As Brazil prepares for the World Cup kick-off this Thursday, CPD asked a few experts from the public diplomacy community for their thoughts on what hosting the tournament means for Brazil’s soft power.

Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was perceived as an economic, political and soft power coup for the country when it was announced as the host in late 2007. But it has become mired in labor disputes, not-yet-completed infrastructure, laughable gaffes, deadly accidents and massive social unrest.

Argentina, the United States and Iran appear to be the most disliked World Cup teams. Brazilian fans enter the World Cup as the most confident, though Argentines and Spaniards aren’t far behind in their home-country optimism. And fans across many countries agree that the Brazilians play the most attractive form of soccer. These are among the results from a study of people in 19 countries conducted by YouGov, the online survey firm, in collaboration with The Upshot. 

The World Cup was meant to be a celebration of a new Brazil -- powerful, prosperous and jubilant. When the ball starts rolling in three days the world may instead view images of violence and inefficiency. Seven years after gaining rights to host sport’s most-watched event, Brazil nears the tournament amid street protests, economic slowdown and a wave of strikes including subway and museum workers. 

In one sense Brazil’s mega-event diplomacy has already worked, for it has brought the country an unprecedented degree of global scrutiny. But it has not been delivering quite the message intended.

Some of the world’s best soccer players are gathered in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, which begins next week. But during the rest of the year, the 736 players who are members of national teams play on club teams around the world in 53 different countries. Pew Research analyzed the final rosters for each of the 32 qualifying nations posted to FIFA’s official website and found a total of 476 players (65%) who currently play for clubs in countries outside of their World Cup nation. 

Human trafficking and its connection to sports events have been discussed since the World Cup 2006 in Germany. Big and costly media campaigns warned of the rising problem of human trafficking of adult women in the sex industry. Since then, media and NGO campaigns became particularly visible before and around the World or European Cup, the Olympics and the Super Bowl. What can we learn from past experiences and research about this connection?