By Alex Rossi, Senior News Correspondent
The Brazilian government had hoped nationwide protests against the cost of staging the event would die out as the World Cup got under way - but that has not happened.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the country's largest cities to demonstrate about the billions of pounds spent on building stadiums and hosting the event.
Millions of Brazilians think the money would have been better spent improving public services like education and health.
Protests have continued to take place across Brazil since the Cup beganAlthough the rallies have been much smaller than the authorities feared since the tournament started, they are a constant sideshow to the football - often bringing traffic to a standstill in cities like Rio de Janeiro where many football fans have based themselves.
Human Rights groups claim brutal police tactics such as the heavy use of tear gas and rubber bullets have deterred many protesters from turning out.
One demonstrator, who was dressed as Batman but did not want to give his name, said the tournament is tainted as it symbolises the corruption which is preventing Brazil from modernising.
A protester, disguised as Batman, opposes the cost of the tournament"Its absurd! A country that doesn't have health, has no education, no security, no proper popular homes and yet they invested 30 billion Reias in a World Cup which brings nothing to us."
His views are not isolated but are ironic in a country where football is much more than a game - its place in the culture runs very deep.
Brazil has a dark past in the slave trade and dictatorship but football was always a unifying force.
It managed to transcend inequality and injustice and brought together rich and poor like nothing else.
The World Cup though has divided the country.
Young supporters of the World Cup in one of Rio's favelasIn the favelas overlooking Ipanema, people are watching the games but there's anger - and with some tickets costing more than a month's wages, they question who the tournament benefits.
Resident Tiago Alves thinks the event has been a failure as it has highlighted Brazil's failures not its achievements.
"I think that Brazilians already suffer so much with money laundering away from public services. A lot of people think this money has gone straight to the World Cup."
Brazilians have not fallen out of love with football - but the affair with Fifa is souring.
Many feel its not so much a cup for the world as a tournament to be enjoyed by the elite.
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