The ten incidents gaining the biggest reaction on Twitter during the World Cup.
The 2014 World Cup has been one of the greatest tournaments in recent years, with goals, sendings off and crazy celebrations galore, and has already seen some massive moments as it approaches the halfway stage and the Twittersphere has gone off the charts!
Brazil’s matches vs Croatia (12.2 million) and vs Mexico (8.95 million) in the first week take the top 2 spots for most total tweets, while the Germany vs Portugal match came in a close third (8.9 million).
But there have been much more, so here are the top ten Twitter moments of this year’s World Cup.
10. Luis Suarez picks apart England – 214,246 tweets
Suarez made his tournament debut in the second group game against England where he habitually tortured a Premier League back line to help dump the Three Lions out of the tournament.
9. Daniel Sturridge equalises for England vs Italy – 219,637 tweets
The Liverpool ace hit back quickly to get England back into the game after falling behind, but it all proved futile when Mario Balotelli consigned the Three Lions to an inevitable defeat.
8. Lionel Messi’s solo goal against Bosnia & Herzegovina – 236,174 tweets
Many were already criticising the Barcelona man for struggling to get into the game, but he made sure that he announced his arrival by netting a fantastic solo effort in the second half against the spirited World Cup debutants.
7. Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa makes unbelievable saves vs Thiago Silva – 243,379 tweets
Mexico were expected to roll over and take a beating against the hosts, but the unemployed goalkeeper made sure that his side took their share of the points with a series of outstanding saves.
6. Chile’s Charles Aranguiz scores to send Spain towards exit – 245,766
Chile announced their arrival as serious dark horses for the tournament by following up their victory over Australia with an amazing shock against defending champions Spain, and Aranguiz’s spectacular effort consigned them to an early trip home.
5 Oscar scores Brazil’s third against Croatia – 256,953 tweets
Brazil’s opener against Croatia was viewed as a somewhat flat encounter, but it was illuminated late on by Chelsea’s Oscar, who livened up the affair with a stunning strike to secure all three points.
4. Pepe receives a red card for a head-butt on Thomas Muller in Germany Vs Portugal – 261,026
The Real Madrid star displayed his nutter credentials against the Germans after growing frustrated at their ease at cutting through the Portuguese midfield as if they weren’t there.
3. Neymar scored his first goal of the game Brazil Vs Croatia – 280,265
Everyone was wondering how long it would take one of the tournaments bigger stars to get off the mark, and Neymar didn’t disappoint when he cooly clotted away a penalty to keep the Croatians on the back foot.
2. Clint Dempsey’s goal puts USA on the verge of qualification to the knockout rounds – 305,000 tweets
Deuce spearheaded a spirited American display, and thought he’d won it for the Yanks with a deflected effort from inside the box. However, it wasn’t to be and they will now be made to wait to book their place in the next round.
1. Marcelo own goal Brazil Vs Croatia – 378,085 tweets
The Brazilian star opened the scoring on the first day, but unwittingly he’d done it at the opposite end. However, Neymar, Oscar and the referee spared his blushes and made sure he wasn’t left to play the villain in the first week.