24 players. 4 days. $16,000.

The GeoGuessr World Cup is here.

Through years of training and experience, pro GeoGuessr players have learned to pinpoint Google Street View locations from around the world with uncanny accuracy. We've had great highlights over the years, from GeoGuessr content creator Trevor Rainbolt nailing down guesses from Colombia to Laos, or GeoWizard, the original GeoGuessr YouTuber, miraculously find a street intersection in Touba, Senegal.

Just last year, GeoGuessr launched the first-ever World Cup, bringing 24 top GeoGuessr players from around the world to crown an official world champion. In the end, Consus emerged victorious, defeating Blinky in the final. You can relive Consus' winning moment from that World Cup here.

But it's a new year. And that means higher stakes. While the $16,000 grand prize is the same as 2023, the field has improved dramatically. No one is safe from elimination... and that includes the group stage, where 12 of our 24 players will be headed home.

Who will make it to the Saturday knockout rounds, and who will be left ruing their chances? We'll have our answer by the close of play on September 12.

• Consus is looking to defend the title he won last year. But he'll need to make it out of the group stage first. He looked off his best at the EMEA regional qualifier and finished outside of the top 4 -- so a bracket run is far from guaranteed.

• In his campaign to avenge his 2023 finals loss, Blinky got off to a similar shaky start as Consus, also finishing outside of the top 4 at the EMEA regional qualifier. Can he power back to form and make the weekend?

• Topotic (EMEA), Kirania (APAC), and Gingey (Americas) not only qualified for the World Cup through their regional qualifiers, but won those tournaments, too! Will it bode well for success on the global stage?

• Don't count out Radu C or Fau, our two semifinalists from 2023. Fau came third in the Americas regional qualifier, while Radu C got in by winning a last-minute wild card qualifier. Both of them could make a run at the title again... if they escape their groups.

• Finally, a number of GeoGuessr content creators -- incredibly skilled in their own right -- also qualified for the World Cup. zi8gzag placed third in the APAC regional qualifier and has been documenting his World Cup training on YouTube. Jake Lyons and Chicago Geographer, two other YouTubers, placed fourth and fifth at the Americas regional qualifier and are long shots to make it to Saturday... but you never know what might happen!

• Finally, a note on Trevor Rainbolt, perhaps the best-known GeoGuessr pro. Though he's a formidable player himself, he's not playing in the World Cup, choosing to commentate instead.

You can follow the group stage action of the World Cup on Twitch on September 11 or 12 from 12:00 CEST (3:00 PT / 6:00 ET) to 22:00 CEST (13:00 PT / 16:00 ET). Long days for our competitors in Stockholm!

I will not trade on this market. However, I will add players to this market on request.