By A Correspondent

The 2014 edition of the FIFA World Cup was special. While the social media existed in the 2010 edition, it played a huge rule in the build-up to the tournament and while it was on, and even after the final whistle was blown. Facebook’s data team looked at the overall conversation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, along with the top social matches and moments, demos, countries, most-talked-about players, and the most-engaging content posted by World Cup athletes. The tournament was a unique moment for Facebook, which measured the highest level of conversation for any event in history.

From June 12 – July 13, 350 million people joined the conversation on Facebook, generating 3 billion interactions (posts, comments and likes) related to the World Cup. About 88 million people generated 280 million interactions for Sunday’s final between Germany and Argentina, making the match the single most-talked-about sporting event in Facebook history.

The stats include:

Most Social World Cup Matches

1. Germany vs. Argentina final (88 million people with 280 million Facebook interactions)
2. Brazil vs. Germany semifinal (66 million people with 200 million Facebook interactions)
3. Brazil vs. Croatia opening match (58 million people with 140 million Facebook interactions)
4. Argentina vs. Netherlands semifinal (39 million people with 83 million Facebook interactions)
5. Brazil vs. Chile round of 16 match (31 million people with 75 million Facebook interactions)

Most Social World Cup Moments

1. Brazil vs. Germany semifinal (29′): Sami Khedira scores Germany’s fourth goal in seven minutes, giving them an inconceivable 5-0 lead with a full hour remaining in the match.
2. Germany vs. Argentina final (full time): The final whistle blows, crowning Germany as World Champions for the fourth time.
3. Brazil vs. Germany semifinal (26′): Toni Kroos scores his second goal of the match, increasing Germany’s lead to 4-0 over a stunned Brazil team and home crowd.
4. Germany vs. Argentina final (113′): Mario Götze scores from a beautiful Schürrle cross to give Germany a 1-0 lead over Argentina deep in extra time.
5. Brazil vs. Croatia opening match (29′): Neymar scores his first World Cup goal, and Brazil’s first goal of the match, to level the score 1-1 with Croatia.

Most Talked About Players

1. Neymar (Brazil)
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
4. Luis Suárez (Uruguay)
5. David Luiz (Brazil)
6. Júlio César (Brazil)
7. Thomas Müller (Germany)
8. Mesut Özil (Germany)
9. Hulk (Brazil)
10. Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

Honorable Mention:  Mario Götze (Germany)

Top 5 countries in terms of unique people:

1. Brazil: 55 million people in Brazil joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
2. USA: 48 million people in the United States joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
3. Mexico: 19 million people in Mexico joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
4. Indonesia: 18 million people in Indonesia joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13
5. India: 14 million people in India joined the conversation about the World Cup from June 12 – July 13