From Balls to Eyeballs: how rich nations are losing more than games in this World Cup

One of the wonders of the FIFA World Cup must be that it puts all nations on an equal footing, regardless of their wealth. Since 1930, this gave poorer countries a fair and unique shot at publicly humiliating the established Rulers of the World.

But this year something new is happening: poor nations are gaining ground, beyond the scoreboard. The US, Japan, France, Italy and England lost more than early games.

If you've watched some footie these days you may have noticed ads on the side of the pitch for brands you never heard of before: once the exclusive province of American, European and Japanese brands, pitch-side advertising is also witnessing the rise of Emerging Nations.

Out of 14 official FIFA partners and World Cup sponsors, almost half are from nations that only 20 years ago were considered poor like India, China, Brazil or the UAE. Yingli, Satyam, MTN, Seara and Emirates now compete head-to-head for global media exposure with the once unchallenged Big Boys of the rich world.

Even Budweiser, sponsor the event since 1986 and now partly Brazilian-owned is ceding pitch-side exposure during some games to its InBev sister brands like Quilmes, Brahma and Harbin.

Emerging Markets brands, until recently unheard of in the world of global sponsorships are here, and here to stay. For anyone working on global brands today, brace yourself. This shift represents greater challenges and opportunities than you may think.

(here is the list of official FIFA sponsors since 1986)