An Atlanta soccer fan’s guide to Club World Cup … wait, what is that?

You stare blankly back at me.

“I can understand your confusion,” I say. “The World Cup is for national teams. Like if you were a better golfer, you would play for the U.S. in the Olympics. Instead, you are so, so bad. So bad.

“The Club World Cup is for club teams, like Atlanta United.”

“Great,” you say. “I’ll go and watch them. They are my favorite.”

“Yeah,” I say. “They aren’t in it. But teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Porto and River Plate are in it.”

“Great,” you say. “I love Barcelona. They are a club team. I’ll go and watch them.”

“Oh boy,” I say. … “Let’s try this. You ask me questions like you have no idea what this tournament is.”

“I can easily do that,” you say.

How many teams are in the Club World Cup? 32

How did they qualify? Various ways. Some qualified by winning major tournaments, such as Manchester City and Chelsea. Some, like Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, were selected by FIFA. Some qualified through points systems that are too difficult to explain.

Where are they from? Every FIFA confederation has at least one team in the tournament. Those confederations are CONCACAF (North America, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia) and OFC (Oceania).

Any MLS teams? Yes! Seattle, Inter Miami and LAFC. Inter Miami and LAFC are scheduled to play in Atlanta.

Who else will be playing in Atlanta? Chelsea will play LAFC on Monday. Inter Miami will play Porto on Thursday. Manchester City will play Al Ain on June 22.

Just the three matches? No. There will be three more. Two Round of 16 matches (June 29 and July 1) and a quarterfinal (July 5).

When does it start and when does it finish? It starts Saturday with Inter Miami playing Al Ahly. The championship is scheduled for July 13.

Any other teams I might know from playing FIFA? Yep. Bayern Munich, PSG, Atletico Madrid, Boca Juniors and Dortmund, to name a few.

Any money at stake? Boy, is there. FIFA has pledged a $1 billion prize pool. CONCACAF teams are guaranteed $9.55 million for appearing. There are bonuses for winning group stage matches ($2 million per win) and it goes up to $40 million for winning the tournament.

Wait, what’s a group stage? A group stage is the first round of the tournament, where there are eight groups of four teams each. Sixteen teams, or two from each group, will advance to the Round of 16.

The groups are:

A: Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly and Inter Miami CF

B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, Botafogo and Seattle

C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City FC, Boca Juniors and Benfica

D: Flamengo, Tunis, Chelsea and LAFC

E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey and Inter Milan

F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns

G: Manchester City, Wydad AC, Al Ain and Juventus

H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca and Red Bulls Salzburg

Can I buy a ticket? Yes. There are various sites selling them.

Can I watch it on TV? Yes, on DAZN. No, I don’t know what that is, either.

Anything cool, technology-wise? Yes. Referees are going to wear body cameras, which will be used during broadcasts. People at the stadium will also be able to see highlights of what the referees see during the match.

That’s fire. Anything else? Yes. Semi-automated offside technology will be used involving multiple cameras, a sensor inside the ball, and artificial intelligence that will combine to try to speed up the process of determining offside penalties.

And this is kind of a dry run for the World Cup, right? Yes. In a way. But next summer’s World Cup will be exponentially larger and more glitzy than the Club World Cup.

How many Cups are there, by the way? Quite a few. MLS Cup, U.S. Open Cup, World Cup, Leagues Cup, SheBelieves Cup … just to name a few. I’m going to need a few cups after this.

I can’t wait to watch Mo Salah this summer. Oh boy …