World Cup 2014 kicks off with 25-minute ceremony

A glitzing 25-minute ceremony which cost the country millions kicked off World Cup 2014 – and football fans can now stop counting the days and minutes for the world’s biggest sporting event to start.

Commentators were however disappointed with Jennifer Lopez  – definitely live – during her performance of We Are One, this year’s official World Cup song.

Flanked by Pitbull and Claudia Leitte, the trio got the Arena De Sao Paulo dancing and cheering. Brazilians were however disappointed with the song, describing it too generic for the country’s Bossa Nova fans. 

Over 600 performers including gymnasts, dancers, stilt-walkers and trampolinists took part in the opening ceremony.

"The Opening Ceremony is a tribute to Brazil and its treasures: nature, people football. The sense of excitement here is amazing and everyone is very motivated. It doesn't matter whether they're feeling tired or hot sometimes or if they have to go through routines again and again: they just keep on smiling. It's amazing,” the ceremony’s artistic director, Belgian Daphne Cornez, had said.

The ceremony preceded the first game of the night: Brazil vs Croatia.