Over half of Brazilians say they have no interest in World Cup

Rio de Janeiro  :  Some 53 percent of Brazilians say they have no interest in the World Cup, which starts this week in Russia, an extremely high level of disinterest in a country known for being passionate about football, a Datafolha survey published Tuesday shows.

Just 18 percent of the respondents said they had a high level of interest in the World Cup, which begins on Thursday, while another 18 percent rated their interest as medium and 9 percent said they had a low level of interest in the tournament, reports Efe.

The daily Folha de Sao Paulo published the results of the survey conducted last week of 2,824 people living in 174 cities.

Interest in the World Cup, according to the survey, has dropped since January, when 42 percent of the respondents said they had no interest in the soccer championship tournament.

Brazil, a five-time world champion, is one of the favourites to win the 2018 World Cup and is seeking redemption following its humiliating loss to Germany while hosting the 2014 World Cup.

Germany blasted Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.