World Cup: John Oliver calls FIFA the ‘Walter White’ of sports

John Oliver really has a conflicted attitude toward the World Cup, which has its opening game between Croatia and Brazil on Thursday. On the one hand, he loves the sport. On the other, he detests FIFA, the organization that runs it. As he told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers on Wednesday, FIFA is like the “Walter White” of sports.

What, exactly, does the world’s most popular sport have to do with the antihero of “Breaking Bad”?

“FIFA is awful, but the product they push is amazing,” Oliver told Meyers. “If you get hooked on their magnificent blue meth of a sport, then you want nothing else.”

Oliver devoted a significant portion of his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight,” on Sunday to taking down FIFA, but even then he admitted that despite his loathing of the unfair practices of the organization, he’s still very excited to watch the World Cup.

Many controversies surround the Switzerland-based Federation Internationale de Football Assn., with many protesting the $11 billion the Brazilian government has spent to prepare the country for the games and accusations of corruption concerning the selection of host countries.

But as Oliver said, he and many other people from his native country of England educate themselves through soccer headlines, such as how and when to take malaria pills or what the second metatarsal is.

“In England, obviously, we care about football or soccer arguably too much. It’s just we’re not willing to listen to that argument,” Oliver explained.

And how does Oliver see the U.S. chances in the World Cup? “Prepare yourselves to win zero out of three games,” he told Meyers.

He may live in America, but his heart is still with England.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday