World Cup blog

I hear the World Cup has come to town. Certainly, Argentina has. Last night, their fans packed out Rio's mini metro system, as it snaked towards the refurbished Maracana.

They greatly out-numbered Bosnian fans for obvious reasons – but it was uplifting to see a few had managed to make their way all the way to Rio.

They were joined by a handful of Croatian fans, too, both groups coming together to support a milestone in Bosnia's independence; its first ever World Cup appearance.

The Maracana itself is a strange place. Steeped in history you can read in any book, yet strangely uninspiring when you see it in the flesh. Yes, it is round. But apart from that, it boasts few distinguishing features.

Today, it is surrounded by roads and ramps that make it feel like a multi-storey car park. And the stadium car park itself is not fully finished – despite organisers bulldozing homes and evicting squatters in the build-up to the tournament to fulfill FIFA's demands for a parking place for every sixth spectator.

At kick-off, I was in a tent just outside the stadium with a colleague. We had come to plead with FIFA to let us in, but alas there was no room at the inn. It is a privilege to be a journalist and to ever be in a position to attend football matches for free, but as we trekked out of FIFA's holding pen for hopeful media types, we were once again just fans.

Part of a sorry ticketless procession trudging dejectedly away from the stadium. Before it was twice refurbished in the space of the last decade, the Maracana used to be the biggest stadium on earth. It once had a capacity of almost 200,000 with room for even the poorest Carioca on its terraces.

Today, it is just another big, expensive mega-arena. And very few of those who wanted to be inside, could actually get in.

The dribs and drabs of shut-out Argentina support found their way to local bars and crowded round whatever screens they could find.

We got into a taxi home and endured another white-knuckle ride through Rio's traffic whilst the driver watched the match on a small screen stuck to his windshield. The biggest party on earth sounds like a blast, if you can only get past the door. What a shame then, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of empty seats at Switzerland versus Ecuador in Brasilia earlier in the day.

Re-distributing those tickets for free to local schools would go some way to restoring the traditional democracy of Brazil's stadia.

Are you in Brazil at the moment for the World Cup? Tell us if you have had any negative experiences around the stadiums or matchdays in our Comments section below.