Zhaopin.com, a Web-based headhunter, asked 4,000 people via the Internet about their life during the month-long soccer championship. Most of the respondents come from Shanghai.

Eighty percent of men and 20 percent of women who responded said that they watched almost every match. People squeezed an average of 1.07 hours out of work every day to read World Cup news on the Internet or discuss matches with colleagues, the survey said.

This enthusiasm, however, gave rise to large numbers of "soccer widows" and "widowers." The survey suggested about 60 percent of women and 46 percent of men suffered, as soccer fanatic spouses cared about nothing else.

"I hate the World Cup. It almost pushed me to the edge of divorce," Lisa Wang, an office worker, told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

Married to an IT sales manager, Wang said her soccer fan husband wouldn't miss a single game. Every day after work, her husband would head to a pub to watch the games with friends. He only returns home after the last match ends about 5am.

"His schedule is only work, World Cup and sleep these days. No family chores, no communication and no husband's sense of responsibility at all," Wang said.

For those who watch matches at home, a fight for the remote control is inevitable. Sleeping spouses are often awoken as husbands cheer loudly when a goal os scored.

But travel agents are cashing in on the phenomenon.

Ctrip, China's major online travel agent, reported the percentage of women who join short trips rose from 44 percent before the World Cup to 60 percent these days.