ESPN will kick off its month long coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup with 24 hours of “Countdown to Brazil” programming focusing on the quadrennial tournament. The “Countdown to Brazil” (#CountdownToBrazil) will begin Wednesday, June 11 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN with a two-hour 2014 FIFA World Cup Preview and conclude on Thursday, June 12, at 3 p.m. on ESPN with the 2014 FIFA World Cup Match Day, the live pregame show leading into the tournament-opening match: Brazil vs. Croatia from Arena de Sao Paulo.
A majority of the 24 hours will be on ESPN2 beginning at 5 p.m. with There Is No Tomorrow, an inside look at the five-time World Cup Champion Brazilian National Team. The programming will include re-airs of all episodes in the ESPN Films documentary on the U.S. Men’s National Team – Inside: U.S. Soccer’s March to Brazil– beginning at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2 and concluding at 9:30 p.m. with an original, 30-minute epilogue of the series.
At 2 a.m. on ESPN2, the 24-hour soccer programming will continue with ESPN FC: Most Memorable World Cup Moments, and from 3 – 5 a.m. overnight, the network will feature four of the 30 for 30: Soccer Stories documentary series – Mysteries of the Juliet Rimet Trophy, Barbosa, Ceasefire Massacre and the Myth of Garrincha. “Soccer Stories” will be followed at 5 a.m. on ESPN2 by I Scored A Goal, ESPN’s ambitious 2010 FIFA World Cup project that featured interviews with most of the living men who scored a goal in the World Cup title match.