Fans in Rio de Janeiro watch Brazil defeat Croatia 3-1 on June 12, 2014. Photo by Flickr user Ninja Midia. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
It's been four long years since South Africa, but the 2014 FIFA World Cup is finally underway in Brazil. Fans across the globe are donning their country's colors in the hope that their team will come away from the premiere football tournament a champion.
The competition is fierce, but so are the celebrations. As the 32 teams duke it out for FIFA glory, the football faithful in Brazil and around the world are tweeting, photographing and blogging the happiness and heartbreak as it happens.
Global Voices’ network of bloggers and citizen journalists are on the story. Check out our latest coverage on the international mega-event.
- The World Cup Ignites Passion Beyond Just Football (10 July)
- Arabs Gloat at Brazil's World Cup Defeat (8 July)
- There's a Good Chance Your World Cup Jersey Was Made in Bangladesh (1 July)
- Costa Rica Rejoices as National Team Advances to World Cup Quarterfinals in Historic First (1 July)
- Russian Team Leaves World Cup (27 June)
- Singing and Dancing in a YouTube Video to Cheer On the National Football Team Can Get You Arrested in Iran (27 June)
- Uruguay's Bad Boy Footballer Luis Suárez Steals His Team's Thunder With Biting Sanction (27 June)
- Mexican Football Coach Miguel “Piojo” Herrera Knows How to Celebrate a World Cup Win (27 June)
Football fans buy jerseys of their favorite teams from Bangladesh's Dhaka ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Image by Md. Asaduzzaman Pramanik. Copyright Demotix (19/5/2014)
- This Street in Bangladesh Has a Colorful World Cup Celebration to Rival Brazil (25 June)
- Debunking Rumors that Algerian Fans Burned Down a Church in Lyon, France after World Cup Win (23 June)
- TV Networks in Africa Squabble Over World Cup Broadcast Rights (23 June)
- Russians Amused by National Team World Cup Performance (21 June)
- Peru Watches the World Cup from Afar…Again (21 June)
- Chile Sends Spain Packing in Stunning World Cup Defeat (20 June)
- Mexican Goalkeeper ‘Memo’ Ochoa's Incredible World Cup Performance Is Now a Meme on Twitter (19 June)
- Australia's Socceroos Proud in Defeat to Chile at #WorldCup2014 (15 June)
- How a Spat Over Prize Money Nearly Kept Cameroon from Playing in the World Cup (13 June)
- Do #IWantToBelieve in Mexico's National Football Team? (13 June)
- Jamaica: 32 Teams…Who Will Win the World Cup? (12 June)
- Bermuda: Kicking Off the World Cup (12 June)
- Kazakhstan Has an Antelope That Can Predict the World Cup Winner (or Does It?) (12 June)
- ‘The Time Has Come!’ Brazil 2014 World Cup (12 June)
- Salam, Brazil: Muslim Football Fans and FIFA World Cup (12 June)
- Getting Tickets for the 2014 World Cup is a Total Nightmare (11 June)
- Why You Should Pick France as Your 2nd Favorite Team at the 2014 World Cup (11 June)
- From Our World Cup Archive: How Brazil Fooled the World With a Meme (11 June)
- Brazil or Argentina? Football Rivalries Play Out Thousands of Miles Away From the World Cup in Bangladesh (10 June)
Beats and tweets
Looking for that perfect playlist to get pumped up before the big match? Thanks to Public Radio International (PRI), have a listen to these football-themed songs suggested by the site's readers.
For up-to-the-minute commentary, follow the hashtags #WorldCup, #WorldCup2014 and #Brazil2014.
Fancy photo-work
Instagram is full of snapshots from teams, players and fans documenting the action. Not sure who to follow for the best visuals? Lists compiled by BuzzFeed (The 13 Instagram Accounts You Need To Follow During The World Cup) and Bleacher Report (30 Best Twitter Accounts to Follow the World Cup With) are good places to start.
Sports Illustrated has links to all the teams and players in Brazil (World Cup Instagram Master List: Every team and player in Brazil), so you can pick and choose your favorites. Star Brazilian footballer Neymar is just one of the many Instagram accounts recommended to follow:
Protests, politics and priorities
What might have been a happy home turf advantage for five-time World Cup champion Brazil has been anything but. Millions of people have taken to the streets over the past year to protest the government spending precious resources on the sporting mega-event instead of on public services. Some demonstrations have ended in violent clashes between police and protesters. A Pew Research poll found 61 percent of Brazilians viewed hosting the Cup as a bad thing for the country because of the public money it takes away from things like education and health care.
Fueling the anger, neighborhoods have been razed and people made homeless to make room for World Cup infrastructure. Construction has triggered a process of gentrification in other areas, pushing out residents because of rapidly rising rent.
The hashtag in Spanish #NovoyaBrasilporque (I'm not going to Brazil because) was trending in the days before the World Cup kick-off on June 12, 2014, to counter the hype.
