This summer’s World Cup spans three host nations, and each will stage its own opening ceremony ahead of its first match.

• Mexico opens the tournament on Thursday 11 June, before their match against South Africa at 20:00 BST
• Canada follows on Friday 12 June, ahead of their game with Bosnia-Herzegovina at 20:00 BST
• The USA hosts its ceremony on Saturday 13 June, before facing Paraguay at 02:00 BST

All ceremonies begin 90 minutes before kick-off. The first opening ceremony will begin later at 18:30 BST.

The BBC will show the opening ceremonies for the matches.

Image source, Getty Images

The World Cup begins later today as Mexico host South Africa (20:00 BST) at Mexico City Stadium.

It is a repeat of the fixture that opened the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Siphiwe Tshabalala's stunning left-footed strike went down in history to open the scoring, with the game finishing 1-1.

Who will open the scoring this time?

Image source, Getty Images

Right, that's enough England chatter for today.

But don't fret - there will be plenty more of that to come across the duration of this massive tournament.

And remember we've got BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty joining us later today to answer any questions you may have - England or otherwise.

Start getting your questions into him now by clicking 'Get Involved' at the top of this page.

For now, we're going to take a look at what's happening later today when it all kicks off in Mexico.

Then we'll start guiding you through what to expect from the group stage as a whopping 48 teams battle it out to advance to the knockout rounds.

I hope you're sitting comfortably!

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport

England's friendly with Costa Rica was not the first to be hit by extreme weather before the start of the World Cup.

The incident in Orlando followed last week's warm-up game between Saudi Arabia and Puerto Rico in Austin, Texas, which was stopped for almost two hours.

The match was brought to a halt in the 21st minute as thunderstorms and lightning forced players off ⁠the pitch, with ⁠spectators told to seek shelter.

Repeated lightning strikes led to multiple resets of ⁠the mandatory 30-minute delay before play eventually restarted.

While the Q2 Stadium will not host any World Cup matches, two stadiums in Texas will be used during the tournament.

There will be seven matches at the Houston Stadium, while the Dallas Stadium will host nine games, including England's group game against Croatia - although both venues have retractable roofs which can reduce the impact of the conditions.

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport

England head coach Thomas Tuchel said the delay to their World Cup warm-up game with Costa Rica gave them a "little taste of what can happen" - but will that prove to be an understatement?

The match was due to start at 21:00 BST in Orlando, Florida, but heavy rain and thunderstorms pushed it back an hour to 22:00 BST.

Weather delays have been a major talking point in the build-up to this year's World Cup, with several matches in last year's Fifa Club World Cup in the United States impacted by thunderstorms.

This was not the first tournament warm-up game to suffer delays caused by storms either - and many fans are concerned it could become a theme throughout the World Cup.

"We were aware of that before - now we experience it," Tuchel told ITV before the game. "It's no problem.

"It should not be an excuse to lose our mood or patience or to lose our hunger to play the game.

"No problem at all. We realised it when we were still at the hotel so it was easy. We just said half an hour later in the bus and let's go."

Fans who had already arrived at Inter&Co Stadium were told to evacuate from the stands and retreat to a safe position on the concourses to avoid lightning strikes.

Thunderstorms in the US are not uncommon, but when it comes to them impacting matches, Fifa has no power to make its own rules and must adhere to the advice of local authorities.

Nick Hatton
BBC West Yorkshire Sport

That match though delayed last night by and hour because of storms in Orlando. It was a match certainly with more intensity than last weekend, that's what Thomas Tuchel called for. It's more like a first choice England team as well apart from Noni Madueke in for his Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka, whose minutes are being managed as he is still recovering from that Achilles injury.

Saka was one of 11 players to come on in the second-half, Anthony Gordon's penalty and Ollie Watkins' strike making the score line more comprehensive after Declan Rice scored the opening goal.

I knew it wouldn't be long that, in true British fashion, someone mentioned the weather.

There are few things we love moaning about more - whether it's too hot, too cold or too wet.

We got a sign of how the next few weeks might be impacted by any of those three issues last night...

