15 best World Cup apps for Brazil 2014

20 Best World Cup apps for Brazil 2014
FIFA 14, now with added World Cup flavour

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 kicked off late last week, and it will run, pass and dribble its way to the final on July 13.

During this 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 - even if you miss a game or few.

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.

World Cup

These apps are great for keeping in touch with scores

1 FIFA Official App

Price: Free

Availability: App Store | Google Play

FIFA's official app covers pretty much all football 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 Favourites in the app to quickly jump to news and results related specifically to them.

2 SBS On Demand

Price: Free

Availability : App Store | Google Play

More of a catch-up app than anything else, SBS On Demand is the app to turn to if you've missed a game or just want to rewatch your favourite moments.

In Australia, SBS is the official broadcaster of the 2014 World Cup, so along with the matches, SBS also has its own FIFA World Cup Show, which you can also catch up on.

SBS will have all 64 matches available for catch-up viewing through it app, so you don't have any excuses to miss a game!

3 ESPN FC Soccer & World Cup

Price: Free

Availability : App Store | Google Play

Another app that covers all aspects of football 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 personalised scores and live game details – just tailor it to show you the stuff you want to see.

4 World Football Finals 2014

Price: Free

Availability : App Store | Google Play

Truly one for the football 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 favourites to customise 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.

World Cup

Scorers, lineups and subs are all available to view in app form

5 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 customisation 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'll just assume is to cheer on the Socceroos.

6 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.

7 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 customisable 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.

SofaScore

If you are a Windows Phone user, then check out SofaScore

8 Sofascore

Price: Free

Availability: Windows Phone App Store | App Store | Google Play

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.

9 Squawka

Price: Free

Availability: App Store

The tech-savvy football hipster's dream, the Squawka app gives fans a chance to back up any point they make in the pub with cold hard stats, with an assist from those good folks at Opta.

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.

10 TeamStream

Availability: App Store

Price: Free

TeamStream is a news and information service from US sporting giant The Bleacher Report that lets you choose your favourite 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.

BBC sport

BBC Sport and FourFourTwo are essential apps

11 BBC Sport

Price: Free

Availability: 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.

12 FourFourTwo Stats Zone

Availability: App Store

Price: Free

If you take your football more seriously than those halfwits 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 football geeks, as it can also be used for evil, adding insight to your fantasy football teams, weekend sports betting and pub trivia.

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.