About 3.5 billion people watch the world cup.

Thats worth a lot in advertising dollars.

Manchester United alone is a multi-billion $/£ company.

Most popular sport in most countries in the world. FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. The amount of viewers blows the Olympics, the next most watched after, out of the water.

That's a statement of fact, but the GP was asking why it is actually so.

Well, just sports in general... I like to go and watch a local game occasionally and follow international tournaments, but it's weird the level of passion around it. What I really don't get, and never had, hardly anyone supports local teams, they're obsessed with basically, international companies named after towns.

Unlike the Olympics where the sports are often obscure, boring or both, the world cup is comprised solely of an exciting game, much which of the world is familiar with from childhood experience. It's a sport that doesn't favor physical giants over skill and depends upon team cohesion over individual talent. As a result, we often see smaller countries with something to prove knock out bigger, established countries. Unless it's your team that loses, EVERYBODY loves an underdog.