Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the arrests of top FIFA delegates in a US probe as an attempt by Washington to oust Sepp Blatter as head of the organisation.
Key World Cup sponsors including McDonald's, Adidas and Budweiser expressed strong concerns after global football body FIFA was enveloped by a new corruption scandal.
Swiss police on Wednesday raided the headquarters of FIFA, seizing documents in a probe linked to fraud in the awarding of the 2018 and 2020 World Cups.
The President of the Brazilian Football Confederation welcomed the signing of a memorandum enshrining implementation of FIFA's $100 million World Cup Legacy Fund.
Dozens of the world's top female soccer players are suing governing body FIFA for discrimination over plans to stage matches at next year's Women's World Cup.
Mario Goetze scored a superb extra-time winner as Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to become the first European team to win a World Cup held in South America.
India's largest private company Reliance Industries said it was investigating how costly World Cup tickets it had bought ended up on the Brazilian black market.
Pop star Shakira will perform before the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, headlining a closing ceremony that includes guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana and rapper Wyclef Jean.
Uruguay star Luis Suarez exited the World Cup in shame after being hit with the heaviest suspension in the tournament's history for biting an Italian opponent.
Brazil launched the World Cup with an emotion-fuelled 3-1 victory over Croatia on Thursday as an opening day which began with violent clashes gave way to an outpouring of joyful celebrations.
American star Jennifer Lopez added a dash of glamour to the colourful World Cup opening ceremony on Thursday in a vivid contrast to the violent anti-tournament protests in the city.
Pop superstar Jennifer Lopez will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony after all, FIFA said Tuesday, two days after it announced "production issues" would prevent her traveling to Brazil.
Football legend Ronaldo, a member of Brazil's World Cup organizing committee, said Thursday that only 30 percent of the infrastructure projects undertaken for the tournament would be completed.
The still-unfinished stadium hosting the World Cup opening game on June 12 held its first official match Sunday, getting off to a shaky start after delays and deadly accidents marred its construction.