Despite what you might think, Brazil doesn't quite grind to a halt when the national team play. However, it's hardly business­ as usual, even in a land where business can go very slowly indeed.

In Rio, people are being given a half day off work whenever the Selecao has a match. Thankfully, this doesn't extend to everyone. At least not in theory. Taxi drivers­ are still on the clock and waiters are still there to be beckoned over, for example, but both have one eye on a screen.

That's right, many Brazilian cabs have TVs showing the match and the drivers often­ find it too hard to ignore.

It was in a taxi from Fortaleza airport where I saw most of Brazil's victory to secure qualification from Group A.

The flight from Rio was the only time that there has been a total absence of the fever that grips the country when Neymar and company line up.

The game kicked off when we were en route and it was not until the plane touched down in the Northeast that the fixture was even mentioned as ground-staff passed a message to the crew that Brazil were already 2-1 up and top of the group.

From then on, normal service was resumed and the game was impossible to miss. There were TVs at the gates passed on the way to arrivals, more at the baggage carousels and then in the aforementioned taxi.

Fred made it 3-1 and secured qualification about a minute into the journey so that was one less thing to worry about.

It was a good job as there was still plenty to occupy my mind. Should the taxi driver really be driving that fast when he is watching TV? Was he not stopping at red lights as a security precaution or because­ he was in a rush? Were the streets so empty­ because of the game or something more sinister?

The empty streets were accounted for as we neared the town center. Much the same as the two previous games in Rio, everyone had packed into homes, bars and restaurants to watch the game.

The vast majority of fans were to be found at the beach, where everyone seemed to be in the canary yellow and green of every tourist's favorite second team.

I checked in while still watching the game, of course, on the TV in the lobby bar and it was only when I got to my room that I could find any acknowledgement that there was also another fixture being contested in Group A.

If anyone ever tells me that Brazilians are soccer mad then I will happily tell them that's very true as long as it's Brazil who are playing the soccer.

The strip of bars on Fortaleza's main beach became the scenes of celebrations at the final whistle. Bearing in mind that full time came before 7 pm local time, the fact that qualification was still being toasted as midnight neared is some indication of what the World Cup means to the hosts.

If this is what happens on a Monday night after the formality of qualifying, we are in for a few sleepless nights as the ­tournament progresses.

The World Cup will continue to be a fantastic experience for everyone here as long as Brazil keep winning. The reaction if they get knocked out does not bear thinking about but it's so far, so good.

They have avoided playing a Netherlands team who notched another win and in doing so proved that Brazil have nothing to fear in their next game as Chile are beatable. Fingers crossed.