The World Cup continues on Wednesday with four more teams starting the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal will take on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while England will take on Croatia in one of the day’s most anticipated games. Ghana will play Panama, while Uzbekistan, making their first World Cup appearance, will face Colombia in the final stages.
Away from the game, Ronaldo is chasing a new World Cup record, Lionel Messi is making more history and fans around the world are adjusting to tough kick-off times.
Here’s what you need to know:
What’s the schedule for Wednesday?
Portugal vs. DRC will be played at Houston Stadium in the United States at 12:00 pm local time (17:00 GMT). England v Croatia at Dallas Stadium in the United States at 3pm local time (20:00 GMT). Ghana vs. Panama will be played at Toronto Stadium in Canada at 7:00pm local time (23:00 GMT), while Colombia vs. Uzbekistan will be played at Mexico City Stadium in Mexico at 8:00pm local time (02:00 GMT on Thursday).
What are your predictions for Portugal vs. DRC?
DRC have risen from 56th to 45th in the FIFA world rankings after securing their place in this year’s competition, but Opta’s supercomputer still favors fifth-placed Portugal to win this opening Group K match.
Based on 25,000 pre-match simulations, Portugal won in 54.6% of scenarios, with a draw occurring 22.3% of the time.
DRC’s win probability is 23.1%, suggesting the Leopards are not without hope. But Sébastien Desabre’s side could hardly have asked for a tougher task on their return to the World Cup.
What are your predictions for England vs Croatia?
England and Croatia will resume their familiar rivalry in Group L, meeting for the fourth time in a major tournament this century. Croatia won the 2018 World Cup semi-final and England won both of their European Championship encounters.
England were the clear favorites to win on the Opta supercomputer, with the Three Lions winning in 55.9% of 10,000 simulations. Croatia won 20.8% of the matches, while 23.3% ended in a draw.
What are your predictions for Ghana vs Panama?
Ghana and Panama have never met before, but both teams will see this Group L match as an important opportunity to pick up points. Ghana has won two of their last three World Cup matches against CONCACAF opponents, but Panama’s only World Cup encounter with an African team came in 2018, when they lost 2-1 to Tunisia.
The Opta supercomputer gave Panama the edge, with Los Canalelos winning in 45.2% of 25,000 simulations. Ghana came out on top in 29.6% of simulations, with 25.2% ending in a draw.
What are your predictions for Uzbekistan vs. Colombia?
This will be the first match between Uzbekistan and Colombia in Group K. This will be Uzbekistan’s first appearance in the World Cup, and Colombia’s seventh appearance. Colombia lost their first match at the 2018 World Cup, but recovered to finish first in their group.
The Opta supercomputer strongly favored Colombia, with Los Cafeteros winning in 62.4% of 25,000 simulations. Uzbekistan won with 17.5% of predictions and a draw with 20.1%.
What else is shaping the World Cup?
Here’s what else is being talked about in this tournament:
Ronaldo, pay attention to his scoring record
The Portugal captain is expected to lead Portugal’s front line against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hopes to become the first player to score in six different World Cups.
DRC coach Desabre wished Ronaldo well but joked that he hoped the superstar forward didn’t score against his team.
“We are fighting game by game, but we are not expecting to win them all,” Ronaldo told reporters in Portugal before the team’s departure last week. “We have to take it one step at a time. A good start is most important.”
Messi creates more World Cup history
The Argentine superstar scored his first career World Cup hat-trick in Argentina’s match against Algeria on Tuesday, marking his record sixth World Cup appearance.
With his three goals, Messi equaled former Germany forward Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 goals at a World Cup.
Messi reached his 200th international appearance, marking another important moment in a career that already ranks as one of the most decorated in football history.
Mbappé moves up in World Cup scoring rankings
The forward scored twice in Les Bleus’ 3-1 win over Senegal in their World Cup opener, making him France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 goals.
The Real Madrid forward also took his tally of goals at the World Cup to 14, level with Germany’s Gerd Muller and behind Messi and Klose.
World Cup teams wary of local wildlife
Not all of the challenges facing players at the World Cup are on the pitch. Several teams, including Germany, Switzerland and Norway, have reportedly spoken out about encounters with venomous snakes at their US training bases.
According to media reports, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich said his team had spotted such an animal near their campsite in North Carolina and joked that preparing for a match requires thinking about more than tactics and opponents.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has designated part of its training range in San Diego as a “snake area.”
Argentine and Algerian fans clash in New York
On the eve of the World Cup’s opening match, Argentina and Algeria supporters got into a huge brawl in New York’s Times Square.
Videos shared on social media showed punches and objects being thrown before police intervened to restore order. The incident occurred just hours before the two teams met in a Group J game in Kansas City.
Al Jazeera’s Basel Gazouli takes a special look at the tournament’s global impact, exploring how World Cup kick-off times are testing fans around the world.
The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on earth. FIFA expects around 6 billion people, or around three out of four people on the planet, to take part in the 2026 tournament. But for many of those fans, watching the action live requires more than just finding a screen.
If you live in the UK, almost half of the group stage matches (35 out of 72) will kick off between midnight and 5am (23:00-4:00 GMT). Fans in Germany, France and Spain face similarly demanding schedules, with matches starting at 1am (23:00 GMT), 3:00am (01:00 GMT) and even 6:00am (4:00 GMT) local time.
In the Middle East, the challenges are even more acute. In Qatar and Saudi Arabia, most matches are played between 10pm and 7am local time (7pm to 4am GMT), while in the United Arab Emirates they are played between 11pm and 8am local time. Eight Arab nations will compete in this World Cup, but some of the biggest games will take place while much of the region is asleep. Egypt’s final group stage match will kick off at 6am (3am GMT). The match between Jordan and Algeria will also start at 6am (3am GMT), while Egypt vs New Zealand will start at 4am (01am GMT).
The tournament will be held across three countries, 16 cities, and four North American time zones. With a record 104 matches and 13 different kick-off slots, the post-World Cup is more complicated than ever for spectators outside the host region.
For billions of fans, the biggest challenge of the 2026 World Cup may not be finding a way to watch. It may just be happening.
