Argentina's Higuain put his team ahead of Belgium, sparking some nice mockery of Wondo's USA miss against the same team.
That's how you do it Wondo
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 5, 2014 The Cinderella team, the Ticos, relied on their incredible keeper, Navas to stay in the match against Netherlands, leading to their second shootout match – but not before van Gaal made what would be a brilliant tactical switch right before extra time ended, subbing out the main Dutch keeper for Krul.
I've been told by my Costa Rican friends that Keylor Navas is pronounced Tim Howard in Costa Rica.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 5, 2014
I cannot remember a tournament with more thrilling goalkeeping than this World Cup.
— Brian Phillips (@runofplay) July 5, 2014
I wish I was as good at something as CONCACAF keepers are at their jobs
— Jorge Arangure (@jorgearangure) July 5, 2014
You, go there and save some penalties! #NED #12tal pic.twitter.com/ehYFmQjm3M
— 8bit-Football.com (@8bitfootball) July 5, 2014
Tim Krul will be the new Penalty Kick Department Head at the Howard-Ochoa-Navas Goalkeeping Academy.
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) July 5, 2014
Then came the match that truly broke the Internet. Germany faced off with Brazil, with the soon-to-be tournament winners thrashing the hosts 7-1:
Brazil's plan B pic.twitter.com/A4uANsLcYg
— funnyorfact (@funnyorfact) July 8, 2014
Only Tim Howard could have saved Brazil. pic.twitter.com/ST1eYW3zbn
— Martin Brian Ansah (@DaAnsahonSports) July 8, 2014
I'm not even in the game and I just scored on Brazil.
— Elizabeth Hackett (@LizHackett) July 8, 2014
It's gone from might win the World Cup to maybe we should get other jobs. It's like watching an accident.
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) July 8, 2014
Germany you're just being mean. pic.twitter.com/0Iqwv6QZld
— Bill Bixby (@ManofRamliness) July 8, 2014
Hey, Brazil, not to rub salt in the wound, but we only lost to Germany 1-0. And our team basically plays so it can go to Pizza Hut after.
— Brennan Monaco (@Brennan) July 8, 2014
The memes kept coming. #ThingsMoreLikelyThanBrazilWinningTheWorldCup took off:
#ThingMoreLikelyThanBrazilWinningTheWorldCup Simply walking into Mordor
— LOTR Reactions (@LOTRReactss) July 8, 2014 As did SadBrazilians on Tumblr. But we found a hero in one Brazilian fan, who gave his replica trophy to a German fan following the loss.
This was the first World Cup where Twitter truly took over. More people tweeted about this World Cup than any other sporting event in history, even coming close to breaking Twitter. More than 35 million messages were sent about that match alone, setting a new record.
The third place game, pitting Brazil and the Netherlands against each other, garnered 2.5 million mentions, over 90,000 photos, and a reach of 13.4 billion. Neymar's absence was a frequent part of the conversation. Following the Dutch securing their third place win, the world focused their attention on Argentina and Germany's battle in the final. With over 14.6 million mentions and almost 400,000 photos, the match had a reach of 37.7 billion. Messi, who would go on to win the Golden Ball award, remained a hot topic. As the final drew to a close, a record 618,725 tweets about the match were sent out per minute, breaking Tuesday's new record.
The best extra weight we've ever carried! pic.twitter.com/qaknvITdGy
— Lufthansa (@lufthansa) July 13, 2014
And of course, Paddy Power continued their run of great social commentary throughout:
The period between full-time and extra time is a chance for your captain to really take charge. Or not. #ARG pic.twitter.com/EcOmdZrtHi
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 14, 2014
Schweinsteiger looking determined to see this one out! pic.twitter.com/rrcvQrWpY9
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 13, 2014
This is how I feel now the World Cup is over. https://t.co/WzPw671eLo
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 13, 2014 Published on 2014-07-15 12:51:07