Weight of numbers surely makes this a truly world event

The number of independent countries that constitute Earth varies, generally between 189 and 196, depending on the source used and criteria assessed.

The 2014 World Cup, though, began with 203 members of Fifa entering the qualification phase, a process that entailed 820 matches played over three years to determine the 32 nations that will compete in Brazil.

If that figure is insufficient for football to stake its claim as the owners of the only true “world” cup, perhaps previous viewing numbers will aid its cause.

Fifa estimated that 700 million people watched the 2010 final, a total beaten in sport by only the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony.

But it’s far from just the sheer volume of entrants and viewers that make this month’s tournament the real World Cup — it’s the fervour exhibited by fans throughout the month-long event.

For example, a Croatian newspaper survey revealed nine out of 10 married men in the country would rather watch their side score on television than head to the marital bed and, ahem, score.

That type of poll is trotted out once every four years, without fail, as the media seek a way to quantify the ineffable truth of how important the World Cup is to a huge portion of the global population.

While other showpiece sporting events are fortunate to attract the attention of an average fan in more than a couple of continents, the World Cup will be eagerly watched all over the world — from the slums in Soweto, to the sprawling cities of Japan, to the streets of Sydney and, of course, the favelas of Brazil.

It’s wilfully ignorant to claim sport has only one World Cup but there will be times, over the course of the next month, when it will certainly feel that way.