The World Cup games and players to watch in Dallas

The big picture: Dallas Stadium (formerly AT&T Stadium) is hosting five group-stage matches, featuring eight teams.

• Four knockout round games will also be played at the stadium.

State of play: Three teams playing group-stage matches in North Texas are perennial powerhouses and hope to make deep runs in the tournament.

🇦🇷 Argentina, ranked No. 1 in the latest FIFA world ranking, play No. 24 Austria on June 22 and No. 63 Jordan on June 27.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England, ranked No. 4, play No. 11 Croatia on June 17.

🇳🇱 The Netherlands, ranked No. 8, play No. 18 Japan on Sunday.

The intrigue: Jordan's odds of winning the World Cup are 2,500-1, tied for the longest odds with Curaçao and Haiti.

Zoom in: There are plenty of storylines coming into World Cup play at Dallas Stadium. Here are some players to watch.

• The GOAT Lionel Messi has scored 117 goals for Argentina. He needs four more goals to become the highest-scoring player in World Cup history.
• English captain Harry Kane is in peak form, having scored 36 goals for Bayern Munich this past season.
• Croatia's Luka Modrić is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He's also 40, making him among the oldest players at this World Cup.