Whether they are football fanatics or casual fans, people from those countries are more likely to spend at least $100 on products and services, the MasterCard International-sponsored survey found.

Brazil, Italy and Mexico are among the top four countries that have played the most games, including qualifiers, in FIFA World Cup history. The fourth is Germany, which ranked among the top spenders in terms of avid fans but not casual ones.

The survey found that the games could boost spending on apparel, electronics, travel as well as food and drink as work in the most fanatical soccer nations grinds to a halt during big matches.

Still, fans' spending habits will depend on how long their national teams are able to last in the 32-nation competition, the online survey of more than 7,000 fans worldwide found.

Brazilians, whose team are champions and favourites to repeat this year for a sixth triumph, are the biggest fair-weather spenders, with 77 percent of their avid fans and 68 percent of their casual likely to spend more if they go far.

MasterCard is one of several big corporate sponsors of the World Cup, to get underway in Munich on Friday with a match between hosts Germany and Costa Rica.