The World Cup begins on Thursday as the soccer world comes together to crown the best team from around the globe. 

The World Cup yields high drama that is worth watching no matter your level of soccer fandom, but University of Connecticut fans have an excellent reason to get invested in this year's tournament: UConn soccer alum Cyle Larin is suiting up for Team Canada, who begins play on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET.

Here's what you need to know:

Our own Jami Leabow recently wrote a profile on Larin, so the following comes from her work.

Larin, a forward, was part of the recruiting Class of 2013 and started 22 of 23 games that season. He tallied 14 goals – sixth highest by an NCAA player – and was the American Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Year. He had five game-winning goals and three assists.

As a sophomore in 2014, Larin led the Huskies with 21 points and nine goals in 16 games (15 starts). He also recorded three assists. He led the conference in game-winning goals (three), goals per game (0.56) and points per game (1.31) and earned the AAC Offensive Player of the Year award.

His two-year totals at UConn – 38 games, 23 goals and six assists for 52 points – convinced pro teams of his draft worthiness.

Orlando City SC selected him No. 1 overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, making him the third Huskies player drafted first overall. He joined Chris Gbandi (2002) and Andre Blake (2014) as No. 1 picks. With the selections of Blake and Larin at the top of the draft, UConn produced consecutive No. 1 overall draft picks.

--The World Cup is being played in North America, with games being held in Canada, Mexico and the United States. It's the first World Cup on American soil since 1994.

--There are 48 different countries at the World Cup, with 12 separate groups of four teams each.

--The top two teams in each group advance to the elimination round, with eight more third-place teams also getting nods. That will get us down to the 32-team single-elimination tournament.

--The finals are played on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey

--Teams get two points for a win and one point for a draw

Friday, June 12 (3 p.m. ET, Toronto) - vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Thursday, June 18 (6 p.m. ET, Vancouver) vs. Qatar

Wednesday, June 24 (3 p.m. ET, Vancouver) vs. Switzerland

Canada is playing in Group B and will be looking to advance out of pool play and into the elimination round.

Friday's opener will air nationally on FOX in the United States. There is also Spanish language coverage on Peacock.

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