Brazil should be ready to host World Cup, despite its problems
Brazil, which has won a record five World Cups, will host the event for the second time.
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"We're witnessing the biggest robbery in the history of the country," former playing great Romário said.
Rio's Maracana Stadium will host the final match of the World Cup, just as it did in 1950.
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Children play pickup soccer in one of Brazil's favelas, or urban slum areas.
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World Cup visitors, who will mainly stick to the hotels, beaches, stadiums and tourist spots, are unlikely to be forced to confront such a reality. Even warring supporter factions (there have been more than 150 football-related murders in Brazil in the last 15 years, and two fans were shot and killed in Fortaleza the day before foreign journalists were taken on a tour of the Arena Castelão) are usually more related to disputes between gangs than purely footballing rivalries.
Fuleco, an endangered armadillo, is the World Cup mascot.
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