World Cup apps: Follow
Update: Google is lending a helping hand in keeping up-to-speed on all the scores as well. Search "World Cup," and in-line info will appear at the top of the search results.
You can scope current scores, schedules, groups and brackets. Pretty neat tool from the folks at Mountain View, and a sneaky way to take part in the action while at work, school, your in-laws house, etc.
Original feature below…
There are more ways than ever to keep up with the action at the World Cup, wherever you are. Just pray it doesn’t go to penalties.
The World Cup 2014 proper kicks off on June 12 and runs, passes and dribbles its way to the final on July 13.
During that time you’ll be able to keep up with all the action minute-by-minute without being tied to your sofa or your TV thanks to the wealth of apps available.
In the four years since the last World Cup the number of people using smartphones, tablets and other wireless devices has exploded and there’s no better way to follow your team or watch matches live even if you’re out of the house.
1. FIFA Official App
Price: Free
Availability: App Store | Google Play
FIFA’s official app covers pretty much all soccer but it will be featuring all the World Cup action too, of course. Follow your national team’s progress with access to the match schedule, exclusive destination guides and team profiles.
Add your local and national team to your Favorites in the app to quickly jump to news and results related specifically to them.
2. ESPN FC Soccer & World Cup
Price: Free
Availability: App Store | Google Play
Another app that covers all aspects of soccer around the world, this one has its own dedicated World Cup tab where you can go to find all the latest news, scores and stats about matches.
There’s video content too, with highlights including goals and key action clips as well as reaction and analysis from on the ground in Brazil.
You can set up personalized scores and live game details – just tailor it to show you the stuff you want to see.
3. World Soccer Finals
Price: Free
Availability : App Store | Google Play
Truly one for the soccer obsessive, this app provides loads of information on matches including live results.
You can view the match schedule, results, lineups, yellow and red cards, match stats, player information and set up favorites to customize the experience.
With push notifications and city and stadium information plus in-app purchases that unlock the ability to add matches to your calendar, it’s a football fan’s dream come true.
4. World Cup 2014 Brazil
Price: Free
Availability: Google Play
If you’re a fan of statistics you’ll find much to love in this Android app. With a schedule of all the matches in the championship and full data customization you can track just your chosen teams, groups, matches or conferences.
Get match details like scorers, lineups, subs, cards and referees and even browse in offline mode for when you don’t have a connection. Access historical results for comparison and see news about future World Cups.
It’s even green and yellow, which we hope doesn’t mean it’s biased towards Brazil.
5. 2014 Table
Price: Free
Availability: Google Play
Sometimes you just want to cut straight to the chase and not worry about lots of peripheral information.
This app, ideal for journalists or news writers, simply shows you the results in an easy-to-read table format.
Get information about the match results of qualified teams, tables, groups, draw, fixtures, playoffs, schedules, dates, times and stadiums where the games will be played. It even auto updates with the latest results.
6. LiveSoccer World Football Cup
Price: Free
Availability: Google Play
Track live matches from more than 300 worldwide soccer leagues and also the World Cup, with customizable push notifications of live events as they happen.
Get text-based live updates and commentary from journalists as well as Head2Head match analysis, statistics and player information.
The app has a rich user interface but is slick and friendly to use, and will keep you abreast of everything that’s going on in realtime.
7. Sofascore
Price: Free
Availability: App Store | Google Play | Windows Phone App Store
With a slick, pared-down Windows Phone look, this app is ideal for Windows Phone users looking to keep track of their team’s performance whether it’s in national or international leagues.
Get live updates and create custom lists to stay up to the minute on the latest action from the World Cup and other tournaments.
It’s also available for iOS and Android devices.
8. Squawka Football App
Price: Free
Availability: App Store
The tech-savvy soccer hipster’s dream, the Squawka app gives fans chance to back up any point they make in the pub with cold hard stats, with an assist from those good folks at Opta.
For example, If you think Rickie Lambert performs better than Wayne Rooney and should be starting for England?
You can try to win over your friends by comparing the two players’ performances. You could try to show them Lambert keeps the ball better, completes more passes and actually has his own hair.