#NoVoyABrasilPorque Estas dos imágenes te lo dicen. pic.twitter.com/wqEqQYCYQl — Ayrton Gabriel (@eeLPiinii) junio 6, 2014
I'm not going to Brazil because these two images explain it.
#NoVoyABrasilPorque supone desahucios, represión, derroche… Aquí te damos más detalles http://t.co/WDRBXVcp38 pic.twitter.com/ikOeMtHA8Z — Todo Por Hacer (@TodoPorHacer1) junio 6, 2014
I'm not going to Brazil because it means evictions, repression, wasteful spending.
Take a look at our coverage of this darker side of the World Cup:
- Brazilian Police Say These Two Men Had Explosives During an Anti-World Cup Protest. Photos and Videos Tell a Different Story (9 July, 2014)
- This Protest Blasted FIFA's Brazil Headquarters With Inconvenient World Cup Truths (2 July, 2014)
- Beyond the World Cup Headlines: Iran's Lacking Team Spirit, but Brazil's Favelas Have Plenty (27 June, 2014)
- 5 Places in Brazil Where People Were Protesting, Not Cheering During the World Cup Kick-Off (23 June, 2014)
- Beyond the World Cup Headlines: Protests in Brazil, a Jailed Writer in Cameroon and Foul Play From Fans (20 June, 2014)
- The Darker, More Violent World Cup Kick-Off in São Paulo That You Didn't See (20 June, 2014)
- A Tale of Two World Cups in Fortaleza, Brazil (19 June, 2014)
- Hosting the World Cup or Olympics Isn't All Fun and Games. This Website Breaks It Down (17 June, 2014)
- A Handbook for Protesters During the World Cup in Brazil (13 June, 2014)
- Analyzing the Protests Before the 2014 World Cup (11 June, 2014)
- Costs and Benefits of Brazil's World Cup (19 May, 2014)
- Protesters in Brazil: ‘There Will Not Be a World Cup!’ (6 March, 2014)
Photo shared by Agência Pública.
- Enough Forced Evictions!': Amnesty International Takes On Brazil World Cup Construction (4 Oct., 2013)
- IBM, Cisco Supply Brazil with Surveillance Tools for World Cup (28 Sept., 2013)
- Brazil Becomes Hot Market for Surveillance Technology Ahead of World Cup (27 Sept., 2013)
- Interview: Cartoonist Slams Forced Evictions in Brazil for World Cup (28 May, 2013)
Mascot of the 2014 World Cup by Carlos Latuff for Agência Pública.
- Brazil Violently Ousts Indigenous Village Ahead of World Cup (25 May, 2013)
- Brazilians Accuse FIFA of Stamping Out Local Culture (22 April, 2013)
- FIFA Beware! Journalist Teams Up with Brazil's World Cup Victims (10 March, 2013)
- Carnival Samba Takes Aim at World Cup in Brazil (5 March, 2013)
- VIDEO: Brazil Bulldozes Neighborhood Without Warning for World Cup (4 March, 2013)
Photo: Agência Pública
- Brazilian Family Loses Home to the World Cup (1 March, 2013)
- Brazil: Cable Car Goes Up, Houses Come Down for World Cup (27 Feb., 2013)
- Brazil's World Cup Construction Threatens Indigenous “Living Museum” (16 Jan., 2013)
- Brazil: Monitoring Human Rights During the World Cup and the Olympics (15 Dec., 2011)
- Brazil: FIFA's Demands in the Run Up to the World Cup 2014 (8 Oct., 2011)
- Brazil: Road to World Cup and Olympics Paved with Forced Evictions (6 Sept., 2011)
Other Global Voices World Cup coverage
- Caribbean: Corruption & the World Cup? (3 June, 2014)
- Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup Players Still Owed Money (23 May, 2014)
- PHOTOS: The Thrill and Agony of World Cup Qualifying Matches (21 Nov., 2013)
- Bosnia-Herzegovina's World Cup Qualifying Win Unites Region in Celebration (16 Oct., 2013)
Fans celebrated the historic win on the streets of Sarajevo throughout the night. Image courtesy of Bosnia-Herzegovina national team's “Zmajevi” Facebook fan page, used with permission.
- Mexico, Panama, and Honduras Seeking a Spot for Brazil 2014 World Cup (11 Oct., 2013)
- Iran: “We're Going to the World Cup!” (VIDEOS) (22 June, 2013)
- Japan Qualifies for World Cup, Cop's Crowd Control Performance Goes Viral (5 June, 2013)
- Brazilian Transvestites Pump Up with Silicone to Attract World Cup Clients (4 June, 2013)
- Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica Continue on the Road to 2014 World Cup (19 Oct., 2012)
- Panama: Hoping for a Historic World Cup Qualification (12 June, 2012)
