I do like soccer but there are many countries in which it is almost a religion and people worship the players on their team, personally I am not like that and I only watch some of the biggest events around the world, however in order to make it more interesting I make a bet or two and this immediately rises my interests on the games as now I have something to look forward, still the bets I make are low as it is not like I can afford to bet a fortune on each match I watch.
This is true, but making football a religion, i think is more of an individual thing than regional or country, there is no country in this world where you wont find some people who worship soccer like its a religion or some gods, this is very normal as it just shows how much they love the game, except it becomes an addiction in the sense that it begins to affect other parts of their lives negatively, this is the level it becomes bad, and in such a situation, I will advice the party involved to try and reduce their soccer followership, or seek help if they discover they just cant.
There are some regions or countries that are like that, one example of that is Brazil. The people from there are too crazy for football, it's like they almost worship their favorite players and they take football way too seriously. Football is also their national game, so it's probably the most loved and played sport in the country.
About individuals, there are some people who are extremely big fans of football and some footballers that literally worship them and behave like they are their god or something which isn't good at all, liking should have a limit in my opinion.