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World Cup Opening Match Gets More Comments Than the Oscars

By Andrew Palczewski   |

Brazil celebrates their opening round victory.
Reuters

Brazil’s 3-1 win over Croatia in the World Cup opener on Thursday generated 58 million posts on Facebook, almost five times more than this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, the social media company said on Friday.

The most commented play on Facebook was Neymar’s first goal, which leveled the match after Brazil fell behind early with an embarrassing own goal. The second most talked-about play was the controversial penalty that led to Neymar’s second goal, putting Brazil ahead for the first time.

With 16 million posts, Brazil was the most active country on Facebook during the game, followed by the United States and England.

“That number represents more than 20 times the capacity of all the stadiums of the World Cup,” Facebook said in a statement.

The World Cup is a big business opportunity for companies like Facebook as fans around the world turn to social media to comment on live events.

The most active demographic group during the opening match was men between 18 and 24 years old, Facebook said.

Photo of the Day

World Cup Photo of the Day: June 13, 2014

By Andrew Palczewski   |
Mexican fans celebrate their opening round World Cup victory.

A Mexico soccer fan wearing a Lucha Libre wrestling mask reacts after his team’s goal against Cameroon was disallowed at thier World Cup match, as he watches the game from inside the FIFA Fan fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Chile vs. Australia in a Trans-Pacific Faceoff

By Andrew Palczewski   |
here

Chile vs. Australia.

Chile’s Jorge Valdivia (front) celebrates his goal against Australia with his teammates during their 2014 World Cup Group B soccer match at the Pantanal arena. Eric Gaillard | Reuters

For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s unparalleled multilingual, multinational analysis.

On one side of the Pacific Ocean, Australia. On the other, Chile. Today at 6 PM ET (10 PM UTC), the two teams face off in Brazil.

Click here to follow the action live.

And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.

Rematch: Spain vs. Netherlands

By Andrew Palczewski   |
here

Spain vs. Netherlands.

Daniel Ochoa de Olza | AP

In 2010, Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta banged home a goal in the 116th minute of the World Cup’s final match, lifting Spain to victory over the relentless and creative attacks of Arjen Robben and the Dutch national team. The victory gave Spain its first World Cup title.

Robben and his teammates get a chance to redeem themselves when they take on the Spaniards in the two teams’ opening match of the 2014 World Cup, which kicks off at 3 p.m. USEDT (7 p.m. GMT) today.

For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s unparalleled multilingual, multinational analysis.

Click here to follow the match as it happens.

And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.

Photo of the Day

World Cup Photo of the Day: June 12, 2014

By Andrew Palczewski   |
World Cup Rooster

A pet rooster named Paquita Fred stands next to a replica of the World Cup trophy in front of Maracana stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 11 year old rooster wearing a cape with the colors of the Brazilian national soccer team gets his name from Fred, the Brazilian footballer who is one of the members of the national soccer team. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)