In preparation for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Oricon conducted a survey of 1,000 men and women aged 10 to 40.
Of those who responded that they wanted to watch the World Cup, approximately 70% chose "I want to watch" (41.8%) or "I'm somewhat interested in watching" (29.7%). When asked who they would like to watch with, the top two answers were "family" (54.8%) and "alone" (47.5%), suggesting a preference for watching the games at home.
Of the 1,000 respondents, 547 chose "Brazil," the host country, as the winner. Following were "Japan," "Spain," "Germany," and "Argentina."
Of the Japanese players to watch, Yoshito Okubo, who was surprisingly called up to the tournament, ranked first. The following players ranked second and third: Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa, Atsuto Uchida, and Yuto Nagatomo. Among foreign players, Argentina's Lionel Messi topped the list, with comments such as "When you think of soccer, you think of Messi" (female, teenage years) and "I don't watch soccer much, but I've heard of Messi a lot" (female, 30s) that were mentioned by people who aren't soccer fans. Coming in second and third were Brazil's Neymar, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Spain's Fernando Torres, and Uruguay's Diego Forlan. Ronaldo topped the list of 736 players as the most beautiful player. While his playing style was also highly praised, his handsome features attracted attention, with comments like "He has a cool, straight nose" (female, 30s) and "He has well-defined features" (female, 30s). Uchida Atsuto, who came in second overall and first among Japanese players, was praised for his refreshing image, with teenage girls saying, "He has fair skin and looks fresh even when he sweats," and "He doesn't look like he sweats." The third place and below were Lionel Messi, Honda Keisuke, and Hasebe Makoto.