A guide to the World Cup from Macon’s soccer experts

Fútbol — for football fans

For the first time in more than three decades, the U.S. will host the world’s most colossal sporting event — and for the first time ever, the state of Georgia will be a part of it.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, featuring 48 different countries ranging from Norway to New Zealand, begins this week. The soccer event — though it will be a football or fútbol event to the rest of the world — will feature eight matches in Atlanta, including a much-anticipated semifinal showdown come July.

That means some of the globe’s most talented players will be less than two hours away from Bibb County, competing in an event almost peerless in stature.

Macon’s soccer community is ready.

“Wars have been put on pause, ceasefires have been called, so that soccer could be played,” Stratford boys soccer coach Iain Jones said. “It’s unique culturally, and I think everyone should be watching.”

While there are no official FIFA events here in Macon, fans of the sport will be out in full force — Middle Georgia’s soccer culture, local coaches and experts say, is on the come-up.

“I’ve definitely seen it getting bigger,” Mercer women’s soccer coach Tony Economopoulos said. “It might not be growing exponentially, but we’re seeing more people participate in camps, playing club soccer and things like that. The numbers go up every year.”

Whether you’re able to go to Atlanta for a match or you plan to watch somewhere in Macon, now’s the time to get on the bandwagon. In a region where American football is king, let’s learn about the other football — fútbol, the world’s favorite sport.

Yes, you have to learn the rules

There’s an easy place to start when it comes to fútbol since it’s an oft-cited deterrent for American fans: What the heck does “offsides” even mean?

Soccer’s signature rule states that a team’s offensive player — an “attacker” — must be in front of the defending team’s next-to-last player on the field when the ball is passed to them.

The rule keeps an offensive player from simply camping out next to the other team’s goal, waiting for a pass. The next-to-last defender bit includes the goalkeeper, so the “next-to-last” man is almost always the last defender on the field.

This means there’s a sort of invisible line drawn down the width of the field where that last defender stands — if any part of the attacker’s head, legs or chest is past that last defender and crosses the imaginary line, they are not eligible to get a pass.

“People ask me all the time what offsides actually is,” Jones said with a chuckle. “The thing most people forget is that it’s not the whole body.”

As soon as the ball is kicked by a teammate, though, then it’s fair game. This leads to strategic passing — a team’s last attacker will linger behind the last defender, then streak past them when the ball is kicked, creating a window of opportunity.

THE WORLD CUP: BY THE NUMBERS

-32: Number of years since the U.S. last hosted a world cup

-48: number of countries fielding teams in the World Cup — you could pick a team besides the U.S. to track.

-8: number of World Cup games in Atlanta, including a semifinal game

-172: number of goals scored in the 2022 World Cup — how many might be scored this year?

-39: the number of days the World Cup will last. You’ve no excuse to not watch at least one game in that time span, even if it’s just the World Cup Final on July 19!

-104: the number of matches to be held throughout the World Cup.

Penalties, and the occasional yellow and red cards that accompany them, are up to the refs’ judgment. Eric McDonald, the boys soccer coach at Central, said that calls might not always be obvious and referees will make different calls based on the tenor of a game.

“Some refs allow a bit of physicality to it while others, of course, take a no-nonsense approach,” McDonald said. “Certain things you think may be a call may end up not being a (penalty) because the ref is there in the moment and making assessments.”

Several coaches mentioned one key rule change — intended to speed the game up — to look for.

Matches consist of two 45-minute halves followed by stoppage time, which is added on at the end of games, depending on how many injuries, substitutions and other delays happen in regulation. Sometimes, for strategic reasons, teams will deliberately take longer setting up kicks, subbing out players or doing other tasks. 

Because the clock doesn’t stop in soccer, this can lead to things getting bogged down. As a result, the new rules force players to perform throw-ins and goal kicks, two routine actions, under time limits.

“If you pay attention to that, it should quicken the pace up,” Mercer’s Economopoulos said.

The format and teams

The World Cup consists of four dozen different countries competing to win one championship. There is a traditional bracket format, but first there are qualifiers. Those began as far back as 2023 and are complete, with countries like Curaçao, Uzbekistan and others qualifying for the first time ever.

The first part of the proper World Cup, as we know it, begins June 11 with group play. The 48 teams are sorted into groups of four, which are assigned letters A through L. The four teams in each group all play one another, with the top two teams from each group and the top 8 remaining teams — that’s 32 teams total — advancing to the knockout stage.

From there, the World Cup resembles your classic sports bracket, with 32 teams playing to stay alive until the championship match. Make no mistake, though. Group play can be just as thrilling, and it’s where the real underdog stories are found. 

Doug Roberson, a journalist and soccer expert who writes about Atlanta United and Atlanta’s soccer culture in general, said Atlanta’s groups should be very intriguing. He compared the smaller countries to underdogs in college basketball’s March Madness tournament.

“I call it a Cinderella grouping, because you’ve got countries like Cape Verde and Haiti coming in,” Roberson said of teams playing in Atlanta. “Then you’ve got Spain, which will be among the favorites. You’ve also got Morocco, which was the first African country to advance to a semifinal in the 2022 World Cup.”

Haiti and Curacao are the teams with the lowest chance to win the entire tournament at 2,500-to-1, according to ESPN.

Jones, who moved from England to the U.S. as a child in 1986, is a diehard supporter of England but said that Belgium could be another upstart team to watch. Their odds aren’t as long as some of the true underdogs, but the team’s “fresh legs” could make them sneakily competitive.

