FIFA president Sepp Blatter cannot remember a World Cup host nation falling as far behind with their preparations as Brazil have, he said in an interview.
"Brazil has just found out what it means and has started work much too late," he told the Lausanne-based newspaper 24 Heures.
"No country has been so far behind in preparations since I have been at FIFA even though it is the only host nation which has had so much time, seven years, in which to prepare."
Blatter has experience of nine World Cups, dating back to Argentina in 1978. He joined football's ruling body as a development officer in 1975 before becoming secretary general and then taking over as president in 1998.
Six of the 12 stadiums in Brazil missed the final deadline of Dec 31 which FIFA set for them to be completed and put at the disposal of organisers. They are the venues in Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Cuiaba, Natal and Manaus.