The World Cup is staged every four years. The 2026 tournament is the largest ever, with 48 countries competing. Using world rankings, the teams have been drawn into 12 groups of four countries.
The top two teams in each group automatically go through to the next phase – which is known as the round of 32.
Winning a match earns a team three points. Draws (or tying the match) gives both teams one point. A loss means, you guessed it, zero points.
The rest of the round of 32 teams are made up of the teams who came in third during the group stage and had the best overall results. Sixteen teams are eliminated in this phase.
Matches are 90 minutes long, broken into two 45-minute halves. Players have a 15-minute break at half-time.
The game clock is constantly ticking, there’s no pause for stoppages. A few extra minutes are added at the end of the halves to make up for any time spent treating players for injuries, delays and mandatory water breaks, which have been introduced by Fifa to help with the summer heat.
There are no penalty shootouts in the group stage to determine the winner of a match.
After the group stage, if a match is tied, an extra 30 minutes is played. If there is still no winner, there will be penalty kicks.