Regardless of his under-the-radar pick, Jones is still rooting for his home country despite being a U.S. citizen: “England or die,” he said.

The culture — and what to watch for

That was the next piece of the puzzle for all of these soccer experts: in addition to coaching the so-called “beautiful game,” they’re also enthusiastic fans of it. They’ve known the sport for their entire lives and want as many people as possible to share their passion.

McDonald is Jamaican and roots for Brazil and, to a lesser extent, Portugal. He grew up watching those teams dominate and rattled off a long list of his favorite stars, including Brazilian legend Neymar and Portuguese playmaker Luís Figo.

Econompoulos would normally root for Greece, where he was born and lived for some time, but the country did not qualify this year — a huge letdown, he said, but certainly not enough to keep him from watching his favorite sporting event.

“Now I just want a really good finish,” the Mercer coach said, mentioning the 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France, often regarded as one of the best finals ever. “It would be nice to see the U.S. do well, but really, what’s better than a good game? That’s what I want in the semifinal and final.”

Economopoulos remembers the last time the Cup came to the U.S. in 1994. He and friends witnessed a thrilling match between Brazil and the Netherlands in the quarterfinals that Brazil eventually won 3-2. McDonald remembered the 2002 World Cup vividly, as it marked Brazil’s most recent championship.

“There’s no words you can say. It’s an electric feeling you get watching the best players in the world do what they do,” McDonald said.

For newer soccer fans watching World Cup games either in person or on TV, Jones recommended keeping an eye on different countries’ fans and crowds, learning their traditions or cultures.

“These fans are people who have practically mortgaged their houses to come see their national team play,” Jones said.

Roberson said every team will have a different style and encouraged soccer beginners to check out different countries and compare play styles. It’s fun to have a second country besides the U.S. to root for.

TEAM U.S.A. DETAILS AND SCHEDULE

GROUP D: U.S., Paraguay, Australia, Turkey
U.S. Group Play matches:
-Friday, June 12 vs. Paraguay @ 9 p.m.
-Sunday, June 19 vs. Australia @ 3 p.m.
-Saturday, June 25 vs. Turkey @ 10 p.m.
Top U.S. Players: Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKinnie, Tyler Adams

“Some teams want to dominate the ball and put people under pressure, like the old run-and-gun offenses the Falcons used to have,” Roberson said. “Other teams, teams who aren’t as good, will just be holding on for dear life.”

The soccer writer also recommended watching teams’ defenses — the tournament’s best goals will be easy to appreciate, notice, but incredible defense can often fly under the radar even when it makes or breaks a team.

McDonald said fans should keep track of star players, with all-time soccer icons like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi still participating and some new players emerging as potential greats. 

All the coaches also emphasized how important it is for people who want to play the sport to watch the tournament.

…Should we call it football?

Then there’s the obvious question: Should us Americans start calling the sport by its “proper” name?

“I 100% agree that we should call it football,” Economopoulos said. “In England it’s football, we speak English — I don’t even understand how we got to soccer.”

The origins of “soccer” actually come from England, according to Britannica. Back when rugby was still called “rugby football,” people needed a quick way to distinguish that from “association football,” the traditional game. So they abbreviated the word association to “assocer” — which was sometimes spelled out as “a socker” — before that was further shortened to “soccer.”

That was in the 19th century. Some time in the early 20th century, rugby football was just called rugby, so England ditched the term “soccer” and stuck with football to refer to the “beautiful game.” America, however, needed to use “soccer” because of the oh-so-popular sport we know as football.

“I like calling it football because that’s what (it was called when) I grew up, but there would be confusion if you tried to swap it,” McDonald said. “Maybe it should remain the same.”

Whatever us Americans call it during the World Cup, Macon’s soccer community will be watching. Watch parties are set for multiple restaurants in Macon, and some fans are expected to make the trek up to Atlanta, which coaches and experts strongly encouraged.

“Even if you can’t make it inside the stadium, just being outside is a different level of experience,” Jones said. “If that’s not an option, just find a watch party. It will be electric.”

Where to watch in Macon:

• Ocmulgee Brewpub, 484 2nd St.
• La Bella Morellia, 524 Mulberry St.
• Taco Mac, 5433 Bowman Rd.
• Amici, 1510 Mercer University Dr.
• Bearfoot Tavern, 468 2nd St.
• Margarita’s Mercer Village, 1602 Montpelier Ave.
• El Sombrero 4646 Forsyth Rd.
• Buffalo’s, 5990 Zebulon Rd.

LIST OF GAMES IN ATLANTA:

• Spain vs. Cabo Verde, June 15, 12 p.m
• Czechia vs. South Africa, June 18, 12 p.m.
• Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, June 21, 12 p.m.
• Morocco vs. Haiti, June 24, 6 p.m.
• Congo DR vs. Uzbekistan, June 27, 7:30 p.m.
• Round of 32 match, July 1, 12 p.m.
• Round of 16 match, July 7, 12 p.m.
• Semifinal match, July 15, 3 p.m.

SOME NON-GAME ATLANTA EVENTS:

• FIFA Fan Festival at Centennial Olympic Park (lasts for entire cup)
• Decatur WatchFest, featuring watch parties and concerts (lasts for entire cup)
• Atlanta BeltLine fest (lasts for entire cup)