Brazil World Cup 2014

Messi's artistry turns boos to cheers as Argentina beat Bosnia

With Messi around, you simply can't afford to take a break -- even if Argentina are having an off day.

Does Barcelona's defeat to Atletico spell the end for tiki-taka?

As Barcelona trudged off the field -- downcast and well beaten by a tactically superior Atletico Madrid, the overwhelming feeling was they need a change of tactics.

Brazil will stage best World Cup, Blatter tells Rousseff

Three stadiums and several airports are not ready, and other promised infrastructure has been shelved, but the 2014 World Cup will "be the most successful of all time", the head of FIFA told Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff on Thursday.

Pele mourns demise of 'jogo bonito'

In the years since his retirement, soccer tactics have become far more defensive. Flowing offense has become a rarity. Pele is saddened by that.

Brazil pays price for lack of goalkeeping culture

Goalkeeper Julio Cesar, over 30 and past his prime, is the weakest link in the team which all of Brazil expects to win the World Cup this July.

Japan name Pikachu as official mascot for Brazil World Cup

The Japan National Football team's official kit (uniform) designer Adidas announced the partnership with Nintendo earlier this week.

Hackers target Brazil's World Cup for cyber attacks

Brazilian hackers are threatening to disrupt the World Cup with attacks ranging from jamming websites to data theft, adding cyber warfare to the list of challenges for a competition already marred by protests, delays and overspending.

Football World Cup not exempt from match-fixing attempts

The World Cup finals are not exempt from attempts to rig games and FIFA is leaving nothing to chance, the head of security at soccer's governing body said in an interview.

Croatian Simunic's pro-Nazi chant will see him miss World Cup

Croatia defender Josip Simunic will miss the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after being suspended for 10 matches by FIFA for making pro-Nazi chants at the end of last month's playoff victory over Iceland.

2014 Brazil World Cup as polluting as 560,000 cars

FIFA says the 2014 tournament, which will require huge amounts of air travel to venues across Brazil, will produce the equivalent of 2.72 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.