With soccer fever already gripping the world in anticipation of June’s 2010 FIFA World Cup, Visa is taking advantage of the hype – and its FIFA sponsorship – to promote financial literacy with an online game called Financial Soccer.

The game was officially released in Canada this week, marking the one-month countdown to the start of the tournament. The launch is part of the international roll-out of the game in 30 countries and 10 languages.

The game is housed on its own Canadian microsite, FinancialSoccer.ca, and is targeted at three different age groups: 11 to 14, 14 to 18 and over 18. Players start the game by choosing the country they would like to play against and the level of play (which reflects the degree of financial literacy), and can opt to brush up on their financial info first.

Once play begins, the ball is passed from player to player via the correct answer of questions. For instance, the player with the ball can choose to pass it to three different players on their team. Each available player is labelled with ‘easy,’ ‘medium’ or ‘advanced’ and the user chooses which play they want to make, and therefore what level of question they will attempt. A correct answer means the pass is received successfully, while a wrong answer means a failed play.

The game is available in both French and English for the Canadian market. It will be promoted to the public mainly through public relations (handled by Fleishman-Hillard in Toronto) and through in-school initiatives, which Visa has supported for over 10 years through financial literacy programs such as its teacher-focused Choices and Decisions lesson plans, and its website PracticalMoneySkills.ca.