USA beats Brazil! Hopefully that won't be the last time we hear that this summer, but for now, American users of a financial literacy game developed by Visa scored higher than Brazilian users, the company announced on Tuesday.
Visa created the free online game Financial Soccer to combine financial literacy with what is probably the world's most popular sport (a sentiment probably not shared by most Americans).
Users play by answering questions to pass or shoot. A long pass requires a correct answer to a tough question; answer an easier question for a short pass. There are three classes players can choose from: amateur, with questions best suited for 11- to 14-year-olds; semi-pro for ages 14 to 18; and world class for the rest of us.
Users can choose a game that lasts between five and 30 minutes. They can choose which team to play as well as the opposing team (in case you want to savor the win against Ghana).
U.S. fans scored higher than Brazil fans — 1,932 points to Brazil's 1,044, as of Tuesday. Of the other World Cup teams, Argentina came in third, followed by Mexico and Italy.
However, Visa also published a real-time leaderboard that includes countries who don't have a team in the tournament. In the worldwide ranking, the United States came in second to Malaysia. Canada, India and China round out the top five.
Visa said nearly 50,000 games have been played on the online version, but educators can get a free version to use on computers in their classrooms along with teaching modules. The game is part of a larger effort by Visa to improve financial literacy with classroom materials, lesson plans and other games, including Financial Football, if you're more NFL than MLS.
Check out the standings for Cup teams below, and visit www.FinancialSoccer.com/Leaderboard for the full ranking.
Group A
2 Brazil
4 Mexico
13 Cameroon
25 Croatia
Group B
7 Spain
10 Australia
18 Netherlands
23 Chile
Group C
6 Colombia
27 Greece
30 Côte d'Ivoire
32 Japan
Group D
5 Italy
