The World Cup is upon us! Currently taking place in Brazil, 2014’s international soccer competition will see just one winner. Which means, sadly, the majority of us will come away disappointed.
But that’s the cynics in us getting ahead of us there, in the meantime, we have a month of kicking a spherical object around a piece of grass to get excited about – if that’s the kind of thing that you find fun. And let’s face, who doesn’t?
Sadly, the World Cup 2014 games only take up a small part of the day – but fear not, you can keep yourself delirious with World Cup fever 24/7 with the following apps.
World Cup News Apps
1. ESPN FC Football & World Cup
Price: Free
World-renowned ESPN have predictably put out a great app for the World Cup so you can follow all the action, and all the news. It’s a fast app; loads quickly and updates frequently with new videos, and news stories.
2. BBC Sport
Price: Free
The BBC has got a huge resource of sports reporters ready to cover the World Cup this year. They’ll be providing match scores, statistics, but the BBC’s long match reports, analysis and commentary on the tournament are the most impressive.
3. Reuters Sports Reel
Price: Free
Launched for the World Cup 2014, unlike many of these, Reuters Sports Reel is a free photo-blog style app, that will go on to cover other major sporting events like the Tour de France and the US Open Tennis. The app has a social element too, allowing users to ‘follow’ their favorite events and receive notifications when a goal is scored.
World Cup Games Apps
1. FIFA 14
Price: Free
Of course, many will know FIFA through its annual game-release on major consoles. The current version is FIFA 2014 – also available for smart devices, and will allow you to play as all the World Cup teams. It’s also, naturally, just been updated for the World Cup. Get playing!
2. Panini Collectors
Price: Free
Panini has a long-running relationship with the World Cup, producing stickers and companion sticker-books for the teams and their players. If you remember these, you’ve probably experienced your fair share of World Cups. However, Panini has brought their bread-and-butter into the 21st century and created a digital collector’s app. You can use your phone’s camera to scan stickers, then set up lists for the ones you’ve got, need, or want to swap. Great fun!
3. Flick Kick Football
Price: $1.99/£1.49
Penalty shoot-outs are often the most stressful element of World Cup competitions, however, if your team is one of those that’s likely to screw them up – you can at least improve your own penalty-taking prowess in Flick Kick Football. Using flick gestures, the game focuses solely on shoot-outs and free kicks for a quick slice of fun.
4. Pixel Cup Soccer
Price: $1.99 / £1.49
If you’re after some retro football action look no further than Pixel Cup Soccer. This game has a classic arcade feel; the graphics are delightfully vintage, yet the gameplay remains fluidly simple. Great fun, and you can play as many of the World Cup teams.
5. Score! World Goals
Price: Free
Score! World Goals is a must for those looking for an all-round great soccer game. The gameplay is smooth, and control is fantastic. Add great graphics and social capabilities into the mix and you’ve got a solid all-rounder.
World Cup Stats Apps
1. Brazil – World Football Finals
Price: $0.99 / £0.69
First up is Brazil – World Football Finals. Though the name is a bit of a crude mismatch of keywords, the app itself is fully formed source of results, stats, maps, schedules, formations, scorers, push notifications and some other useful capabilities like being able to add matches to your calendar. Even better – it’s only $0.99 / £0.69 and ad-free!
2. FIFA App
Price: Free
There’s little wrong with the official FIFA app – it’s a great source of guides, whether you’re interested in stadium locations, or team profiles. It also throws a decent amount of news into the bargain, too.
3. Four Four Two
Price: Free
The highly regarded stats website and app, Four Four Two, has upped its game for Brazil 2014. Our favorite feature is the ‘pre-match stats’ – a list which can show anything from how many games a key striker hasn’t scored for, to what the score was last time two teams met.