Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport in Houston

Image source, Getty Images

In yesterday's news conference Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann was at pains to avoid discussing whether his side could be considered one of the favourites.

When asked what would constitute success, he said: "It's easier to talk about that after a tournament.

"Afterwards we can discuss if it was successful or not. But let's play the games."

Opposite number Dick Advocaat will be the oldest manager ever at a World Cup, aged 78.

Nagelsmann, 38, is the youngest boss at this tournament.

When asked if he would still like to be managing in 40 years he said: "No. Not really. I love my job but I have some different things to do at this age.

"Dick is a really cool coach who has done a brilliant job. I can always learn from people like him. Before the game I will say hello. We will fight during the game and afterwards we can be friends."

Chris Sutton
Former England forward

Image source, Getty Images

Graham Potter has worked his magic with Sweden since taking charge of them in October and getting them through the play-offs, but I am not expecting them to make it out of their group.

Like Ivory Coast, Tunisia did not concede a goal in their qualifying campaign but they are another team at this World Cup who like to keep things tight at the back but lack a bit of firepower - and that makes me think this will end in a draw.

Sweden

Image source, Getty Images

Sweden are set for their opening World Cup match against Tunisia in Monterrey (Monday, 03:00 BST) but it has been a long and winding road to get here for the team and coach Graham Potter.

Sweden finished bottom of their qualifying group and needed a Nations League play-off lifeline to make it to the finals.

Potter, meanwhile, was only drafted in to replace Jon Dahl Tomasson as Sweden boss in October, just a month after being sacked by West Ham.

The 51-year-old Englishman started out from humble beginnings as a manager, earning his break with Swedish minnows Ostersund before roles at Swansea, Brighton, Chelsea and West Ham, yet now finds himself on the cusp of his first World Cup game.

"If somebody had said to me when I started out coaching a bunch of students at Leeds Met University that I would end up via the fourth division in Swedish football here at the World Cup, of course I would have taken that journey. It's incredible," he told reporters in Saturday's pre-match news conference.

"So now I'm just at a point where I'm super-grateful, super-grateful for the career I've had, for the life I've had, and to be here now."

We got our first sight at some top-10 ranked nations last night when sixth-placed Brazil and seventh-placed Morocco played out a 1-1 draw.

Top-ranked nation and defending champions Argentina don't feature until Wednesday at 02:00 BST when they take on Algeria, while second-placed Spain feature on Monday at 17:00 against Cape Verde.

There are two other top-10 teams in action tonight, though - the Netherlands sit eighth and Germany are 10th.

Here's how the rankings look in full:

1. Argentina
2. Spain
3. France
4. England
5. Portugal
6. Brazil
7. Morocco
8. Netherlands
9. Belgium
10. Germany

Matt Taylor
BBC Weather

After dry conditions for all of Saturday's matches, fans and players have more challenging conditions today.

Heat and humidity will be a big feature at all four of the host cites - Monterrey, Houston, Dallas and Philadelphia.

Afternoon temperatures for all will exceed 30C (86F) with higher 'feels like' temperatures due to the humidity, and it will remain hot and sweaty into the evening.

The biggest impact, however, comes from the risk of thunderstorms. All four cities could see them today, but the risk is greatest in Philadelphia, where the stadium is also uncovered.

The National Weather Service say there is an 80% chance of heavy rain and storms by the evening, with gusty winds also a potential hazard.

So, will the thunderstorm protocol be activated for the Ivory Coast v Ecuador match?

More on the thunderstorm protocol here

Chris Sutton
Former England forward

I became a bit of a celebrity in Japan when I correctly backed them to beat Germany at the last World Cup, or at least I appeared on TV over there to talk about it anyway.

They have got some excellent technical players and will be dangerous, whoever they play - and I am going to back them again to beat the Dutch.

The Netherlands look strong defensively but I am less convinced by them up front.

Image source, BBC Sport

Japan captain Wataru Endo, who withdrew from the World Cup this week, is one of several significant absentees as the Japanese begin their eighth finals campaign against the Netherlands tonight.

In May, Brighton forward Kaoru Mitoma injured his hamstring during a Premier League game against Wolves. He has since had surgery and his rehabilitation counts him out of what would have been the 29-year-old's second finals appearances.

In December, former Liverpool winger Takumi Minamino ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.

But 31-year-old Minamino, who has 73 caps for Japan, is on camp to provide support to his international teammates.

“I’m happy I could join this group,” Minamino ​was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

“Lots of ​people ‌helped me get here, and I’m hoping to give my maximum support to the team by offering my personal experience and coming up with my own approach."

Curacao

Curacao are thought to be one of only six countries who are not fully independent nations to qualify for a World Cup.

That is because they remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with neighbours Aruba and Sint Maarten.

The others are England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - as they are part of the United Kingdom - and 1938 qualifiers Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

Natives of Curacao all hold Dutch passports - and until 2010 it was part of the Netherlands Antilles, a collection of Caribbean islands.

Curacao has only had its own national team since then - although the team are viewed as a continuation of the Dutch Antilles.

What would meeting the Netherlands in the knockout stages mean?

Juninho Bacuna, who ended last season on loan at Volendam, said: "If that happens, I'm giving, not 100, not 200, I will give 1000% more than I will give ever.

"We just want to show the world that we are a small island but we have got a big heart, belief and a lot of talent."

