Audiences will now be able to follow their favourite teams live on their smartphones. Among the special features are live scores, updates and kickoff reminders for every match.
"The World Cup happens only every four years and, at Opera, we are as hyped about it as hundreds of millions of football fans around the world," says Jørgen Arnesen, global head of marketing and distribution at Opera.
"We decided to update our app to give our users a totally new football experience at their fingertips, so they can find all the information they need in one app," Arnesen adds.
Opera News's 'Live' button
Opera News now aims to make it easy for users to keep their eye on all 64 World Cup matches with the newly-installed 'Live' button.
The button will include a table with real-time scores for every game. In addition, kick-off reminders have been enabled for every match, so audiences will have the opportunity to be present for every kick-off.
The reminders are shown in the app via push notifications and can be personalised based on a user’s favourite teams.
Follow teams with the new 'Follow' button
The 'Follow' button allows users to add their favourite teams to the tab at the top of the screen. This tab will display the latest news about the selected teams, as well as scores and fixtures for all 32 teams.
Shake to win
In celebration of the World Cup 2018, Opera News has partnered with Zando, an online store in South Africa, to give away prizes. Audiences will stand a chance to win vouchers that can be exchanged for clothing, accessories and homeware.
Additionally, every Opera News user has a chance to win one of the three vouchers that can be exchanged for a Renault Kwid just by shaking their phones during World Cup matches.
"Opera News is without a doubt the favourite news app in the Zando office already. We are excited to team up with the 'shake and win' campaign, and to give away more than R17-million Zando vouchers and three new cars," concludes Sascha Breuss, Zando CEO.
Opera News is available for download from Google Play in 16 languages.
For more information, visit www.blog.opera.com. You can also follow Opera News on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.