World Cup 2014: The best fans in Brazil

Our football writers pick make their picks for the best fans at the World Cup

SAM WALLACE - Chief football correspondent

Chile

It has got to be the Chileans, if only for their attempts to rush the gates for the Spain match. In this sterile Fifa-controlled game when the real ticket scandals flow from the top, it did amuse me to see the horror at a wall and a telly being knocked over in the Maracana media centre. Brazilian TV reported on it as if it were a terrorist outrage

IAN HERBERT - Football correspondent

Argentina

Their supporters were noisy, brash, self-important and special. The spectacle of 100,000 Argentina fans in Porto Alegre for the game with Nigeria – staying in makeshift camp sites simply to be near a stadium that they had no hope of entering – told the story.

GLENN MOORE - Football editor

England

For not turning on Hodgson and his players after they followed two defeats with a goalless draw in a dead rubber against Costa Rica. It is easy to support a team when they are winning, less so when they are losing. England did not lack for effort, just the right combination of experience, sharpness and ability, and the fans recognised that.

JACK PITT-BROOKE - Football writer

Mexico

One of the world’s most enthusiastic football nations – Liga MX is the fourth biggest league in the world – Mexico have not always had the national team they deserve but they travelled to Brazil in their tens of thousands, always colourful, roaring their team to within minutes of the quarter-finals.

TIM RICH - Football writer

Ghana vs United States

The sight of Ghanaian fans wonderfully dressed, singing and playing their musical instruments caused Fortaleza Airport to burst into spontaneous applause. The Americans came to Brazil in greater numbers than any other visiting team’s supporters and embraced the tournament colourfully, wittily and wholeheartedly. Who says the USA doesn’t love soccer?

SIMON HART - Football writer

The Dutch caught the eye with their bright orange costumes while the small contingents from Iran and Costa Rica punched above their weight for both noise and colour. The loudest visiting fans in Salvador, though, were the Americans who helped inspire their team’s extra-time fightback against Belgium.

MIGUEL DELANEY - Football writer

Argentina

Brazilian fans may not agree, given that there has been an edge to Argentina’s support, who have constantly goaded their hosts. The latter has been all too evident in the chant based on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising”, but that has also become the soundtrack of the World Cup.