Today is the day that you’ve been waiting for! June 12th, 2014 officially marks the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where 32 teams will play the internationally-loved game of soccer to see who wins the title of world champion. The Cup will start with the first match today, at 2:00 p.m. Mountain time, in the Arena de São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil. The match will take place between the hosting country of Brazil and Croatia. Including today’s game, there will be 64 matches played over the months of June and July, concluding with the final match on July 13.
The opening ceremony today starts at 12:45 p.m. Mountain time, and according to the artistic director, it is “a tribute to Brazil and its treasures: nature, people, and football”. In addition, each of the countries’ “treasures” will be represented by a variety of characters and props with the main attraction being a “living” LED ball made up of 90,000 light clusters.
Besides the visual attractions of today’s opening ceremony, there will be capoeira performances and musical guests. Capoeira is a Brazilian blend of martial arts and dancing which is definitely worth watching! The musical guests of the ceremony will be Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, all performing one of the famous songs from the FIFA 2014 World Cup official soundtrack.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on Brazil during the next month, as the world unites around their love of soccer!
