If football's not your thing, and you're dreading having nothing to say to people for the next three weeks then fear not – you don't need to give pubs a wide berth until after the final game. Here are some fun figures you can use to impress people (purely for mission and evangelism purposes, obvs).
12. Total number of cities matches will be played in across Brazil. In other words, it's not just Rio, so don't trip yourself up.
D. Okay, so it's a letter not a number, but important enough to include. It's England's group, which means 'our boys' will be facing Italy this Saturday, then Uruguay and Costa Rica over the following two weeks. How will they do? Current odds on us winning are 25/1 and pundits are mostly talking in terms of 'we'd do very well to get out of the groups'. Still, we believe in miracles.
35 million. Amount in dollars the winning nation will receive. Other prizes include the Golden Ball, offered to the best player, and the Golden Boot, which goes to the top scorer of the entire tournament.
40,000. Amount in dollars you could waste buying a ticket for the (sold out) final on the black market. Since FIFA have threatened to void tickets not resold through the official channels, it's *probably* not worth the risk.
32. Number of teams taking part. Who will win? Most pundits are going for Brazil or Argentina, with Belgium also likely to do well. No mention of England. Or Iran or Bosina.
33. Degrees celsuis of the sauna Italian players have reportedly been training in to get used to the heat. Best not to think too much about how that works.
1. Number of dance moves England forward (and committed Christian!) Daniel Sturridge has. It's a really good one though.
21. Cost in pounds of a pint if you happen to find youself in a stadium-proximate bar in Brazil. Otherwise known as 21 reasons to be grateful you're not there.
1964. Number of words Wikipedia uses to explain The Offside Rule. No, we don't get it either.
0. Number of goals Wayne Rooney has scored at a World Cup. #justsayin
1.50. Cost in pounds of the average box of tissues.We're all about optimism, but it's good to be prepared.
