IF every World Cup could be held in Brazil, then I for one would not complain.

From the Amazon to the Copacabana, I will never forget my first visit to South America.

For the football alone, this has already arguably been the greatest tournament in living memory.

But it is the host country that has taken it to an even higher level.

As much as England is the historic home of football, Brazil has become its spiritual home.

It is a country that is often chaotic and disorganised, and navigating it can be confusing at times.

But, in the week I spent there at least, there was no hint of danger.

Brazil has embraced the world through their love of football.

“We are warm people, not cold people,” one Brazilian told me.

There’s certainly no chance of getting cold in Brazil. These were the depths of winter, and it was 30 degrees.

I arrived in Brazil 10 days ago before flying on to Manaus, where England had faced Italy at the start of the tournament.

Around 10,000 fans gathered in an amphitheatre by the astonishing Negro river – five miles wide, despite being 900 miles from the sea – to watch Brazil beat Cameroon.

A day later, I joined tourists on an Amazon boat trip – visiting an indigenous tribe who strangely had their own gift shop, before navigating the narrow stretches of the rainforest where we were invited to hold sloths, crocodiles and anacondas. We gave the latter a miss.

My first match was in the city between Switzerland and Honduras, which was played in 95 per cent humidity and delivered the first left-footed hat-trick in World Cup history. Xherdan Shaqiri’s treble gave Switzerland a 3-0 win and left them celebrating a place in the second round.

Then onwards to Brasilia to watch Portugal and world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo go out of the tournament despite a frantic 2-1 win over Ghana. The view from the top of the 73,000 Estadio Nacional Mane Garincha was stunning.

After that came a couple of days in Rio at the end of the trip, taking in Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf and the Maracana.

The final afternoon in the country was spent with 20,000 others watching Brazil beat Chile on penalties on a big screen on the Copacabana beach.

Fans celebrated on the streets for hours afterwards. Brazil loves football probably like no other country in the world. There would be no more fitting winner of this World Cup.