It has a dashboard full of updates and stats tailored to your team, while live match centres ensure you’re fully up to date with shots, cards, goals and substitutions, while every pass and tackle is logged during the game.
9. Team Stream
Price: Free
Availability: App Store
Team Stream is a news and information service from sporting giant The Bleacher Report that lets you choose your favorite teams and then scrapes stories and tweets from around the web.
It’s a good looking one-stop-shop for football news and it’ll be a great tool to round up the reaction to your country’s World Cup games.
10. BBC Sport
Price: Free
Availability: App Store | Google Play
The BBC Sport app is already an essential app download, but the World Cup additions see the Beeb bring the big hitters off the bench.
There’ll be live text commentary for all of the games as well as alerts every time someone enters World Cup folklore by finding the back of the net.
Although there’s no live radio commentary on games from within the app, there will be access to regular Radio 5 bulletins.
Combined with the iPlayer, the BBC Sport app is the perfect companion for the greatest showpiece on earth.
11. FourFourTwo Stats Zone
Price: Free
Availability: App Store
If you take your soccer more seriously than those halfwits in the bar who spout half-baked observations based on tired cliches, FourFourTwo Stats Zone is the app for you.
It offers full analysis of all the World Cup games, from the basic shot count and possession to full pass maps and work rates of the players.
It’s not just a pool of meaningless information for soccer geeks, as it can also be used for evil, adding insight to your fantasy soccer teams, weekend sports betting and bar trivia.
World Cup apps: Watch and Play
12. XFINITY TV Go
Price: Free, but you’ll need a Comcast Cable subscribing to use it
Availability: App Store | Google Play | Amazon
This TV streaming app promises to live stream all World Cup matches write to your iOS, Android, or Kindle device. Just note you’ll need to be a Comcast Cable subscriber to take advantage.
13. TVCatchup
Price: Free
Availability: App Store| Google Play
A fair amount of World Cup coverage will be broadcast live on terrestrial TV and you can stream it live using this app,
TVCatchup does have some ads in it but then it is free to download and use, and has some handy features like information overlays, TV guides and closed captioning support.
You’ll need an internet connection for the app to work.
14. WatchESPN
Price: Free, but cable subscription needed
Availability: App Store | Google Play
Download the app and plug into 24/7 streaming feeds from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes for all the latest World Cup action. On-demand clips and video highlights of the crowd-roaring action are also available.
You’ll need to be a cable customer to access the app, but it does encompass a wide range of cable service providers.
Added bonus? It has Chromecast support.
15. Panini Collectors
Availability: App Store | Google Play
Price: Free
Anyone who remembers real Panini sticker albums has probably seen a few World Cups come and go.
Save yourself all that tedious hassle of dealing with bits of paper and go digital with this free collector’s app.
Use your phone’s camera to scan your stickers and collate them into a list, plus you can set up lists of "got, need and swaps" always in your pocket, share lists with friends and track missing or duplicate stickers easily.
Prove that sticker collecting isn’t dead – it just grew up.
16. Football Manager Handheld 2014
Availability: Google Play
Price: $ 9.99
If you think you can guide your nation to World Cup Glory, now’s your chance. A game for true soccer fans, Football Manager Handheld 2014 is a portable port of the classic PC game, which has sapped millions of collective hours from our youth.
It’s made with footy-mad commuters in mind, and while it’s lighter on the options, it retains all the compulsive enjoyment of its fully-featured predecessors.
The best thing about it isn’t the breadth of teams or smooth learning curve, both of which are excellent, but that it can be picked up and put down easily, making it ideal for short journeys to work.
17. Score! World Goals
Availability: App Store | Google Play
Price: Free
The App Store is filled with footy games which let you flick and swipe balls into the net with varying degrees of majesty, but Score does it best.
Why? Because each of the wonder goals hammered home by your index finger are re-enactments of the finest strikes in international football and World Cup history.
Eagled-eyed gamers will spot them from the tournaments of yesteryear, from Michael Owen’s mazy England goal that humbled Argentina in ’98 to Dennis Bergkamp’s dreamy volley in ’96.
The game’s made better by the rating system of the goals, and you need to get them perfect to unlock the next set; think Angry Birds does soccer and you’re there.
Love these? Then check out these other great football apps
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