There are 12 groups of four teams, with each playing the others once in a round-robin. Three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw, with the top two teams advancing directly to the knockout stage. In the World Cup's new format, eight of the 12 group third-place winners also move on to the Round of 32.

TCU plays Florida State in one semifinal. Blue bloods Stanford and Duke face off in the other. The winners meet for the national title.

A recent report found that 10 of the 16 venues at the tournament are at "very high risk of experiencing extreme heat stress conditions."