The Best World Cup Drinking Games: France vs. Germany, Brazil vs. Colombia

We’re heading into the home stretch of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and if you’ve managed to make it this far without passing out cold during one of the many nail-biting matches that took place over the last month, consider yourself lucky. Now prepare for your luck to run out.

Two huge quarter-final games take place on Friday, which also happens to coincide with Independence Day in the United States (which was knocked out contention by Belgium Tuesday). That means plenty of drinking -- and loud noises -- from the millions of people who will be watching the games, and even the dozen or so who will sit them out. (France takes on Germany at noon EDT, and Brazil faces Colombia at 4 p.m.) But whether you’re tuning in to watch the matches as a true soccer fanatic, or you’re just succumbing to peer pressure, you can still have a toasty time with one of the numerous World Cup drinking games out there on the Web.

IBTimes has culled together the best of the bunch, so you don’t have to. Check out the full list below, and as always, please drink responsibly.

France vs. Germany: 12 p.m. EDT

National drinks: Champagne, Absinthe (France); Schnäpse, Beer (Germany).

For viewers who love their World War I and II jokes, there will be no better contest than Friday’s faceoff between France and Germany, made particularly poignant by the recent centennial of the assassination that sparked the Great War in 1914. Over at CNBC, reporter Jane Wells has a drinking game to complement all the wink-wink terminology the ESPN hosts are guaranteed to use. The rules include taking a drink every time one of the announcers says such words as “Blitzkrieg,” “Invasion,” “Resistance” and “World War III,” among others.

Check out the full game here.

Brazil vs. Colombia: 4 p.m. EDT

National drinks: Cachaça, Caipirinha (Brazil); Aguardiente, Rum (Colombia).

If you survive the France-Germany match, sober up for two hours and prepare for another high-stakes contest between two rival countries that take their soccer seriously. Over at CBS, sports reporter Maria Perez contends that we North Americans “could not care less” about the outcome of Brazil vs. Colombia, and she may have a point. But we’ve certainly seen lesser reasons to come up with a great drinking game. Perez has come up with one of her own, and be forewarned: It’s likely to be a high scorer. The rules include taking a drink every time Brazil superstar Neymar “falls on the ground with his mouth open after being fouled.” That’s pretty much all you need to know.

Check out the full game here.

General: Good for All World Cup Games

Finally, the folks at World Soccer Talk have devised what they call the “Ultimate World Cup 2014 Drinking Game,” and we have to agree. The simple, easy-to-read infographic provides you with a list of everything you need, along with an entertaining set of rules that are generic enough to be useful for the rest of the championship -- whether you care who wins or not.

Check out the full game here.