Pools with predictions for the World Cup games cheer up the fans A tradition among fans during the World Cup, the World Cup raffles already attract groups of friends, families and companies across the country. In addition to competing for correct scores, participants compete for cash prizes that can reach R$3,500. In São Paulo, the prize pool organized by André has been taking place since the 2010 World Cup. Each participant contributes R$150 and the winner can receive up to R$3,500. "People end up getting excited about watching all the games. For those who like football, it's an interesting thing," he says. Among the participants is Maurício, who has the help of his son Pedro to make his guesses. "I give my opinions at the games and then Pedro goes there and changes everything. He says: 'No, dad, that's wrong. The other person is going to win'. And we start playing", he says. Preparing for the predictions even includes studying the participating teams. "I'm still studying these new teams that came to the World Cup. There are teams that aren't very well known", says one of the bettors. In Curitiba, a group of around 100 friends has maintained the tradition since 1998. Each participant pays a fixed fee that is valid for the entire competition and fills in a table with the predicted results until the final. "Every day we release an updated table with the classification. In the end, whoever scores the most points is the winner", explains one of the organizers. The current edition of the World Cup will be the largest in history, with 48 teams participating. In the group stage alone there will be 72 matches, expanding the possibilities of predictions for fans. Experts warn, however, of the risks of financial scams related to syndicates. The recommendation is to be wary of messages received through applications or social networks and avoid downloading programs outside of official cell phone stores. "Do not believe messages received via WhatsApp or other channels without checking the origin. It is also important to have protection systems installed on devices", advises a cybersecurity expert. In companies, pools are also used as an integration tool between employees. A company organized an internal competition with prizes of up to R$600. According to the organization, the initiative helps to increase employee engagement and reinforces the feeling of belonging to the work environment. With the predictions already recorded and the decoration ready, fans are now waiting for the competition to begin. Among those interviewed, one of the most popular results for Brazil's debut against Morocco was a 2-1 Brazilian victory.