This year, the World Cup returned to a new location, the desert country of Qatar. The World Cup features 32 teams from each of FIFA’s qualifying regions every four years. These regions are CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football), UEFA (The Union of European Football Associations), CAF (The Confederation of African Football), AFC (The Asian Football Conference), CONMEBOL (The South American Football Conference), and OFC (The Oceania Football Conference). After qualifying for the tournament, countries split up into one of eight World Cup groups. Except for UEFA, groups are formed based on FIFA rankings, and no team from the same qualifying zone can be in the same group. After this, each team plays once against everyone in their respective group. The top two teams from each group move on to the next round based on how many points they got from wins, losses, and ties. Teams then advance to the round of 16, quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals in a single elimination tournament to determine the World Champion.

The following are the groups for this year’s World Cup, as well as their world rankings:

(All Rankings according to fifa.com)

GROUP A: 

Qatar- #50

Ecuador- #44

Senegal- #18

Netherlands- #8

Teams that advanced: Netherlands, Senegal

GROUP B:

England- #5

USA- #16

Wales- #19

Iran- #20

Teams that advanced: England, USA

GROUP C:

Argentina- #3

Mexico- #13

Poland- #26

Saudi Arabia- #51

Teams that advanced: Argentina, Poland

GROUP D:

France- #4

Denmark- #10

Australia- #38

Tunisia- #30

Teams that advanced: France, Australia

GROUP E:

Germany- #11

Spain- #7

Japan- #24

Costa Rica- #31

Teams that advanced: Spain, Japan

GROUP F:

Belgium- #2 

Canada- #41

Croatia- #12

Morocco- #22

Teams that advanced: Morocco, Croatia

GROUP G:

Brazil- #1

Serbia- #21

Switzerland- #15

Cameroon- #43

Teams that advanced: Brazil, Switzerland

GROUP H:

Portugal- #9

Ghana- #61

Uruguay- #14

South Korea- #28

Teams that advanced: Portugal, South Korea

Check back weekly to discover if your favorite team has advanced to the next round. Who do you believe will be crowned World Cup Champion this year?