Hello to my new Blog!/Q&A of the Confederations Cup 2017

Hello everyone to my 3rd blog. After covering the World Cup in 2014 and the Copa America Centenario last year, I have decided to write a blog each summer for the biggest soccer tournament of the year, and this year it is the Confederations Cup. Here are some Q&A of the tournament.

What is the Confederations Cup?
The Confederations Cup is held every four years, like the World Cup, and is held in the same place as the upcoming World Cup is being held. The Confederations Cup is played one year before the next World Cup, which will be held in Russia. Along with the host (which in this case is Russia), seven other teams will compete for the cup.

Who is competing in this year's tournament?
The host will compete alongside seven other teams. One team there will be Germany, the current World Cup holders. The other six teams will be the most recent winners of their continental confederations, hence the name of this tournament. Representing the CONCACAF (Confederations Of North and Central American and Caribbean Association of Football)) will be Mexico, representing Oceania's OFC will be New Zealand, and representing Asia will be Australia. Cameroon, Chile, and Portugal round out the teams, as they all won their respective confederation tournaments. 

How does the tournament work?
The eight teams were drawn into one of two four-team groups. Russia, as host, was put in Group A and will play the first game of the tournament tomorrow at 11 AM EST. Each team plays each of their opponents in their group once. This is known as the group stage. A win is worth 3 points, a tie 1, and none for a loss. The 2 teams with the most points move on from the 2 groups. Tiebreakers, if necessary, would be total Goal Differential followed by # of goals scored. Next would be the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will play the runner-up of Group B, and the other two teams will face off in a single-elimination game. The two winners will play each other in a winner-take-all final, following a third-place game between the two semi-final losers.     

 Need more Info?
Go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_FIFA_Confederations_Cup or http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/index.html  for more info. Later today I will send a preview of the opening match and my predictions on who will make it to the semi-finals.