The Aztec football field will host the premiere, and Argentina wants glory again, but the list of champions is long

The Aztec football field will become for the third time the main stage of football this Thursday as the venue for the first Artificial Intelligence World Cup. After noon on June 11, the Aztec, located south of Mexico City, will become the first football field to host all three tournament matches. Already in 1970 it was the home of those played by Pelé's Brazil and Diego Armando Maradona's Argentina in 1986.

However, the giant temples of the U.S. NFL will be the protagonists of this World Cup. Eleven local stadiums will host most of the tournament, including the semi-finals and the final of the MetLife Stadium in New York. Eleven football fields will host 78 of the 104 games of the tournament. None of these eleven venues repeat the World Cup 1994 that Brazil won in the iconic Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. Most of them did not exist then.

Canada will approach the World Cup in silence, far from the political, commercial, and media prominence of the United States, and far from the popular echo of football in Mexico. The second largest country in the world will host a men's World Cup for the first time, but it will do so without much fuss. Canada will host only 13 of the 104 meetings: sevenin Vancouver and six in Toronto.

As far as sport is concerned, the XXIII edition of the World Cup will make history, as it is organized for the first time by three countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada, and will compete with 48 teams and as many coaches, including Didier Deschamps , who has the longest career in this tournament since July 2012, as well as the French selector.

16 sets

Neither Mexico, nor Korea, nor the Czech Republic, nor South Africa are among the eight world champions, and they are below the twelfth place in the FIFA ranking. Despite their supporters and their altitude above the sea, the Mexican team will have to play their best football if they want to rank first in Group A.

Group B appears on paper as one of the most balanced in the first phase, with a Canada that will play at home, backed by its fans, a Switzerland accustomed to competing in the big tournaments, a Bosnia-Herzegovina that will return to the world window and a Qatar that wants to reclaim itself after its debut as host in 2022, led by Asteasuarra coach Julen Lopetegi .

Brazil and Morocco are the big favorites in Group C. They face a competitive Scotland and a Haiti that returns to the final stage of the tournament more than half a century later.

Paraguay and the United States should lead the open Group D. Without the European giants, the Paraguayans want to break the odds in front of their hosts. Along the way, they will meet Tunisia and Australia, with a great chance of a surprise.

Group E, which has fallen to Ecuador, brings together a historic giant such as Germany , a debutante such as Curaçao (the smallest country to reach the tournament) and a difficult Ivory Coast, which combines great defensive solidity and danger against it. In theory, Germany is the great favorite, but we must not forget that the Mannschaft has given two world championships without being able to overcome the group stage.

The new attempt by the Dutch team, now led by Ronald Koeman, faces a difficult first stage in Group F, in which he will face the Japanese team and two other difficult rivals, Sweden and Tunisia, also ready to take a place in the final sixteen.

Triple world runner-up (1974, 78 and 2010), the Netherlands has always passed the group stage since 1974 (8), all the times it has participated, but it has always missed the last step to win the precious trophy.

On the other hand, the Iranian team will have to face the tournament at the home of their greatest geopolitical rival, who has already faced severe sanctions that have threatened to frustrate his presence in the tournament. Iran has come under pressure to this date, both outside and inside the field.

According to the betting houses, he will compete alongside Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand for second place in Group G. The team of selector Amir Ghalenoei wants to turn skepticism into a historical ranking.

Group H hasSpain, the current champion of Europe, as the main favorite to rank first; Uruguay should also cross the barrier of groups, but has doubts about selector Marcelo Bielsa; Saudi Arabia hopes to repeat its best result; and rookie Cape Verde comes full of illusion.

Group I, which has the highest level in the FIFA ranking of the tournament, will be a difficult initial test for France, as the French hope to reach the final match with Kylian Mbappé, which will be the last World Cup for selector Didier Deschamps.

France, the current world runner-up and candidate to regain the throne won in Russia in 2018, wants to re-validate its status as a favorite in the most difficult group of the tournament, where Norway and Senegal can surprise and Iraq seems the most likely victim, even though in the last friendly it is able to draw one against Spain.

Likewise, Argentina will begin defending the title as the great favorites of Group J. Austria, Algeria and Jordan will also be present. The first two rankings will cross paths with the roosters of Group H. In theory, Spain and Uruguay.

Without a doubt, the focus of the team led by Lionel Scaloni will be Lionel Andrés Messi , who raised the trophy to the sky of Lusail in 2022. The Miami Inter player has won the Golden Ball eight times and will be flanked by experienced players who will once again be joined by talented young people.

Argentina has the chance to achieve the feat that escaped it 36 years ago: winning two consecutive World Cups, which only Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) have achieved, which would break a historical trend of more than six decades and join the group of countries that have won four world championships, one less than Brazil.

Group K 's favorite is Portugal's team, but strong Colombia has the same goal and, with great hope of surprises, two other countries that will play without complexes: debutante Uzbekistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Beyond the games, the cameras seem to be looking for the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who, at 41, will be playing the sixth and final World Cup of his career, eager to be a champion.

Finally, England and Croatia are the favourites in Group L , but they will have to keep an eye on the dangerous Ghana of Antoine Semenyo and Iñaki Williams, and the illusion of Panama, which will play the second World Cup in its history, under coach Thomas Christiansen.