Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are expected to be busy during the Brazil tournament, which an Adidas exec predicts will "undoubtedly be the most social World Cup ever and probably the most social event in history."

If you haven’t heard the song by now, you soon will; Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 will be a big part of this summer’s soundtrack. As the World Cup in Brazil fast approaches, the 1963 Jorge Ben number is on tv, in adverts, cafes, bars—in fact, everywhere. One translation of the song’s title is “whatever”, a perfect country slogan for a track that seems to personify the stereotypical view many of us have of Brazil and Brazilians. 

This week, a thousand homeless families in São Paulo reportedly moved into a site just two miles from the opening venue of the World Cup. They were bussed to the site by the Landless Workers' Movement, which says the occupation aims to highlight the failure of government promises to improve social housing.

Manager Roy Hodgson is due to announce his England World Cup squad later and thousands of British fans are expected to make the journey to Brazil for the tournament.

If you are a soccer fan, you will not want to miss the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola event at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 14, 2014.  During its 267-day duration, the World Cup™ Trophy Tour will visit nearly 90 countries, including the United States, and will give the public an opportunity to see what is arguably the world's most coveted symbol of soccer.

The Blue Samurai, Japan’s national soccer team, will be fighting their way through this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament with the help of one of the world’s most recognizable characters. Adidas announced on Saturday that Pikachu, everyone’s favorite electrifying mouse-like creature, will be joined by 10 other Pokemon to cheer on the boys in blue.

Members of the Russian parliament have written to FIFA asking it to consider excluding Jurgen Klinsmann’s USA team from the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. Alexander Sidyakin and Michael Markelov, two members of the Duma, addressed their concern about the “U.S.’s military aggression against several sovereign states” and named Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria among those suffering from U.S. aggression.