The FIFA World Cup is a men’s international soccer tournament held every four years where national teams first qualify through regional competitions and then play a month‑long final tournament of group games followed by knockouts until one champion remains.

Basic idea

• Countries send their national teams (not club teams) to compete under FIFA, world soccer’s governing body.

• The tournament happens every four years and is hosted by one or more countries that win a bid process.

Qualification

• In the three years before the World Cup, countries play qualifying matches within their continent (Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, etc.) to earn limited spots.

• The host nation or nations qualify automatically, while everyone else must qualify through these regional tournaments.

Group stage

• The qualified teams are split into groups (historically 8 groups of 4; from 2026 it will be 12 groups of 4, totaling 48 teams).

• In each group, every team plays each other once; teams earn 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss, and rankings are decided by points, then things like goal difference if tied.

Knockout stage

• The best teams from each group advance to a bracket where each match is “win or go home” (round of 16 or round of 32, then quarterfinals, semifinals, and final).

• If a knockout match is tied after 90 minutes, teams play extra time and, if still tied, a penalty shootout to decide who advances.

Overall structure

• The whole final tournament lasts about a month, played across stadiums in the host country or countries.

• The team that wins the final match is crowned world champion until the next World Cup four years later.