After a long wait for the biggest mega event of this year, the 2014 FIFA World Cup will finally kick off in Brazil today with pop superstar Jennifer Lopez and rapper Pitbull entertaining the crowds in a glittering opening ceremony at Rio. Catch all the live updates from the pre-match extravaganza here.
Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull will perform in the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony at Rio. Follow live updates here.
Pop superstar Jennifer Lopez, hundreds of dancers, drummers and gymnasts, and a paraplegic who will kick a football in a robotic suit will deliver a pre-match extravaganza Thursday to open the World Cup.
After the delays that have hampered Brazil's preparations, organizers had one overriding message for fans ahead of the 3:15 pm (1815 GMT) opening ceremony: Don't arrive late.
"Please, get there early," pleaded Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte. She will perform the official World Cup song, "We Are One," along with Lopez, rapper Pitbull and Brazilian drumming collective Olodum in the ceremony's grand finale.
There were last-minute doubts over whether Lopez, who media reports say recently broke up with backup dancer and boyfriend Casper Smart, would attend. FIFA said Sunday the singer had pulled out of the ceremony over "production issues."
But with two days to go, the world football body said she would perform after all. "We Are One" has been viewed more than 75 million times on YouTube, though some critics have panned it as a disappointing follow-up to World Cup classics like Ricky Martin's "Cup of Life" in 1998 and Shakira's "Waka Waka" in 2010.
More than 60,000 fans will be in Sao Paulo's Corinthians Arena, including 12 heads of state and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and around one billion people are expected to watch the opening ceremony and match on TV. The 25-minute ceremony will feature more than 600 artists, including acrobatic gymnasts, trampolinists, marshal arts-style capoeira performers and stilt walkers. (Read more)
Differently Abled Person to Kick off FIFA World Cup in Brazil
During the opening of the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil Thursday, a differently abled person wearing a brain-controlled robotic exoskeleton is expected to make the first kick of the championship.
Part of the "Walk Again Project", an international collaboration of more than 100 scientists, eight Brazilian patients who are paralysed from the waist down have been training for months to use the exoskeleton, researchers said. (Read more)
Last-Minute Touches at Brazil's Opening Venue
A top FIFA official on Wednesday said workers were still planting trees and flowers and attending to other "details" at Sao Paulo's Corinthians Arena, less than 24 hours before the FIFA World Cup 2014kicks off. (Brazil Races Towards Kick-Off)
Secretary general Jerome Valcke said staff had been working round the clock at venues including Corinthians Arena, which will host tournament opener Brazil v Croatia at 5:00 pm (2000 GMT) Thursday. (Seen the new Google Doodle?)
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