Rachel Corsie: I don't know if this is really a surprise, but I think Japan could go beyond where their world ranking of 18 suggests.

Steph Houghton: Japan. I really liked the way they played at Wembley.

Tony Pulis: Japan might have a good run at it, and Norway, Morocco and Senegal are my other outsiders to watch.

Read more of our BBC pundit World Cup predictions here

Image source, Getty Images

Japan are appearing at their eighth successive World Cup finals having first qualified in 1998.

They're yet to progress beyond the round of 16, but the 18th-ranked side have shown promise in the lead-up to the 2026 edition.

Having been at the helm since July 2018, manager Hajime Moriyasu's tenure is the longest in Japan's history - and he is the third longest-serving manager at this tournament after France's Didier Deschamps and Argentina's Lionel Scaloni.

The Samurai Blue lost just one game across their qualifying campaign and have beaten England and Brazil in friendlies in the last year.

This week, their captain Wataru Endo withdrew from the World Cup squad with injury and announced his retirement from international football.

Taking his place as captain is Ajax defender Ko Itakura, who stresses that achieving team cohesion is his top priority.

"A lot has happened, but my role has been to get the whole team on the same page ahead of the opener," said Itakura.

"Getting united is the most important thing in these short-term competitions."

Chris Sutton
Former England forward

Image source, Getty Images

Curacao are the smallest nation ever to make it to a World Cup, in terms of geographical size and population - 158,000, which is only slightly bigger than my home city of Norwich.

Sadly, Norwich never made it to a World Cup, but for Curacao to qualify is a great story - and so is the return of Dick Advocaat as their head coach.

At 78, he is set to be the oldest coach in World Cup history when he takes charge of this game. I remember facing his Rangers side when I was at Celtic and he is such a smart guy and a really wily manager.

I am covering this game for 5 Live too and it is strange there is so little expectation around Germany at this tournament - they are usually among the favourites but did not get out of their group in 2018 or 2022.

They should make it to the knockout stages this time, however, and I think they will begin with a win. Curacao will sit deep and defend in numbers, but Germany will find a way through.

Curacao

Image source, Getty Images

Some 18 players in the Curacao squad have represented the Netherlands at youth levels, with two - Riechedly Bazoer and Joshua Brenet - winning senior caps.

The shift from the Curacao national team, from local amateur players to members of the diaspora, started when they started to hire big-name Dutch managers - starting with Patrick Kluivert in 2015 right up to current boss and former Netherlands national team head coach Dick Advocaat.

Miami FC goalkeeper Eloy Room, 37, was the first member of this squad to play for Curacao that year, with ex-Aston Villa and Cardiff midfielder Leandro Bacuna among those to follow in 2016.

Bacuna said: "We've done something so nice for Curacao. I started this journey 10 years ago and wanted to make the people from Curacao proud.

"The manager keeps saying we are not finished. We want to show people as small as we are, we have a big heart. If you have a big heart I believe you can get far."

Image source, Getty Images

Germany's route to qualifying for the World Cup was rather straightforward. They won five matches out of six in qualifying to progress through top spot, having faced Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg home and away.

Meanwhile, Curacao played 10 matches in qualifying across two rounds - winning seven and drawing three.

They beat Haiti, Saint Lucia, Barbados and Aruba in the second round and in round three, finished top of their group following home and away matches against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bermuda.

Facing Germany poses a much tougher task, but Curacao can take plenty of encouragement from how well they performed in qualifying.

Netherlands

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Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman says "pressure" is driving progress as his side bid to reach a fourth World Cup final.

The Dutch were runners up at successive tournaments in 1974 and 1978 - before falling short again in 2010.

Ranked eighth in the world, the Netherlands' qualification campaign was strong, conceding four goals as they won six of their eight games.

First brought into the national team set-up in 2018, Koeman's mandate was to revive the Netherlands after they failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and EURO 2016.

The side qualified for EURO 2020 under his management before he departed for Barcelona - then returned to manage his country in 2023 following the resignation of Louis van Gaal.

At his country's twelfth World Cup finals, Koeman is embracing the possibility of going deep into the tournament.

“We put a lot ​of pressure on ourselves,” Koeman said in a news conference.

“We want to go far ​in the tournament. We have a strong team and we know what ⁠we need to improve to have a real chance."

Curacao

Image source, Getty Images

A stunningly beautiful small Caribbean island, with a huge Dutch influence but fiercely proud of their own heritage - Curacao has, until now, possibly been most famous for its alcoholic drink of the same name.

But that is all about to change as they prepare to make history as the smallest nation ever, by size and population, to take part in a World Cup.

Smaller than the Isle of Man and with a population of 158,000 - less than 40 UK cities and towns - they are not even a fully sovereign nation, being part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

"It brings so much joy and pride to the island that you can't describe it. The whole island is turning blue," Curacao Football Federation (FFK) president Gilbert Martina told BBC Sport.

Only one of their World Cup squad, Sheffield United midfielder Tahith Chong, was born on the island - with the other 25 players all hailing from the mainland Netherlands.

Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport in Houston

Image source, Getty Images

Curacao boss Dick Advocaat, 78, will become the oldest manager in World Cup history today.

In yesterday's news conference, he said it will be a "big difference" to managing South Korea or the Netherlands at the tournament.

"These teams were under more pressure," he said.

"We have everything to win and nothing to lose because the pressure is not high."