2014 Fifa World Cup Fans Worldwide Choose Brazil Win

In anticipation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer event in Brazil, a new poll by global research company Ipsos sheds light on awareness of the event, how engaged world respondents are, who they think will win, if and how they will watch the games, the assessed impact of Brazil being the host of this year’s event and event sponsors.

The poll was conducted from May 6th to May 20th and heard from 19,032 respondents in 26 countries, including: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.

So, who’s heard anything about the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, the international men’s soccer/football, competition to be held in Brazil this June?

A large majority (78%) of global respondents have heard at least something about the upcoming World Cup in Brazil with 46% indicating they’ve heard something ( “a great deal” (22%), “a fair amount” (24%)) compared with 54% who have not heard much or anything (“a little bit” (32%) and “not heard anything at all” (22%)).

Those from Brazil (69%), the host country, are most likely to say they have heard “a great deal,” followed by those from Mexico (53%), Argentina (44%), Indonesia (43%), Belgium (34%), Saudi Arabia (32%), France (30%) and India (29%). One quarter or fewer are aware of the games from these countries: South Africa (26%), South Korea (23%), China (21%), Spain (19%), Poland (17%), Turkey (17%), Italy (15%), Japan (15%), Great Britain (13%), Egypt (12%), Germany (9%), Romania (8%), the United States (7%), Hungary (7%), Australia (6%), Sweden (6%), Canada (6%) and Russia (5%).

For the remainder of the questionnaire, the 78% who said they had “seen, read or heard anything about the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, the international men’s soccer/football (not American football), competition to be held in Brazil this June” were asked a series of questions and the other 22% were removed.

And of those who have heard something, how do they categorize themselves when it comes to soccer/football?

It would appear that one in six respondents (16%) who have heard something about the upcoming Brazil World Cup classify themselves as “a passionate soccer/football follower and will watch as many games possible at any given time.” This is followed by another group who indicate that they “follow soccer/football but will only watch games played by my favorite league/club and national team” (27%). In all, 43% of respondents are most likely to be engaged on a more frequent basis when it comes to soccer/football watching compared to the remaining 57% who are far less engaged—one third (34%) who “will very occasionally watch soccer/football games played by leading league/club and national teams” and one quarter (23%) who “don’t follow soccer/football and do not watch soccer/football games at all.”

Those who are the most passionate are most likely to hail from Saudi Arabia (34%), followed by those from Indonesia (27%), India (25%), Turkey (24%), Romania (21%) and Egypt (21%). Two in ten or fewer come from: Germany (19%), Great Britain (19%), Poland (18%), Italy (17%), Spain (17%), The United States (17%), Brazil (16%), Argentina (16%), South Africa (15%), Mexico (15%), Sweden (13%), France (12%), Belgium (12%), South Korea (12%), China (11%), Australia (9%), Canada (9%), Hungary (8%), Japan (7%) and Russia (5%).

Of those who have heard something, who do they think will be playing in the final match of the competition?

Those who have heard something about the upcoming World Cup in Brazil (78% of all respondents) were asked to choose two countries that they believe will be playing in the final match of the competition for the 2014 World Cup title and either win or be the runner-up.

A plurality choose Brazil (39%) to claim the victory while considerably fewer predict it will Spain (14%), Germany (9%), Argentina (8%), Italy (4%), England (2%) and 1% who chose each of Portugal, France, Netherlands, Mexico, Belgium, Russia or the United States.

As for the runner-up, respondents choose Brazil (16%), Spain (16%), Germany (14%), Argentina (8%), Italy (6%), England (4%), France (3%), Portugal (3%), Netherlands (2%) and Mexico/Uruguay/Belgium/The United States/Japan/Russia/South Korea and Australia all at 1%.

So, of those who have, seen, read or heard something, how many are going to tune in and how so?

Of those who have seen, read or heard something about the World Cup, seven in ten (70%) indicated that they plan to watch a part of the FIFA World Cup. Another 13% have not decided if they will watch the World Cup this year while 17% indicate that they don’t plan to watch the World Cup at all. Those most likely to tune in come from South Korea (93%), Turkey (85%), Argentina (85%), Italy (83%), India (80%), Germany (79%), Mexico (78%), Indonesia (77%), Brazil (77%) and Saudi Arabia (75%). They are more likely than those from Spain (73%), Romania (70%), South Africa (70%), China (69%), Egypt (67%), Poland (64%), Sweden (64%), Great Britain (63%), Japan (62%), Hungary (59%), Belgium (57%), Russia (53%), The United States (50%), France (49%), Australia (49%) and Canada (47%) to say they plan to watch the Games.

