North Korean television broadcast the country's first World Cup match in 44 years on Wednesday night in Pyongyang.

The broadcast came a day after North Korea played Brazil on Tuesday in South Africa.

North Korea, the lowest-ranked team to qualify for this year's tournament, lost 2-1 against five times World Cup winners Brazil. One news agency filmed people watching the match in a restaurant and enthusiastically cheering North Korea's goal.

The country's sole state-owned television station broadcasts only one channel on weekdays, and normally only in the afternoon and in the evening.

The station got last minute access to the broadcasts of the World Cup only on the day of the opening ceremony, thanks to an agreement between Fifa and the Asia Broadcasting Union (ABU). The ABU says it is providing North Korea with free live coverage of World Cup matches so that its citizens could enjoy the sport and get a feel for life outside their isolated communist nation.

North Korean TV has broadcast a series of World Cup matches since the start of the tournament, including South Korea playing Greece, but all of the matches have been shown after they finished, none live.

The reason for the delayed telecast was not clear but it was consistent with Pyongyang's proclivity for censorship.