The World Cup began in style on Thursday evening as Shakira and Burna Boy headlined the opening ceremony in Mexico City before co-hosts Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in a match that saw three players sent off. South Korea later beat Czechia 2-1 to join Mexico at the top of Group A, setting the stage for a tournament that will feature 48 teams and 104 matches across the BBC Sport website and app.
For England fans, the real focus is on June 17, when Gareth Southgate's side begin their campaign against Croatia. While there are more-fancied contenders to win the tournament, England have planned meticulously and might just have timed their run perfectly, according to one analysis of their preparation. Experts are already debating whether football is coming home, with the Three Lions aiming to win their first ever World Cup on foreign soil.
“World Cup 2026 begins as England prepare to face Croatia on June 17 and BBC launches predictor game with signed football prizes.”
To help fans follow every twist, BBC Sport has introduced a new predictor game allowing users to pick the result of every match. Players can build streaks by predicting consecutive rounds correctly, but missing a round resets the streak to zero. Once a prediction is submitted it cannot be changed.
Those who play the predictor can enter a prize draw to win one of three official World Cup footballs signed by members of the BBC World Cup team, including ex-France defender Gael Clichy, presenter Kelly Cates, and former England internationals Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Joe Hart, Wayne Rooney, Ellen White and Steph Houghton. The first draw will run during the group stage, the second covers the last 32 and last 16, and the third covers the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.