The 20th running of the biggest international football competition is starting today as five time champions Brazil host their second ever tournament following the infamous 1950 competition that had no final and saw Uruguay crowned champions after beating the hosts 2-1 in a final stage of round-robin matches.

It may have been 64 years since the unusual – at least by today's standards – ending to that tournament, but fans can be sure that Brazil, who come into this summer's finals as the favourites to lift their sixth trophy, will be looking to avenge that defeat.

The winner of the 2014 trophy in Brazil is one of the many talking points in the build-up to the competition and, according to bookmakers, the hosts are just ahead of Argentina, Germany and Spain in the betting markets. However, there have been many other on- and off-field topics surrounding this tournament, too.


Off the field, Brazil has witnessed protests against the use of public money for finishing behind-schedule stadiums and against incidents that led to the death of three workers during the construction of the venues that host 64 games this summer. On the field, discussions have predominantly shifted to one of the most popular betting markets however, the competition’s Top Goalscorer.

Whereas much attention has been drawn towards the potential winner of the Golden Boot award in Brazil, many wonder if 2014 will also be the year in which the All Time Goalscorer record will finally be broken.

Despite the highly publicised protests, Brazil is still one of the most passionate nations in the world when it comes to football and after grabbing the Player of the Tournament award at home during the Confederations Cup last summer, fans will be desperate to see 22-year-old striker Neymar lift the Golden Ball, too. However, the youngster who has accumulated 30 goals in 47 caps faces stiff competition from his Barcelona team mate Lionel Messi who, despite not having shone at international level to the same extent as for his club, is favoured to be the top scorer in Brazil this summer.

Brazil’s fans will however equally keep their fingers crossed that 35-year-old German striker Miroslav Klose will fail in breaking the record of legendary striker Ronaldo, who has recently been involved in promotional work for PokerStars and their Brazilian Series of Poker with fans in his homeland.

Watch as Ronaldo bluffs and gets double-bluffed at a PokerStars event!


The Brazilian superstar scored 15 times in 19 games at the biggest event in world football, reached the final in 1998 and lifted the trophy in 1994 and 2002, before making his final appearance in 2006. Klose has bagged 14 goals in the same amount of matches, but with Germany the most favoured European team in Brazil, a berth in the semi-finals or even beyond is not unlikely and would give the Lazio striker ample opportunity to break the record.

Unlike his fans however, Ronaldo is not as worried about the record being shattered. “I am very proud of that record”, he said, “but records are there to be broken. It would be nice to keep it for a while longer, but I am cheering for someone to break the record. It will be good for the sport.”

At 35 years of age, Brazil will in all likelihood be Klose’s last appearance at FIFA’s showcase event – a twist of fate that links him even closer with Ronaldo, who finished his international tournament career in Germany. This will be the German’s final chance to break the record and etch his name in the record books for years to come.

Brazil’s fans will of course hope that it won’t come to this, but with Neymar offering masses of promise would it be a long time before the record reverts back to a Brazilian after all?

 

Image credit: http://i.imgur.com/pqKBmfpl.jpg