As many readers already know, Brazil will be hosting the 20th FIFA World Cup this year. It is the first time that a country in South America since the 1978 World Cup. There will be many teams competing, including Australia, Japan, Algeria, the US, Argentina, Germany, and England. Of course, as host nation, Brazil automatically gets a spot amongst the competitors. However, out of the 203 countries that participated in the qualification stages, only 32 teams made it.
There is a grand prize of 35 million USD to the champion of the tournament, whereas the runner up gets 25 million USD. The matches themselves will be played in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Salvador, Recife, Cuiaba, Manaus, Natal, and Curitiba. These are the 12 largest cities in Brazil.
Each country’s national squad must consist of 23 players, three of which have to be goalies. Each participating country has to affirm their teams no later than 10 days before the commencement of the tournament.
The official song of the World Cup is “We are One (Ole Ola)” by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and Claudia Leitte. There is also a secondary theme song called “Dare (La La La)” by Shakira, who made the official song for the 2010 World Cup.
Staging the World Cup cost Brazil around $14 billion. Most of the money was devoted to massive infrastructure projects to support the influx of spectators and tourists. Over 4,300 km of highways were renovated, and 13 airport terminals in the major cities were upgraded. However, an enormous amount, almost $990 million were spent on security. The Brazilian government has promised that the World Cup will be “one of the most protected sports events in history”. Brazil plans to have one police officer for every fifty spectators at the matches.
The World Cup is guaranteed to be a great spectacle this year, and it will be very fun to watch, especially with the fierce competition between countries.
"ALL IN ONE RHYTHM"
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