Majority of Brazilians Not Interested in Russia 2018 World Cup

06/12/2018 - 12h05

A Datafolha poll revealed that Brazilian's lack of interest in the Russia 2018 World Cup, which is set to begin in a couple of days, has gone up.

The national survey was conducted last week and revealed that 53% of Brazilians are indifferent to the World Cup. The opening match is set to take place on Thursday (the 14th). Brazil will debut on Sunday (the 17th).

	Hannah Mckay/Reuters
	Brazil's goalie Alisson in Sochi

Interest in the World Cup, which Datafolha has measured since the 1994 edition, has never been this low on the eve of the event. In late January, lack of interest in the World Cup was at 42%.

Lack of interest in the sporting event is highest among women (61%), people between the ages of 35 and 44 (57%) and those with a household income of up to two minimum wages (54%).

Not even the Brazilian national team's excellent phase under head coach Tite has managed to get fans to rally around the team - Brazil has only lost 1 of 21 games under Tite's command and is considered one of the favorites to win the cup.

According to the survey, merely 18% of respondents said they had great interest in the competition.

São Paulo state residents said that their indifference has to do with the crisis the country is going through, the corruption scandals plaguing the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the 7-1 defeat against Germany in the 2014 World Cup.

The Datafolha institute interviewed 2,824 people in 174 different cities. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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