Social networking sites Twitter and Facebook have already fired the opening salvos in the battle for followers, launching dedicated hubs on the World Cup.
Already there have been more World Cup-related tweets this year than in the entire tournament in South Africa four years ago.
Twitter has led its offensive with a dedicated timeline collating #WorldCup tweets sorted into custom timelines for the 64 matches. Match scores are also included. Country code hashtags are being turned into "hashflags".
SBS has its own team of commentators and journalists on the ground. Stay across the tweets with the hashtag #SBSWorldCup.
For those cheering on the national team, the @Socceroos has been actively tweeting, with @Tim_Cahill Australia's most popular tweeter (591,000 followers). Other top tweeters include Ryan McGowan, Tommy Oar, Dario Vidosic, Mat Ryan, Massimo Luongo.
Twitter has ranked the top six teams and players by followers.
Top 6 most followed teams (as of June 2)
Top 6 most followed players (as of June 2)
Twitter has also selected its Twitter XI of most mentioned players by position over the last three months.
Facebook launches 'Trending World Cup'
Facebook has adopted a similar approach, creating a "Trending World Cup" hub. Match scores and highlights are featured alongside a special feed of posts from friends and relevant teams. Hitting the smiley emoticon when composing a tweet embeds specific match information for the game you're watching.
An interactive map also shows where fans of some of the top players are located.
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