--- title: A Guide To The World Cup | TIME description: Not sure what exactly the world cup is, or who to watch? Here's all you need to know. canonical: https://time.com/video/vQL4RWyi/ og:title: A Guide To The World Cup og:description: Not sure what exactly the world cup is, or who to watch? Here's all you need to know. og:url: https://time.com/video/vQL4RWyi/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vQL4RWyi/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Guide To The World Cup twitter:description: Not sure what exactly the world cup is, or who to watch? Here's all you need to know. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vQL4RWyi/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # A Guide To The World Cup > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: A Guide To The World Cup [Watch (HLS stream): A Guide To The World Cup](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vQL4RWyi.m3u8) (4:30)  _Published 2014-05-30. Not sure what exactly the world cup is, or who to watch? Here's all you need to know._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:44 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [What to Know About the 2018 World Cup](/video/eSjbUieU/) ### What to Know About the 2018 World Cup [World Cup Snap Story](/video/LYQM5IMk/) ### World Cup Snap Story [World Cup 2014 by the Numbers](/video/dB0LJUVZ/) ### World Cup 2014 by the Numbers --- ## Transcript The World Cup is coming. But what exactly is a World Cup? Isn't it like the Olympics? Is it the same as the World Series? Here's everything you need to know. Every four years, national teams gather to compete for the most important trophy in sport. 31 members of FIFA from six regions go to a series of qualifying matches. Brazil, as host, qualifies automatically. So 32 teams line up in the summer, aiming to get their hands on the coveted World Cup trophy. With Spain as the current holders Can anyone play on a national team? You can play only for the country in which you are a citizen, either native- born or naturalized, not where you currently live and play. Yet the rules of citizenship vary, allowing many players to be eligible for multiple countries. For example, before opting to play for Belgium, Manchester United prodigy Adnan Januzaj was being courted by five different countries. So how did we get here? The qualification campaign began on June 15th, 2011. When Mount Surat played Belize. And culminated 820 matches later on November 20th 2013. By this stage, 20 teams have qualified for the tournaments by finishing top of their regional groups. [ UNKNOWN ]. Came through a series of playoffs. The qualifying slots are divided up based on the relative strength of a region's teams. So, while European nations are competing for 13 slots for the World Cup, African nations fight it out for only five. Some regions have half spots designated for the World Cup, which means they fight it out against competitors. From another region. So, after a long journey, 32 teams are in the hat. But what will the tournament look like? After declaring that the competition will be held in South America for the first time since 1978, FIFA gave the hosting rights to Brazil after all other nations withdrew. Brazil embarked on a massive undertaking. Revamping local transportation systems, hotels, and refurbishing some stadiums, while building six completely new ones. So in total there are 12 stadiums across Brazil. On arriving in Brazil the teams will split into eight groups of four, with many regarding Group G as the group of death that teams will do well to escape from. The teams play each other once in a round robin. And after the three games, the top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stages. With the final taking place on July 13th at Rio's Maracana stadium. So how do I watch the games? Well, all of the games will be aired or streamed by the ESPN network or over the internet. But the best place to watch Is in the open air fan zones, with hundreds of cheering patrons. Some players to keep an eye on at this year's World Cup include Cristiano Ronaldo, winner of the 2013 Ballon d'Or awarded to the world's best player, is an athlete of exceptional talent and confidence. Gives Portugal perhaps its best shot ever at lifting the trophy. Lionel Messi, the little Argentine is a three time Ballon winner and also one of the most valuable players in the competition, with a valuation of around $ 200 million. Neymar, a young striker from Brazil, who is capable of sublime trickery at high speed, will have a chance of a lifetime to return the trophy to Brazil, which hasn't won a World Cup. Since 2002. Brazil's old nemesis, Uruguay, will be led by the exciting Luis Suarez. When he isn't biting opponents, Suarez has a great ability to get behind the defence. And he had scored some astonishing goals as a top scorer in England's premier lead this year. For the US, midfielder Michael Bradley and goalkeeper Tim Howard are world class performers, who will have to be at their best for the Americans to advance in the tournament. Just in case that wasn't enough for you. Here's some extra facts to wow your friends. After controversy at the last competition, this World Cup will be the first to feature goal line technology that can roll in real time whether or not the ball has crossed the goal line. No European team has ever won a World Cup that was held in South America. The official World Cup album includes 16 songs. And the official theme is, We Are One. [ MUSIC ] And finally, the sky above Brazil is likely to be filled with drones, which according to organizers will be monitoring the crowds, for defense and security purposes. With up to a billion people worldwide expected to watch this year's World Cup. Organizers and players will be hoping to put on an unforgettable show. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Guide To The World Cup","description":"Not sure what exactly the world cup is, or who to watch? 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