The 32 World Cup countries have 734M gamers & will spend $55B on games in 2014

World Cup fever is upon us, and the beautiful game will soon be played out on screens all over the globe. But while 736 soccer players will hit the pitch in Brazil, 734 million play console games at home.

Collectively, these 734 million gamers will spend $55 billion on games this year.

Newzoo, which recently published a global games market report, ranked the participating World Cup countries according to how much gamers spend. Let’s put it this way: U.S. soccer fans would be ecstatic if the results of the actual competition mirrored global gamer finances.

Top nations include:

• No. 1 U.S.: $20.4 billion
• No. 3 Japan: $12.2 billion
• No. 4 Germany: $3.5 billion
• No. 5 Korea: $3.4 billion

Of course, the No. 2 nation is China, with a billion-plus people, almost 200 million gamers, and expected game revenues of $17.9 billion in 2014. China, however, only recently lifted its ban on home gaming consoles — which host the popular FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer franchises.

Interestingly, according to Newzoo, most players of EA’s FIFA on consoles choose Brazil’s powerhouse team, with Germany and England coming in second and third. Top opponents for Brazil are Germany and Argentina.

And the U.S.?

While the United States ranks as an up-and-coming soccer nation, gamers appear to favor playing the traditional South American and European countries.