Ben Collins
BBC Sport
The NFL's closing season has brought the most uncertain Super Bowl race in years.
Now only the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks remain, and they will meet on Sunday to decide who is the NFL champion.
It's a title that New England has won six times so far, but this is their first Super Bowl since 2019 and the departure of legendary quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick.
The revitalized Patriots came from nowhere to Super Bowl 60 in California and managed to secure an extension of their record 12 appearances in the NFL's premier game.
The Seahawks reached their fourth Super Bowl, their first since 2015, when the Patriots prevented them from winning the championship twice in a row.
Now a Briton could become the first foreign coach to win arguably the biggest game in world sport by helping Seattle return to the title race.
The halftime show will also feature a historic performance by a Latin music superstar amid concerns about how US immigration agents will approach the event, which has been the most-watched live broadcast in American television history for the past three years.
How the Patriots can make NFL history
Brady and head coach Belichick led New England to nine Super Bowls between 2002 and 2019, winning six of them.
That tied the record for most Super Bowl trophies won with the Pittsburgh Steelers, so the Patriots will threaten them this year if they win at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
The former Tennessee Titans coach built a new Patriots lineup and led it to a 14-3 record in the league.
That ten-game winning streak is tied to one of the greatest turnarounds from one season to the next - and the Patriots are the first of those teams to reach the Super Bowl.
Former linebacker Vrabel (50) could also become the first man to win the Super Bowl as both a player and head coach with the same team.
Who are the quarterbacks in the Superbowl?
Drake May from New England grew up in North Carolina and attended the previous Super Bowl held at Levi's Stadium 10 years ago.
Thirteen-year-old May and his father watched the Carolina Panthers lose to Denver.
He now returns to Santa Clara as one of the top candidates for this year's Most Valuable Player award.
May is the ninth quarterback to finish his sophomore year in the Super Bowl and is looking to become the first to win it since Russell Wilson with Seattle in 2014.
At 23 years old, he will also be the second-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl since Dan Marino in 1985.
Like May, current Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold was also the third overall pick when he was drafted in 2018, but his journey to the NFL has become a story of redemption.
After struggling with the New York Jets and then Carolina, Darnold spent the 2023 season as a backup to the San Francisco 49ers, before being thrust into the starting lineup in Minnesota.
Darnold led the Vikings to the playoffs last season, but when J.J. McCarthy recovered from injury, he joined Seattle in the offseason and became just the second quarterback after Brady to have back-to-back 14-win seasons - the 28-year-old Darnold is the first to do so with different teams.
Who are the Super Bowl favorites?
New England, Seattle and Denver tied for the best regular season record with 14 wins and three losses, but despite their history and having an MVP candidate at quarterback, the Patriots are underdogs in the Super Bowl for the first time since Brady won his first Super Bowl in 2002.
Seattle are heavy favorites with bookmakers, having come from the highly competitive NFC West division and secured a spot among the NFC's top contenders, before defeating division rivals San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams again in the playoffs.
Darnold formed a devastating midfield with Jackson Smith-Njigba, who led the league in rushing yards, and Seattle's defense allowed the fewest points (17,2 per game).
The team that achieved the Seahawks' only Super Bowl victory in 2014 was famous for its defense called the Boom Legion.
In two seasons, head coach Mike McDonald and his defensive coordinator, British coach Aiden Durd, have created their own modern version of that.
She even has her own nickname - The Dark Side.
Who is performing at the halftime concert?
Puerto Rican pop star Bad Bunny will be the first solo male Latino star to perform at the halftime show and is expected to be the first musician to perform his set entirely in Spanish.
The 31-year-old has been the most streamed musician on Spotify for four of the last six years.
He is also an actor, hosted Saturday Night Live, and was the WWE 24/7 Champion.
American rock band Green Day, who hail from the San Francisco Bay Area, will play at the opening ceremony to help usher the MVPs onto the field at the Super Bowl.
Both they and Bad Bunny have been harsh critics of US President Donald Trump and his administration – the singer said he avoided the US on his current world tour out of concern that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents might raid fans at his concerts.
Bad Bunny and British singer Olivia Deen were among those who commented on immigration while accepting a Grammy Award in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Will Trump attend the Super Bowl?
Trump became the first sitting president to attend America's biggest game last year when he watched the Philadelphia Eagles stop the Kansas City Chiefs from winning their third straight championship in New Orleans.
Trump, however, told the New York Post that he would not go this year because the game at the San Francisco 49ers' home stadium is "just too far away."
Asked about the musical performers at the Super Bowl, Trump added: "I'm against them. I think it's a terrible choice. They're just spreading hatred."
Turning Point USA, co-founded by the late Trump ally Charlie Kirk, says it will hold an alternative halftime concert but has yet to confirm details.
There is also confusion about whether ICE agents will be deployed around the Super Bowl, with government and local officials giving conflicting information.
Protests were held across America after ICE agents recently shot Renee Nicole Goode and Alex Pretty in Minneapolis.
It is unknown whether there will be more protests in the Bay Area this week.
BBC is in Serbian from now on and on YouTube, follow us HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
- The story of the "greatest of all time": How Tom Brady took away the dream of fans in Serbia
- Kendrick Lamar to headline the 2025 Super Bowl.
- Super Bowl final: Kansas defends NFL title after drama, Taylor Swift kisses on field
- Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud: What happened and why?
- Kansas City won the Super Bowl after the drama, Rihanna made a spectacle at halftime
- The departure of one of the greatest: Tom Brady retires "forever"
Bonus video:
