Seth Romsa

The World Cup has made its way to the United States for the first time since 1994, and while preparations are few and far between in Wyoming, the games are nearly here and set to take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Games kick off Thursday, with Mexico being the first to kick off the summer against South Africa at home in the Estadio Azteca at 1 p.m. in a rematch of the 2010 opener.

Expectations for the home nations continue to vary, with the United States struggling to find its identity at times despite having a top manager in Mauricio Pochettino, Canada continuing to grow as a nation in the sport and Mexico trying to find a balance between an old guard and new youth to take their place.

Canada and the United States open on Friday afternoon and evening, with at least four games a day every day starting Saturday all the way until June 27.

There are a number of changes at this World Cup, especially in the number of teams present, as 48 teams have been entered into the competition for the first time ever, up from 32. To make that work, the tournament includes a new round of 32.

That means the top two from every group, and the top eight third place teams earning points and likely positive goal differentials will advance to the knockout stages of the competition.

Each group has its highs and lows, and I will give a very brief overview of each.

Mexico has a great shot at the top of its group, but will face competition from the Czech Republic as well as South Korea while South Africa will have a difficult time challenging for the top two spots.

Canada has a great chance to advance in the top two, likely with Switzerland, but will be challenged by Bosnia and Herzegovina while Qatar, last edition’s hosts, will likely bow out in the fourth position.

Brazil should be the favorite in Group C, but should be challenged by surprise semifinalists from last time in Morocco, while Scotland can pose a threat to either the runner up spot or claim a third place position, as Haiti rounds out that group.

Of the hosts, the United States likely has the most difficult group in group D, with Turkey being a serious darkhorse, while Australia and Paraguay are no slouches when it comes to the World Cup.

Can Christian Pulisic make enough of an impact for the United States? Do they find a way to compete finally with the top nations should they reach the knockouts? There are a number of different factors for all of the host nations including competing against the top teams once late June/early July rolls around.

Group E has some challenging competition for Germany, who come up against a difficult Ecuador squad which has a top defensive unit, as well as the Ivory Coast which boasts a strong front line. Shout out to Curacao in this group for being the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup.

Challenges could come in group F, as I could see any of Japan, Netherlands or Sweden claiming the top spot in that group, but I find it hard for Tunisia to challenge for the top, although they could surprise one of those top nations should they underperform.

Belgium should take the top spot in group G, while Egypt, Iran and New Zealand battle it out for the other positions; Egypt looks the best of those three to me.

Spain is my favorite to win the whole thing this time around, having a dominant squad and the best young player in the world in Lamine Yamal.

La Roja should top the group, but don’t underestimate the Uruguayans, as Saudi Arabia should be favored for third ahead of Cape Verde.

With the new system it is hard to find a group of death, but the closest thing this time around is group I, featuring three top teams in France, Norway and Senegal.

All of those teams could find themselves in any position from 1-3, but France should be the favorite, as they all will be joined by Iraq.

Defending champion Argentina should be the favorites in Group J, as Austria and Algeria will likely fight for second and third ahead of Jordan.

Group K features Portugal which should be massive favorites, but Colombia could pose a threat at the top, while DR Congo and Uzbekistan fall in the bottom half.

The final group features some challenges for England, which will take on Croatia and Ghana which are never slouches in the competition, while Panama rounds out the final group.

Under the new format, it will be difficult to find great Round of 32 games, but could make for some amazing Round of 16 and forward matches.

Heat will definitely be a factor this summer, with games in the heat of the summer already wreaking havoc on some teams that have made their way early for friendly matches and training.

Constant articles keep coming out about all the European teams struggling to adjust to the heat, which could be a factor later on in the tournament despite it already being decided that every match will have hydration breaks in the middle of them.

My one hope is that severe weather stays away from the host cities this time around, as last year’s Club World Cup had a number of delays thanks to lightning and thunderstorms.

Heading into this I am just excited for the timing of matches every single day, with matches typically kicking off in the early afternoon and running through into the late evening.

New rules could be a factor in the flow of a game, such as speed of play on restarts, and differing styles of play will always make for games being difficult for the top nations of the world to break down some smaller nations.

One thing I am sure will happen in this World Cup will be the all-time scoring record being broken, as both Kylian Mbappe from France and Lionel Messi from Argentina both have a good shot just a few goals away.

Players to watch always include the big names, with new faces appearing in Erling Haaland for Norway who has made his name at the club level but is looking to make an impact on the international stage.

Spain does remain my favorite, but teams such as France, England, Portugal and Argentina, as well as Germany, the Netherlands and Brazil always remain in contention.

Again as I said last time, this will likely be the last chance to see all-time greats such as Messi for Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal, but watching them on the television will probably be the only way for most Americans to see any of these games.

Ticket prices on secondary markets, the process of getting tickets in addition to the travel cost to fly these days has severely discouraged me from even continuing to look at going to any game. The cheapest games between some of the lower rated teams are a minimum $200 while matches featuring good teams start at $500 and up.

Another hope that I have is this once again sparks a love for the world’s game in the United States, but there still needs to be a severe change at the top of the organization of soccer in this country should they ever want to fully compete at the World Cup.

Focusing on youth development systems that prioritize finding talent and paying for the athlete to attend the academy rather than the family paying to attend an academy in the United States severely stunts the growth and development of the sport and leaves a lot of talent on the sideline never to be found.

While there have been strides with a number of talented athletes making their way to Europe for the United States, I know soccer is still not one of the prioritized sports in this country, and it will still take time before there is a true contention from the Americans.

There are plenty of things going on this summer, but if you find yourself bored and have the time to tune into Fox and watch any match, there will be a ton of games that will conclude with the final in New Jersey at the Meadowlands Stadium on July 19.