A Columbus fan's guide to the World Cup
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The world's biggest sporting event begins Thursday, back on American soil for the first time in more than 30 years — and here's what you need to know before it begins.
Why it matters: Columbus isn't hosting, but the men's World Cup is the marquee event of the most popular sport in the world. About 6 million people will attend matches, while billions watch from home.
🗒️ The basics: For the first time, 48 teams will play 104 matches between June 11 and July 19.
- First, 12 groups of four play a round-robin group stage — two or three from each group advance.
- Then, 32 qualifying teams play a bracket-style knockout tournament to decide a winner.
📍 The hosts: The tournament is in North America for the first time since the U.S. hosted in 1994.
- Eleven U.S. cities, three Mexican cities and two Canadian cities host matches — the closest to Columbus is in Toronto.
🏆 The contenders: France and Spain are the favorites, with a tight group of England, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil just behind them.
- Germany and the Netherlands are dark horses, while Belgium, Norway, Colombia and 2022 stunners Morocco could make noise.
- U.S. odds are 50-1 — and even that long shot is probably generous.
⭐️ The stars worth tuning in for:
- 🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappe
- 🇪🇸 Lamine Yamal
- 🇳🇴 Erling Haaland
- 🇧🇷 Vinicius Junior
- 🏴 Harry Kane
- Plus: Aging legends Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric.
🇺🇸 The home team: The Americans are good but not great, ranked No. 17 in the world.
- They've got some excellent players and can hang with most teams, but they'll be outgunned by tournament favorites.
- Our stars include Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Weston McKennie and the hopefully healthy Chris Richards.
- Expect the U.S. to get out of its group and maybe win a knockout-round game — anything more will be overachieving.
🙌 The Columbus intrigue: Max Arfsten is the first Crew player on a U.S. World Cup team since 2002.
- Defender Steven Moreira will represent Cape Verde.
🗓️ Circle these: Besides the U.S. matches — keep scrolling — here are five to watch in the groups.
- Brazil vs. Morocco, 6pm June 13
- Netherlands vs. Japan, 4pm June 14
- Ecuador vs. Germany, 4pm June 25
- Norway vs. France, 3pm June 26
- Colombia vs. Portugal, 7:30pm June 27.
How and where to watch
Columbus may not have local World Cup matches, but soccer lovers will have plenty of ways to watch.
🦅 U.S. watch parties: The Crew host what will likely be the largest parties for U.S. games.
- Bridge Park in Dublin will shut down roads and have three large outdoor screens for the opener vs. Paraguay kicking off at 9pm Friday.
- The Columbus Commons downtown hosts the afternoon matinee against Australia at 3pm June 19.
- Land-Grant Brewing is the home of the final group stage match vs. Türkiye, a late 10pm kickoff June 26.
- ScottsMiracle-Gro Field opens up for the final, 3pm July 19.
- Plus: Expect more official watch parties if the U.S. advances.
🍻 Catch matches with fans at The Crew's "Summer of Soccer Tour," bringing watch parties to a variety of bars and restaurants around town throughout June and July.
📺 Unofficial watch parties: Soccer hot spots and other locations with international backgrounds are promising to show every game of the tournament.
- Catch any game at Land-Grant, Cilantro Latin Fusion, Combustion Brewery, Mi Mexico or Fado, among others.
- Movie theaters Studio 35 and Grandview Theater will show U.S. games.
🛋️ How to watch at home: Games will be broadcast in English on FOX, FS1, and the FOX One app.