asked for a tougher assignment on their return to the World Cup.
England and Croatia renew a familiar rivalry in Group L, meeting for the fourth time at a major tournament this century. Croatia won their World Cup semifinal clash in 2018, while England have won both of their European Championship encounters.
The Opta supercomputer has England as clear favourites, with the Three Lions winning 55.9 percent of 10,000 simulations. Croatia were victorious in 20.8 percent, while 23.3 percent ended in a draw.
Ghana and Panama have never met before, but both sides will see this Group L fixture as a key opportunity to pick up points. Ghana have won two of their three previous World Cup matches against CONCACAF opposition, while Panama’s only World Cup meeting with an African team ended in a 2-1 defeat to Tunisia in 2018.
The Opta supercomputer gives Panama the edge, with Los Canaleros winning 45.2 percent of 25,000 simulations. Ghana came out on top in 29.6 percent of the simulations, while 25.2 percent ended in a draw.
Uzbekistan and Colombia, both in Group K, will meet for the first time. Uzbekistan are making their World Cup debut, while Colombia are playing in the tournament for the seventh time. Colombia lost their first match at the 2018 World Cup but recovered to finish top of their group.
The Opta supercomputer strongly favours Colombia, with Los Cafeteros winning 62.4 percent of 25,000 simulations. Uzbekistan were victorious in 17.5 percent, while a draw occurred in 20.1 percent of the projections.
Here’s what else is making headlines around the tournament:
The Portugal captain is expected to lead Portugal’s front line against the DRC, hoping to become the first player to have scored in six different World Cups.
Desabre, the DRC coach, wished Ronaldo well, but joked he hoped the superstar forward would not score against his side.
“We go match by match, but not with the expectations of winning it all,” Ronaldo told reporters in Portugal last week before the team’s departure. “It has to be step by step. A good start is the most important thing.”
The Argentinian superstar marked his record sixth World Cup appearance by scoring the first World Cup hat-trick of his career in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria on Tuesday.
By scoring three goals, Messi equalled former Germany striker Miroslav Klose’s record of most World Cup goals, at 16.
Messi reached the milestone in his 200th international appearance, marking another significant moment in a career that already ranks among the most decorated in football history.
The forward scored twice and became France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 goals as Les Bleus opened their World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal.
The Real Madrid forward also moved to 14 World Cup goals, drawing level with Germany’s Gerd Muller and only behind Messi and Klose.
Not all of the challenges facing players at the World Cup are on the pitch. Several teams, including Germany, Switzerland and Norway, have reportedly spoken about encounters with venomous snakes at their training bases in the United States.
According to media reports, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich said his team had spotted such an animal near their camp in North Carolina, joking that preparing for matches now involves thinking about more than just tactics and opponents.
Switzerland, meanwhile, designated part of its training site in San Diego as a “snake area”.
Supporters of Argentina and Algeria were involved in a large brawl in New York’s Times Square on the eve of their World Cup opener.
Videos shared on social media showed punches and objects being thrown before police intervened to restore order. The incident came hours before the teams met in their Group J match in Kansas City.
In a special look at the global impact of the tournament, Al Jazeera’s Basel Ghazouli examines how World Cup kickoff times are testing fans around the world.
The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet. FIFA expects some six billion people to engage with the 2026 tournament, roughly three out of every four people on Earth. Yet for many of those fans, watching the action live will require more than just finding a screen.
If you are in the UK, nearly half of the group-stage matches – 35 of 72 – kick off between midnight and 5am (23:00-04:00 GMT). Fans in Germany, France and Spain face similarly unforgiving schedules, with matches starting at 1am (23:00 GMT the previous day), 3am (01:00 GMT) and even 6am (04:00 GMT) local time.
The challenge is even greater in the Middle East. In Qatar and Saudi Arabia, most matches fall between 10pm and 7am local time (19:00-04:00 GMT), while in the United Arab Emirates they take place between 11pm and 8am local time. Eight Arab nations are competing at this World Cup, but some of their biggest matches will take place while much of the region is asleep. Egypt’s final group-stage match kicks off at 6am (03:00 GMT). Jordan’s clash with Algeria also starts at 6am (03:00 GMT), while Egypt vs New Zealand begins at 4am (01:00 GMT).
This time, the tournament is spread across three countries, 16 cities and four North American time zones. With a record 104 matches and 13 different kickoff slots, following the World Cup has become more complicated than ever for audiences outside the host region.
For billions of fans, the biggest challenge of the 2026 World Cup may not be finding a way to watch. It may simply be staying awake.
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