Get ready, because the FIFA World Cup is coming to the U.S. this summer, and I am here to get you prepared for the World's Game to take place in a city near you.
The Basics
First of all, what even is the World Cup? It's a soccer tournament held every four years, comprised of 48 teams that play in a bracket-style competition until one team comes out victorious. In a recent edition, the winner was Argentina, with featured player Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Players get the chance to play for their country's team and can represent their country on the world's stage. This tournament has been around for many decades, and is full of team pride, fun and spirit in every country it goes to.
This year, North America is hosting, and there are 16 host cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The closest host city to Columbia is Kansas City, Missouri, so I will be referencing it a lot in this article.
Game Previews
To start the tournament off, we have the group stage games. There are 12 groups of four teams, and everyone in each group plays the other teams once. After that, the best teams in each group will go to a round of 32 teams, which is a single-elimination format rather than gaining points for a win, lose or draw. After the round of 32 teams, we go to the round of 16, then the quarterfinals, then the semifinals and then the final game, which determines the winner.
The groups for the first stage are randomly drawn and have been set ahead of the first match.
Even though the groups are randomly selected, we still see some highly competitive teams grouped, making the top two spots very hard to compete for. This is typically called the "Group of Death." Group I is widely seen as the Group of Death this year, but I'd argue that Group L could be as well. Group I has several strong European and African teams. Group L also features a mix of competitive sides.
Kansas City is hosting four group stage games, a round of the 32 match and a quarterfinal game. They'll host the reigning champions on a match day in June.
Fan Festival
So, now that you have a basic idea of what the World Cup is, let's talk tournament time and what that looks like in various host cities. Kansas City will be having its FIFA Fan Festival open for 18 days of the 33-day tournament. It will feature games being played live on a big screen, food and drinks, family entertainment, shopping and more. There are even going to be live performances from The Chainsmokers to The All-American Rejects. Second to being at an actual game, this is the place to be.
Don't be afraid to head to the fan festival even if your team (If you don't have a team to cheer for, pick a country! That's the best part!) isn't playing. The festival is a place for everyone to come together, have fun and enjoy the tournament. Seeing this firsthand is so cool and definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Base Camp Capital
As a Kansas City native, I might be biased, but they are the best host city in the U.S. But, don't take it from me, take it from the four teams that chose it as their base camp for the duration of the tournament. The most any other city has is two. A team's base camp is where they live and practice when they're not playing in games.
Kansas City will be hosting several top national teams. Their elite facilities, like Compass Minerals National Performance Center, the KC Current Training Center, Swope Soccer Village and Rock Chalk Park, will be used for these teams to prepare for the World Cup.
Final Thoughts
To wrap this up, if you were one of the people in class watching a recent World Cup (or even if you're completely new), this summer is sure to be one to remember.