India, June 10 -- From 13 to 48 teams, from defending champions staying away in 1934 to a long qualification cycle, from England skipping the first three iterations to hoping it will come home, from 18 matches in Montevideo to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino's promise of "104 Super Bowls," in 16 cities, the World Cup has kept giving.

Since the start in 1930 it has survived a World War and a pandemic, seen the fracture and fusion of nations, the Berlin Wall being built and torn down. It was used for sports washing as early as 1934. It lived through apartheid and when that ended, took the event to South Africa. To the Arab world, east Asia, Russia and the Americas it has travelled. The last time it was held 5.6 billion watched.

Here we go, aga...