Edson Álvarez. The captain. Twenty-eight years old. Ninety-six caps for Mexico. On loan at Fenerbahçe from West Ham. The defensive midfielder who holds this team's shape. He will play every minute he can.

Raúl Jiménez. The number nine. Thirty-four years old. One hundred and twenty-one caps. Forty-four international goals. Nine Premier League goals for Fulham this season. The face of this home World Cup. Probably his last one.

Santiago Giménez. A C Milan. Twenty-four years old. Thirty-two million euros from Feyenoord in January twenty twenty-five. He set a record for Champions League goals by a Mexican in a single season.

Hirving Lozano. Thirty years old. Scored the goal against Germany in twenty eighteen. P S V, Napoli, now San Diego F C in M L S. The runner who stretches defences on the flanks.

Patrik Schick. Thirty years old. Bayer Leverkusen. Twenty-four international goals in fifty caps. Among the cleanest finishers in the Bundesliga when fit. His availability shapes the Czech ceiling more than anyone else.

Tomáš Souček. West Ham. Thirty-one years old. Eighty-nine caps. Seventeen international goals. On the tenth of February this year, he became the highest scoring Czech in Premier League history, passing Patrik Berger. Six foot four. An aerial weapon on every set piece.

Ladislav Krejčí. Wolverhampton Wanderers. The defender who organises the back line. He is the defensive anchor Koubek builds around.

Pavel Šulc. Viktoria Plzeň. Koubek's breakout creator. The attacking midfielder who emerged in the play-off run. He is why the Czechs still have ideas when Schick is marked out.

Son Heung-min. The captain. Thirty-three years old. More than one hundred and forty caps. He left Tottenham in August twenty twenty-five to join Los Angeles F C for twenty-six and a half million dollars. An M L S record. He scored one hundred and seventy-three goals for Spurs and won the Premier League Golden Boot in twenty twenty-two. The first Asian player ever to do it. His fourth World Cup.

Kim Min-jae. Bayern Munich. Twenty-nine years old. Seventy-five plus caps. Napoli paid for him. Bayern paid fifty million to bring him to Munich in twenty twenty-three. The best Asian defender in European football.

Lee Kang-in. Paris Saint-Germain. Twenty-five years old. Forty-four caps. The first Asian player ever to win Ligue 1. Twenty-two million euros to P S G from Mallorca. He collected a U E F A Champions League medal with P S G in twenty twenty-five.

Cho Gue-sung. F C Midtjylland. The back-up nine with A F C Asian Cup goals on his C V. He gives Hong an alternate centre-forward profile to Son.

Ronwen Williams. The captain. The goalkeeper. Thirty-three years old. Mamelodi Sundowns. Sixty-three plus caps. At the twenty twenty-three A F C O N, he saved four penalties in a shootout against Cape Verde. No goalkeeper had ever done that in an A F C O N shootout before. He won the twenty twenty-four C A F Player of the Year award.

Percy Tau. Thirty-one years old. The Lion of Judah. He played for Brighton, Club Brugge, and Al Ahly. The technical forward who stitches Bafana's attack together.

Lyle Foster. Twenty-five years old. Burnley in the Premier League. Twenty-three caps. Eight international goals. He opened South Africa's twenty twenty-five A F C O N with the match-winner against Angola.

Teboho Mokoena. Twenty-nine. Mamelodi Sundowns. Fifty plus caps. The defensive midfielder who screens Williams and launches attacks. A genuine set-piece specialist.

Now the matches. Match one. The eleventh of June. Mexico versus South Africa. Estadio Azteca. Mexico City. This is the opening match of the entire tournament. Seven thousand two hundred feet above sea level. Around eighty-seven thousand fans. The Azteca becomes the only stadium in history to host three World Cup openers. Nineteen seventy. Nineteen eighty-six. And twenty twenty-six.

Match two. The eleventh of June. South Korea versus the Czech Republic. Estadio Akron. Guadalajara. A volcano-shaped stadium covered in grass, opened in two thousand and ten, home of Chivas. Capacity around forty-nine thousand.

Match three. The eighteenth of June. The Czech Republic versus South Africa. Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Atlanta. Seventy-one thousand seats. A retractable petal roof that opens in eight moving panels.

Match four. The eighteenth of June. Mexico versus South Korea. Estadio Akron. Guadalajara, again. This is the hinge of the group. Aguirre versus Hong.

Match five. The twenty-fourth of June. The Czech Republic versus Mexico. Estadio Azteca. Mexico City. Back at altitude. The final home game for the hosts.

Match six. The twenty-fourth of June. South Africa versus South Korea. Estadio B B V A. Monterrey. Fifty-three and a half thousand fans. Framed by the Cerro de la Silla mountain behind the stand.