The Brazil 2014 World Cup Opener is on the schedule on Thursday for the first match of the entire soccer tournament and the football teams from 32 nations are waiting eagerly for that to happen as they try to win the championship this year and the host nation plays against Group A foe Croatia at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo and that starts at 4 pm ET on ESPN and streaming from the ESPN website.

There are a number of big matchups in the first games of the group stage with Spain playing the Netherlands in Group B, while England and Italy is also an anticipated match. The Friday schedule after the first game has Mexico and Cameroon finishing off Group A and they will play in Natal, while Spain starts their championship Cup defense against the Netherlands in Salvador, while Chile and Australia play on ESPN2 that night at 6 pm.

The Group A set should see Brazil come out of that group and they are one of the favorites for the tournament along with Germany, Argentina and Spain, who comes in as defending champs. The Brazilian side plays against Croatia to start and then matches up with Mexico and then Cameroon in their group matches before the knockout stages.

The United States is in the toughest group and they are with Germany, Ghana and Portugal this year and it will be very tough to get out of that. Germany is one of the favorites at the World Cup, while Ghana has knocked the US out of the last two tournaments in 2006 and 2010. Portugal has one of the best players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo and he has started practicing again with the team and that match will be at the arena in the Amazon. Adding to the tough schedule for the Americans is the fact that they have to travel farther than any other team in the tournament for the first group stage of the World Cup.

Check here for the World Cup opening schedule and full match schedule for Brazil.