A majority of the 78% who have heard something about the upcoming 2014 World Cup plan to watch the event on a television set (62%) while two in ten (19%) say they will watch on the Internet, 6% on a mobile device, 6% on a tablet such as an iPad, 5% on the radio and 2% on another device. Of those who plan to watch the event, the vast majority (86%) will watch the games with friends and/or family while four in ten (43%) will do so with work colleagues. Four in 10 (41%) will visit a bar or restaurant to see part of the World Cup, three in 10 (30%) say that they will buy World Cup themed products and 16% indicate that they will have “a good luck charm that I will keep with me during the games” and16% of the group admit that they’ll “miss work or school to watch the games”.

Some interesting facts with these results:

• Countries most likely to watch the games with friends and/or family: Brazil (96%), South Africa (92%) Spain (92%), Argentina (92%), Indonesia (91%) and Mexico (90%). Least likely to watch the games with friends and/or family: Japan (61%), Australia (75%), Hungary (77%) and Canada (77%).
• Countries most likely to watch the games with work colleagues: China (72%), Indonesia (71%), India (68%), Mexico (58%), South Africa (53%), Turkey (53%) and Saudi Arabia (52%). Least likely to watch the games with work colleagues: Japan (8%), Hungary (22%), Australia (25%), Belgium (28%) and Italy (28%).
• Those most likely to go to a bar or restaurant to be part of the World Cup: South Africa (63%) Spain (59%), the United States (53%), Great Britain (52%), India (48%), China (48%) and Mexico (49%). Countries least likely to go to a bar or restaurant to be part of the World Cup: Japan (6%), France (28%), Australia (29%), Romania (31%) and Belgium (31%).
• Countries most likely to buy World Cup themed products: Indonesia (65%), India (56%), China (54%), Brazil (42%) and the United States (40%). Those countries least likely to buy World Cup themed products: Japan (5%), France (12%), South Korea (16%), Sweden (16%) and Hungary (19%).
• Those countries most likely to have a good luck charm that they will keep with them during the games: India (60%), The United States (31%), China (29%), Argentina (24%) and Turkey (21%). Those countries least likely to have a good luck charm that they will keep with them during the games: Japan (2%), Hungary (3%), Sweden (3%), Belgium (7%), South Korea (8%), Germany (8%) Great Britain (8%) and Romania (8%).
• Those countries most likely to miss work or school to watch the games: India (46%), The United States (31%), Turkey (26%), Indonesia (23%), Argentina (21%) and China (21%). Those countries least likely to miss work or school to watch the games: Belgium (4%), South Africa (7%), Hungary (4%), France (7%), Germany (8%), Japan (7%), Spain (7%) and Romania (7%).

Who believes Brazil will serve as a successful host for the sporting event?

Seven in ten (69%) of those who are aware of the World Cup agree (19% strongly, 50% somewhat) that Brazil will be a successful venue host for the games. This figure contrasts sharply with the one in three (36%) Brazilians who themselves agree that Brazil will be a successful venue host (10% strongly, 25% somewhat).

• Support in each country, in proportional order: China (90%), Romania (89%), Saudi Arabia (87%), Indonesia (87%), India (86%), South Africa (84%), Hungary (81%), Russia (81%), Turkey (79%), The United States (72%), Italy (71%), Mexico (70%), Australia (69%), South Korea (69%), Canada (68%), Sweden (68%), Egypt (68%), Poland (67%), France (63%), Argentina (61%), Germany (61%), Great Britain (57%), Spain (50%), Japan (48%), Belgium (45%) and Brazil (36%).

Six in ten (63%) agree (21% strongly, 42% somewhat) that hosting the World Cup will be beneficial to the citizens of Brazil. One in three (36%) Brazilians feel this way (9% strongly, 27% somewhat).