Right, we've brought you the thoughts of chief football writer Phil McNulty and below is his England starting XI for the opening group game against Croatia on 17 June.

Do you agree? If not, who would you bring in? And who would you drop to the bench?

England

Image source, Getty Images

Harry Kane's status as captain, talisman and main marksman is illustrated very simply by his all-time record of 79 goals in 114 England games.

And yet, at 32, he continues to add strings to his bow in a fashion that now makes him the complete player.

In Orlando, there was further evidence that Thomas Tuchel has effectively given Kane a roving commission to link, create and score – all tasks he performs superbly.

Tuchel's willingness to allow Kane to roam freely, as he does for Bayern Munich, adds an intriguing layer to the German's strategy.

It is clear that Kane possesses the natural game intelligence - described as "uncoachable" by former England striker Chris Sutton – to not only create but also still arrive with perfect timing in attacking positions.

Kane's range of passing and vision enables him to find runners like Anthony Gordon or Bukayo Saka, as well as Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers when they make their trademark surges.

It may just give Tuchel and England an X-factor if they drive deep into the World Cup and have to unlock superior opposition.

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel spoke to ITV, after his side beat Costa Rica in a friendly: "We did very well, and we deserved to win. We should have had more goals, we created a lot. The attitude, the energy, the intensity was on a very high level.

"Everyone did well. It is not about one individual player today. A very good team performance and we want to have this to push to the next level, and we clearly got it.

"We worked hard, counter pressing was good, and togetherness. Everything on a high level.

"Tonight makes my mind very calm as we're absolutely on the right way. The guys who came on were super influential. The guys who came out were pushing from behind on the bench - exactly what we wanted."

England

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When Thomas Tuchel decided to leave Manchester United veteran Harry Maguire out of his World Cup squad, it placed his faith in John Stones even further under the microscope.

Manchester City's Stones was troubled by injury throughout last season and is now waiting to decide his next club after leaving Etihad Stadium, but his class and pedigree at the highest level has never been in question.

This is why Tuchel included him in this squad, and the head coach will have been delighted to see Stones get another 63 minutes under his belt against Costa Rica after playing 45 minutes against New Zealand.

If he is fully fit, as seems to be the case, then the temptation will be huge for Tuchel to start his most accomplished and experienced defender against Croatia.

Presumably, he would line up alongside Manchester City defender Marc Guehi - although Ezri Konsa's inclusion from the start on Wednesday points to an alternative option.

Guehi and Stones did, though, play 45 minutes together against New Zealand and know each other well both internationally and at club level.

Identifying the sturdiest pairing is another decision that could prove pivotal as England and Tuchel aim for a strong start to their campaign.

BBC 5 Live Breakfast

England fan Kerry on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: "It was pretty good, it was much better than the other one, I'm glad they have climatised now.

"I think the way that they set up last night and the changes that [Thomas Tuchel] made, you can see where his head is at. I think what is promising is that there is a strong bench as well and as was seen last night, there's so many options.

"I think that gives us a bit of a highlight as to where we are going to go as well."

Roy Keane
Former Republic of Ireland captain on ITV

I think Thomas Tuchel will be pleased. There was more intensity in terms of the opposition. A good urgency from England that I enjoyed.

England

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Arsenal's Bukayo Saka will fill the right-sided slot if he is fit enough. A lingering Achilles tendon injury has led Tuchel to manage his minutes carefully, but he is first choice.

Saka's Arsenal team-mate Madueke produced a mixed bag of a performance on the right against Costa Rica.

The real intrigue centres on who plays on England's left. It looks to be between new Barcelona signing Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford – whose future at the Nou Camp is uncertain following his loan from Manchester United.

That is another sub-plot to the selection situation, and there is no obvious answer to who will get the nod.

Rashford was one of England's brightest sparks against New Zealand, while Gordon looked rusty as a substitute, his cause seemingly not helped by his inaction at Newcastle in the final weeks of last season, when it became clear he was leaving Tyneside and he was left on the sidelines.

Gordon, however, did his chances no harm with a fine performance against Costa Rica.

That's more like it Dave and Harry!