Neymar scored 2 goals vs Croatia

The 2014 World Cup finally kicked off Thursday in Brazil as the home team defeated Croatia 3-1.  Fans in the Sao Paulo football stadium celebrated the opening win for Brazil, while spectators outside the stadium shouted a very different cheer.

Brazil, FIFA, and other World Cup organizers have been under fire for the amount of money spent preparing for the tournament.  According to recorded costs from previous World Cups, Brazil is spending record amounts of money for the 2014 tournament.

Many traditional Brazilian football fans staged protests outside the stadiums in the weeks leading up to as well as on the day of the World Cup opener.  Tournament organizers were optimistic that an opening match win for Brazil would calm some of the protests around the country.

But riot police were ordered onto the streets of Sao Paulo during the opening match to calm the uprising.  Many of the people in the crowds are civil servants working in the educational, healthcare, or transit sectors who feel the billions spent on the World Cup could have been invested into national programs to improve the lives of Brazilians.

The record costs and the subsequent riots raise interesting questions about hosting the World Cup, and whether it is in the host country’s best financial interests.  Some of the recent World Cup hosts saw little return on the amount of money they invested into the tournament, and many economists are betting that Brazil will take a loss when the tournament wraps up on July 13.

If those predictions are true, and Brazil owes more money than they invested in the World Cup at the end of the tournament, does that validate the concerns of protesters?  Will that affect how future hosts like Russia and Qatar prepare for their turns in the driver seat as World Cup hosts?

Hosting the World Cup or any signature sports event is an opportunity to flex some nationalistic pride for host countries.  But at the end of the day if the long term financial implications cost more than the short term boost in pride, is hosting the World Cup really worthwhile?

Check out this infograph chronicling the cost, prize money and FIFA profit.

(Graphic Courtesy of 188betblog.com)