With just over two weeks to go to kick-off, World Cup chiefs may have a new concern on their hands with the playing surface at the Maracana in a shocking state.

It may be the spiritual home of 'O Jogo Bonito', but with 16 days until the tournament begins and 19 days until it hosts Argentina and Bosnia in its first match, it doesn't look like anyone will be playing beautiful football on the hallowed ground any time soon. 

FIFA staged a final run-through of the Rio de Janeiro venue on Monday and while the stadium itself is good to go, the surface is anything but. 

The Maracana pitch looked unfit for even a casual kickabout, such was its terribly scarred, pock-marked appearance. It may be suited more to beach football if the piles of sand being applied to it were anything to go by as teams of groundsmen tackled the brown surface. 

The surface came in for criticism during last year's Confederations Cup final, cutting up badly underfoot as Brazil trounced Spain. Then last October it was relaid after Botafogo goalkeeper Jefferson, part of Brazil's 2014 squad, said that it was unfit for international football. By that time it had played host to a beyond intensive 33 matches in five months. 

However stadium and local organising chiefs appear to have not only failed to learn their lesson but inexplicably heaped even more action onto the replacement pitch. 

By Sportsmail's tally, the Maracana has hosted an astonishing 37 competitive games between January 19 and May 18 - a period of just 17 weeks. By comparison the Emirates Stadium staged 29 games in all competitions over the course of nine months last season, Old Trafford 26. 

The Rio arena will also be the most overworked playing field in the tournament with seven matches taking place there. After the Argentina-Bosnia clash, it plays host to the meeting of Spain and Chile on June 18,  Belgium's clash with Russia on June 22, France's final group match against Ecuador three days later, a last-16 tie and a quarter final before the tournament decider on July 13. 

Organisers, who told Brazilian media this morning that FIFA were working 'to guarantee that the grass will be rooted and fixed' in time for the tournament, will be hoping for a miraculous repair job. After delayed stadiums and unfinished infrastructure projects, a playing surface unfit for purpose at a World Cup final venue would be unforgivable.

Strain: The Maracana pitch is to host seven matches during the World Cup, seven more than any other stadium