Twelve groups. Forty-eight nations. Two months of football. One person walks away with the winning bracket. Let's see what we've got.
FIFA's draw assigned nations to twelve groups of four. Top two from each group advance to the round of 32, plus the eight best third-place finishers.
In a 48-team format, the top 8 of the 12 third-place teams also advance to the round of 32. Ranked by points, then goal difference, then goals scored. A "Q" badge marks current qualifiers.
Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final. Thirty-two matches across three weeks of escalating drama.
Once we know who finished where in each group, the round-of-32 matchups lock in. We'll render the full bracket here on June 27 when the group stage wraps.
Every participant got a nation. If your nation gets eliminated, you're out. Last person standing wins half the pot. Brackets win the other half.
After the group stage, when eliminations begin.
Group-stage matches run June 11 to June 27. Three matches per group, twelve groups, twelve matchdays.