• Support in each country, in proportional order: Indonesia (88%), Romania (88%), Saudi Arabia (87%), China (85%), India (85%), Turkey (80%), South Korea (79%), South Africa (77%), The United States (77%), Russia (73%), Hungary (71%), Australia (67%), Egypt (67%), Mexico (66%), Argentina (66%), Canada (64%), Japan (62%), Poland (59%), Italy (52%), Great Britain (50%), Spain (49%), Sweden (43%), Brazil (36%), Germany (35%), Belgium (33%) and France (29%).

Three quarters (73%) agree the outcome of hosting the World Cup will help prove if Brazil is ready to host the 2016 Olympics (22% strongly agree, 51% somewhat agree).

Only four in ten (39% - 13% strongly, 26% somewhat) of those in Brazil agree.

• Support in each country, in proportional order: Indonesia (89%), China (86%), Romania (84%), Saudi Arabia (83%), South Africa (80%), India (79%), Great Britain (79%), Turkey (78%), Australia (78%), South Korea (78%), Mexico (74%), Canada (74%), Hungary (73%), The United States (73%), Russia (72%), Sweden (72%), Germany (72%), Poland (71%), Spain (71%), Italy (70%), Argentina (70%), France (69%), Belgium (64%), Japan (61%), Egypt (60%) and Brazil (39%).

Is the World Cup more concerned with corporate sponsorship these days than individual sportsmanship? Will the 2014 games be free of corruption?

Three quarters (76%) agree that the World Cup nowadays is more concerned with corporate sponsorship than individual sportsmanship (31% strongly agree, 45% somewhat agree). In fact, among those from the host country Brazil, 86% agree (60% strongly, 26% somewhat).

• Support in each country, in proportional order: Great Britain (88%), Brazil (86%), India (85%), France (85%), Saudi Arabia (83%), Italy (83%), Turkey (81%), South Africa (80%), Australia (80%), Belgium (79%), Mexico (78%), Argentina (77%), Canada (77%), Poland (76%), Spain (76%), South Korea (75%), The United States (73%), Romania (72%), China (72%), Hungary (71%), Indonesia (70%), Sweden (70%), Germany (67%), Russia (63%), Egypt (57%) and Japan (49%).

Only one third (35%; 7% strongly, 29% somewhat) agree that the organizing and preparations toward the 2014 World Cup games of being free from corruption while even fewer from Brazil agree (16%; 6% strongly, 10% somewhat).

• Support in each country, in proportional order: India (67%), Romania (58%), China (58%), Indonesia (57%), Turkey (54%), Saudi Arabia (52%), South Africa (48%), Russia (42%), Mexico (40%), South Korea (40%), The United States (39%), Australia (33%), Argentina (32%), Canada (32%), Egypt (32%), Japan (32%), Italy (27%), Poland (26%), Hungary (24%), Spain (23%), Great Britain (18%), France (17%), Sweden (17%), Brazil (16%), Belgium (16%) and Germany (16%).

Should Brazil have hosted the World Cup?

Six in ten (59%) agree (24% strongly, 35% somewhat) that Brazil should not have hosted the World Cup because the money it cost could be put to better use. A strong majority of Brazilians (81% agree; 63% strongly agree, 18% somewhat agree) feel this way.

• Support in each country, in proportional order: Brazil (81%), Spain (78%), Belgium (78%), France (76%), Italy (70%), Germany (70%), Great Britain (69%), Sweden (68%), Australia (61%), Saudi Arabia (60%), Argentina (60%), Canada (60%), Poland (58%), Mexico (57%), India (55%), The United States (53%), Japan (53%), Turkey (52%), Hungary (51%), Romania (50%), Indonesia (49%), South Africa (48%), Russia (45%), South Korea (40%), China (39%) and Egypt (28%).

These are findings of the research conducted by global research company Ipsos. The research was conducted on the “G@57” wave between May 6-20, 2014. The monthly Global @dvisor data output is derived from a balanced online sample in 24 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 19,032 respondents (15,064 who have seen, read or heard of the FIFA World Cup) in 26 countries were interviewed. Approximately 1000+ individuals were surveyed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States of America. Approximately 500+ individuals were surveyed in Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey. A sample in Egypt (n=512) was conducted via CATI (telephone) methodology and has a margin of error of +/- 4.1% points, 19 times out of 20. The precision of Ipsos online polls are calculated using a credibility interval. In this case, a poll of 1,000 is accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and one of 500 is accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points in their respective general populations.