β½ Hardin Local follows the beautiful game BETA
The first 48-team World Cup, on home soil. Track Team USA, learn how it works, and watch the bracket take shape.
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Top 2 advance automatically (green). A strong 3rd place can still go through (gold).
Bigger than ever, and a little different. Here's the whole thing in plain English.
48 teams, 12 groups of 4. This is the first 48-team World Cup ever (it used to be 32). Every team plays the other three teams in its group once, so three group games to start.
Points decide the group. A win is worth 3 points, a draw (tie) is 1 point, a loss is 0. Add them up after three games and that's your group table.
Tiebreakers, in order: if teams are level on points, you compare Goal difference Goals scored Head-to-head and a few more. "Goal difference" just means goals you scored minus goals you allowed.
32 of the 48 advance. The top 2 in every group go through automatically (24 teams), plus the 8 best 3rd-place teams across all the groups. That fills out a brand-new Round of 32.
Then it's single elimination, like March Madness. Round of 32 β Round of 16 β Quarterfinals β Semifinals β Final. Lose once and you go home. The champion plays 8 games total.
The Final is July 19, 2026 at MetLife Stadium near New York City.
The current top team in each of the 12 groups.
Standings update through the tournament. This is the bracket taking shape.
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This tracker is in beta. We built it to follow Team USA's run together, and we're still polishing it. Scores and standings come from a live feed and update throughout the day, so they may briefly lag the final whistle. Spot something that looks off? Email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it.