On Thursday, the best soccer players on the planet will converge in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. Over the course of the next 30 days, work productivity will come to a halt as fans around the world tune in to "The Beautiful Game" being played in South America.
But for many American sport enthusiasts, soccer is as foreign to them as the countries participating. What follows are the seven things the basic, casual fan needs to know about the tournament.
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1. The United States won't win the World Cup. American soccer is in a much better place than where it was a decade ago, but that doesn't change the fact that they still lag behind the countries that even seldom contend for the World Cup title.
In fact, even current U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann thinks the team isn't talented enough to win the World Cup. “We cannot win this World Cup, because we are not at that level yet,” Klinsmann told the New York Times, “For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament.”
He's right too. The U.S. plays in one of the most difficult groups in the entire field and the team boasts just six players with past World Cup experience, making them one of the most inexperienced squads in the entire competition.
2. There is more than one "Group of Death." Yes, Group G -- Germany, Ghana, Portugal and the USA -- is a difficult group. But so is Group B -- Australia, Chile, Spain and the Netherlands -- and Group D -- Costa Rica, England, Italy and Uruguay.
True, Group G is the only group with two teams ranked by FIFA in the top 5, but the teams making up Group D have the lowest average world rank according to FIFA. Costa Rica is the lowest-ranked team in Group D, and FIFA lists it as the 28th-best nation in the world, compared to Ghana, the lowest-ranked team in Group G, which is ranked 37th.
Regardless, All three groups are going to feature some very competitive soccer.
3. This is the last World Cup for some of the decade's greatest stars. While this World Cup features young stars like Neymar Jr. (Brazil), Raheem Sterling (England), and Julian Green (USA), the 2014 field in Brazil also features the last stand of soccer greats from the past decade.
Many of you undoubtedly gained most of your international soccer knowledge from EA Sports' FIFA video games, and many of the players you grew up on, the Samuel Eto'os and Didier Drogbas of the world, are likely competing in their final World Cup.
In fact, there are six players attending their fourth World Cup and one, Italian goalie Gianluigi Buffon, playing in his fifth World Cup. Germany's Miroslav Klose, Cameroon's Eto'o, Mexico's Rafael Marquez, USA's DaMarcus Beasley and both Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernandez of Spain are in their fourth and final World Cup. This is probably the last time you will see England's Steven Gerrard, France's Patrice Evra, or Italy's Andre Pirlo in major international competition.
4. Some of the best players in the world won't be in Brazil. The best teams in the world are converging in Brazil, but that doesn't mean all the best players in the world are there. Some of the most dynamic footballers on the planet will watch from home because a) their countries didn't qualify, b) they're injured or c) they weren't selected for their national team. Eight of the top 50 players from The Guardian's 2013 list of the top 100 players in the world won't be in Brazil.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ranked behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, will not be in Brazil because Sweden did not qualify. The same goes for Wales' Gareth Bale (7), Ronaldo's teammate at Real Madrid, and Poland's Robert Lewandowski (18). Then there's Colombia's Radamel Falcao (16), Germany's Marco Reus (23) and France's Franck Ribery (28). All three suffered injuries in the past month that will force them to miss the World Cup.
Two aging superstars, Carlos Tevez of Argentina and Francesco Totti of Italy, both of whom were ranked in the top 50, won't be in Brazil because they did not make the final cut of their country's 23-man roster. Fans of American soccer know something about that, thanks to Jurgen Klinsmann's decision to leave Donovan off the final squad.
5. The contenders are still the same. Spain is still the best team in the world and will look to become the first nation to repeat as World Cup champions since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Spain has the most experienced starting XI in the World Cup and arguably the most talented roster top to bottom.
Surprisingly enough, the Spaniards are not the betting favorites to win the World Cup. That honor would go to the host nation Brazil, which sits at 5/2 compared to 6/1 for Spain. Brazil has Neymar (Barcelona), one of the best players on the planet, and a litany of other talents stars like Dani Alves (Barcelona), Thiago Silva (PSG), and Oscar (Chelsea).
However, the 2014 World Cup isn't a two-horse race. As is the case almost every four years, Germany figures to be one of the top favorites to advance to the final. The Germans boast one of the most talented midfield and forward units in the entire field. You won't find many offenses in Brazil with more top-level experience than Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal) and Miroslav Klose (Lazio).
But let's not forget about Argentina. Not only does Argentina have the best player on the planet in Lionel Messi (Barcelona), but it has one of the best supporting casts in the entire field. Joining Messi up front is Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) and Gonzalo Higuan (Napoli). Aguero burst on to the scene as a child prodigy and now at 26 years old, is a bona fide superstar. Higuain, also 26, looks to repeat his 2010 World Cup performance in which he led his nation with four goals.
6. Belgium is the dark horse to keep an eye on. Of all the non-traditional soccer powers competing in the 2014 World Cup, no nation is expected to succeed as much as Belgium. With 15/1 odds to win the World Cup, Belgium is thought to have a better shot than traditional powers Italy (20/1) and France (25/1), along with reigning World Cup runner-up Netherlands (25/1).
Belgium has arguably the top goalkeeper in the world in Thibault Courtois (Atletico Madrid) and one of the top defenders in the world in Vincent Kompany (Manchester City). Belgium also has a favorable draw -- Algeria, Russia and South Korea -- and barring any unforeseen injuries or meltdowns, should have an easy path to the knockout round.
Despite not being a part of the last two World Cups, Belgium has made it out of the group stage four out of their last five appearances. Belgium's best World Cup result was a fourth place finish in 1986, and they look to have what it takes to do that again in 2014.
7. Don't forget these names. Every World Cup viewer needs to know these names. You don't necessarily need to know everything about them, but in order to seem competent during water cooler talk, here is the one name from each team you need to be familiar with:
Algeria – Sofiane Feghouli (M)
Argentina – Lionel Messi (F)
Australia – Mile Jedinak (M)
Belgium – Vincent Kompany (D)
Bosnia & Hezegovina – Edin Dzeko (F)
Brazil – Neymar (F)
Cameroon – Samuel Eto’o (F)
Chile – Arturo Vidal (M)
Columbia – James Rodriguez (M)
Costa Rica – Keylor Navas (GK)
Croatia – Luka Modric (M)
Ecuador – Antonio Valencia (M)
England – Wayne Rooney (F)
France – Karim Benzema (F)
Germany – Mesut Ozil (M)
Ghana – Asamoah Gyan (F)
Greece – Kosta Mitroglou (F)
Honduras – Jerry Bengston (F)
Iran – Reza Ghoochannejhad (F)
Italy – Mario Balotelli (F)
Ivory Coast – Yaya Toure (M)
Japan – Keisuke Honda (M)
Mexico – Rafael Marquez (D)
Netherlands – Arjen Robben (M)
Nigeria – John Obi Mikel (M)
Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo (F)
Russia – Alexander Kokorin (F)
South Korea – Son Heung Min (F)
Spain – Andres Iniesta (M)
Switzerland – Xherdan Shaqiri (M)
United States – Clint Dempsey (F)
Uruguay – Luis Suarez (F)