More than half of Brazilians have no interest in the World Cup in Russia, according to an opinion poll Tuesday, despite the country's stellar history at the championship. Fifty three percent are treating the World Cup, which starts Thursday, with a giant shrug, the Datafolha poll found.
That was up from 42 percent in January, possibly reflecting a steady diet of bad news about the economy, corruption scandals, and a truckers' strike that brought the country to a standstill for more than week in May. The respected pollsters reported that this was the most tepid build-up to a cup since the question was first posed in 1994.