RIO DE JANEIRO — The day after Brazil lost to Germany in the host country’s worst World Cup loss ever, thousands of volunteers slipped on their official teal blue shirts, slid on their official dark pants and perhaps pulled the brim of their official hats down low to head to another day of working at this event, which began last month as the nation’s pride but is now its raw humiliation.

It is likely to be a tough week for the volunteers who must watch two teams not named Brazil play in Estádio do Maracanã in the final on Sunday. But, really, it has been a tough month for some volunteers anyway. The grumbling among the 15,000 volunteers at this World Cup started early, with a complaint here, a criticism there, and it grew as the weeks went on.

But the ones I talked to weren’t griping about working without a paycheck, even though FIFA could easily pay workers with the $2 billion profit it is expected to take home from Brazil.

Instead of demanding even a few bucks a day, this year’s volunteers just wanted a few perks and a peek at the games.