Even if you haven’t quite figured out the difference between a shinguard and a square pass, it’s hard not to get caught up in all the World Cup hype that descended upon the Internet over the past few weeks. As best we can tell, there’s a soccer tournament taking place in South Africa to determine the supreme leader of the human race. (That, and a really small trophy.)

But with a few dozen games in the first round alone, even the most diehard of fans won’t be able to stay glued to their TV set for every minute of action. But who needs TV when you’ve got a MacBook and an iPhone?

 

Team Mac

There have always been myriad options for watching live TV on your Mac, and any number of them will fit the bill for World Cup action:

EyeTV: The classic solution for watching TV on your Mac requires little more than a USB TV tuner and a cable subscription to ensure you won’t miss a minute of action, even when you and your TV are separated by the bathroom door.

Slingbox: A more robust option for streaming your home television signal to your Mac, Slingbox Solo’ll let you watch Ronaldo on your PC at work, too.

Web: Various sites are sure to pop up during the tourney with the promise of streaming action (with various levels of legality), but ESPN 3, Stream Direct (membership required) and FIFA.com are sure to deliver.

 

Team iPhone & iPad

Just because you’re not in range of a WiFi connection doesn’t mean you can’t still get your FIFA fix on your iPhone and iPad. When it comes to picture quality, mileage may vary, of course, but at least you’ll know the second Team U.S.A. gets knocked out:

SlingPlayer: With a Slingbox back home and Sling’s Mobile app on your iPhone, every goal, yellow card and header will be beamed straight to your iPhone (over 3G, of course, so you’re out of luck if your iPhone’s wrapped in aluminum).

EyeTV: The folks at Elgato have an iPhone and iPad app, too, but they recommend upgrading to the EyeTV HD if you actually want to see which team has the ball.

TVUPlayer: Choose from 900 international TV channels without fumbling with any extra hardware. The selection of U.S. stations is a little lacking, so remember to search for “football,” not “soccer.”

OrbLive: If you happen to have an old-fashioned TV tuner card installed in your Mac, OrbLive will stream live TV to your phone--or at least it’ll try really hard. [Updated] Users do not need an old-fashioned TV tuner installed in their computers to view the glorious World Cup matches. 

MobiTV: Since AT&T Mobile TV doesn’t play nice with the iPhone, the only way to watch ESPN Mobile TV is with the MobiTV app and a $9.99 monthly subscription plan.

 

Stats on the Gooooaaaalll

If you haven’t got the time to follow along with streaming video, you can still stay up-to-date on all the matches, injuries and controversy as it unfolds:

 

FIFA World Cup: Why settle for simply watching your favorite team when you can lead them to victory? The official World Cup video game from EA Sports puts you right in the action with crisp controls, fluid gameplay and running commentary.

ESPN 2010 FIFA Word Cup: The most comprehensive World Cup resource this side of South Africa, ESPN’s exhaustive app provides everything a soccer fan could ever need (and then some): news, profiles, schedules, scores, gamecast, photos, streaming audio, venue information, tournament history, rankings, alerts and fantasy predictors, just to scratch the surface.

ESPN ScoreCenter: The gold standard for a quick dose of MLB, NBA, NHL or NFL scores will handle all your round-ball needs with the greatest of ease.

Sun Football: Brought to you by England’s favorite tabloid newspaper, the Sun’s World Cup app puts news, commentary, scores and videos in the palm of your hand, along with the worldwide World Cup Dream Team fantasy tournament.

ESPN Radio: Listen to live coverage and commentary of all 64 World Cup games on your iPhone 24 hours a day, all month long (or until your ears start bleeding).

 

Social

Even if you can’t make it to Soccer City to rub elbows with the footballing elite, you can still make friends all the way across the globe. Thanks to the ever-expanding power of social networking (and a little help from your Mac and iPhone), you, too, can be part of the 94,700-strong throng of rapid fans:



 

Twitter: What better way to break in the brand-new official Twitter app than by following your favorite team’s tweets. Each of the 32 of qualifying soccer clubs has a Twitter feed to post news, pics and reflections on the sweet, sweet thrill of victory.

Facebook: The Official 2010 World Cup page is a good place to start, but there’s no shortage of Facebook pages where you can chat with players and fans around the world, check out videos and console each other after a painful defeat.

YouTube: Use your iPhone 3GS to record your own goooooooooal celebration video and upload it to www.YouTube.com/Coca-Cola to compete for prizes and bragging rights.