World Cup 2014: Google Doodle celebrates launch of football tournament in Brazil

The first match of the games will be between Brazil and Croatia

A global Google Doodle released on 12 June 2014, to celebrate the start of the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil (Google )

Google has celebrated the launch of the 2014 Fifa World Cup with a Doodle on its homepage.

Users who land on the search engine’s homepage will see a football bounce onto the screen, in the green and yellow of host nation Brazil's official flag.

The letters which make up the company’s logo then sprout tiny stick arms and legs and bob up and down, while a cartoon version of Rio de Janeiro unfolds in the background.

Iconic landmarks appear in the depiction, including the almost 100ft statue of Christ the Redeemer pictured atop the Corcovado Mountain, and cable cars travelling to the Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The first matches to be played in the tournament on Thursday will be between Group A teams Brazil and Croatia, at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo. Mexico and Cameroon; Spain and the Netherlands; and Chile and Australia will play on Friday.

England will not take to a pitch until Saturday 14 June, when they will play against fellow Group D team Italy at 6:00pm.

Despite the positive impression of the games given by the bobbing, brightly-coloured Doodle, preparations for the 2014 World Cup have been marred by accidents, delays, and fears that stadiums will not be ready in time.

The latest problem caused a worked to be killed, following an accident at a construction project to build a monorail Sao Paulo.