EA have released an official patch for their 2006 FIFA World Cup game. This small patch addresses an issue with ATi graphics cards.

If you are having in-game display issues with your ATi graphics card, then download this PC Patch now direct from our Download Boutique.

The World Cup 2006 Roster Update v2.0 is FIFA Korea's official patch that offers more correct national team rosters based on EA Sports's 2006 FIFA World Cup game.

This accurate roster patch includes lots of features for you:

• The accurate roster updates of final entry for 32 nations
• Entry changes for some injured players
• Real captain, best 11, free kicker for 32 nations
• Real formation and position data for each team
• Many players are newly created. (330 players)
• 4 Asian Teams(China, North Korea, Bahrain, Uzbekistan) roster update
• 5 South American Teams(Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Peru) roster update
• 8 Africa Teams(Guinea, Nigeria, South Africa, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon) roster update
• 19 European teams(Georgia, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Russia, Romania, Belgium, Belarus, Bulgaria, Scotland, Slovenia, Ireland, Austria, Wales, Israel, Turkey, Finland) roster update
• Total 68 national teams roster updates are included (All modified teams are now having 45 players)
• Tons of modification for player figures
• Accurate FIFA World Ranking from 1th to 70th
• Fixes information about some players
• And many other changes

Download this excellent Roster Update direct from our Download Boutique.

To continue celebrating Italy winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup, we bring you Sweetpatch Development Posse member Hayan's latest Face Update for Italy and Juventus star striker Alessandro Del Piero.

This face update works for both your 2006 FIFA World Cup and FIFA 06 games and you can check out a full size screenshot by clicking on the image on the right.

Download this excellent face direct from our Download Boutique.

To celebrates Italy winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup, we bring you Sweetpatch Development Posse member Hayan's great new Face Update for Italy and Roma star midfielder Francesco Totti.

This face update works for both your 2006 FIFA World Cup and FIFA 06 games and you can check out a full size screenshot by clicking on the image on the right.

Download this excellent face direct from our Download Boutique.

As the World Cup is now over, we have extended the time you have for sending us your photos and videos for our World Cup Crazy Videos and Photos Competition to the end of this month!

If you took any photos or videos during the World Cup then please enter our competition and you will be entered in our World Cup Crazy Videos and Photos Competition with the chance to win some great EA SPORTS goodies.

Even better, at the end of the competition you, the visitors, can vote on your favourite videos and photos from those we received and the winners will receive some great prizes.

Click here to send us your videos and photos from the games you have watched.

We have received some great photos this week from Khristopher Watkins from the USA. He is a service member that was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany (recently have moved back to the USA) but was able to go downtown Stuttgart (Schlossplatz) and watch three games. He got tickets for S. Korea vs Togo in Frankfurt, but was unable to go due to the move. But, going downtown and being in that atmosphere was great!! He was also able to attend the USA vs Poland and USA vs Germany pre-Cup games!

Check out Khristopher's great photos below:

As we started during the World Cup, we are delighted that in partnership with our friends over at FIFA4Fans we can bring you all of their World Cup 2006 kits for your games of FIFA 06 and 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Today we catch up with all the kits for all the teams in Group C:

Group C
Argentina
Netherlands
Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro

Download these excellent Kits by clicking on the game logos above or direct from our FIFA 06 Download Boutique or 2006 FIFA World Cup Download Boutique.

As the World Cup is now over, we have decided to extend the time you have for sending us your photos and videos for our World Cup Crazy Videos and Photos Competition to the end of this month!

If you took any photos or videos during the World Cup then please enter our competition and you will be entered in our World Cup Crazy Videos and Photos Competition with the chance to win some great EA SPORTS goodies.

Even better, at the end of the competition you, the visitors, can vote on your favourite videos and photos from those we received and the winners will receive some great prizes.

Click here to send us your videos and photos from the games you have watched.

Please see below some of the great photos we have received so far:

Pity if you will poor old Zinedine Zidane: sent off during the World Cup final for a serious infraction of FIFA's "no headbutting Italians" rule and now reduced to the status of French national hero with enough cash in the bank to enjoy a lifetime of truffles, stuffed songbirds and fine vintage champagne.

Indeed, while the rest of the world was struggling to contain its outrage at Zidane's unsportsmanlike use of the Glasgow handshake, Jacques Chirac counterattacked with: "I would like to express all the respect that I have for a man who represents at the same time all the most beautiful values of sport, the greatest human qualities one can imagine, and who has honoured French sport and, simply, France."

Well, therein lies the rub, mon ami. How you view the whole thing depends largely on your national perspective.

Click here to see how the incident was viewed by the different audiences in:

• Germany
• France
• Italy
• America
• The press

© 2006 The Register

Who scored the most goals at this years World Cup and received the coveted Golden Shoe Award?

With five goals at Germany 2006, tournament top-scorer Miroslav Klose of Germany was one of the key reasons behind the host nation's third-place finish. Klose equalled his tally at Korea/Japan 2002 with 5 goals, taking his goals' total in FIFA World Cup finals into double figures.

In 2nd place receiving the Silver Shoe Award was Argentina's Hernan Crespo and in 3rd place receiving the Bronze Shoe Award was the World Cup's all time highest scorer, Ronaldo of Brazil.

The FIFA Master himself, Rinaldo, brings you an excellent updated version of his generic editor for the database files used in the 2006 FIFA World Cup game, DB Master.

Version 2.0 of DB Master offers several new and unique features including:

• Search function
• the capability to Import/Export tables in standard file format reusable by Excel
• but the most important one is Intelli-Edit, a technology that allows you to customize the editor behaviour and greatly simplify the editing process.

Download this excellent utility direct from the home of the FIFA Master.

As the 2006 FIFA World Cup is now complete, this week we will be bringing you the final news of all features we have been running at the site during the competition, including:

• Final thoughts from our Adopted Young Player, Lionel Messi of Argentina
• Men of the Match - who got the most awards?
• Golden Shoe - who scored the most goals?

Today we start with the awards announced for the Players of the Tournament:

• Gillette Best Young Player = 21-year-old Germany striker Lukas Podolski
• Golden Ball Award = French playmaker Zinedine Zidane was voted player of the tournament
• Silver Ball Award = Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro was voted in 2nd place
• Bronze Ball Award = Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo was voted in 3rd place

Italy beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after an absorbing 1-1 draw in Berlin. Fabio Grosso scored the winning goal after France's David Trezeguet missed.

Playing his last game before retiring, Zinedine Zidane's career ended in disgrace after he was sent off for crazily headbutting Marco Materazzi.

Zidane had put France ahead early on with a coolly-taken chipped penalty, before Materazzi levelled with a header from an Andrea Pirlo corner.

The result caps an incredible period for Italian football, with the domestic game embroiled in a corruption scandal similar to 1982 when they last won the World Cup. They have now won the competition four times, one fewer than Brazil, and it was the first time they managed to win a World Cup match on penalties after three failed attempts.

But France legend Zidane may forever be haunted by the moment of madness which cost him a second World Cup title.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

So that's it for another 4 years and we really hope you have enjoyed our extensive coverage of the tournament.

Italy have reached the World Cup final every 12 years since 1970. They lost the 1970 final, won in 1982 and lost in 1994.

The 2006 World Cup final will be the first since 1978 without Germany or Brazil and the first final since 1938 without Germany or Brazil or the host nation. The 2006 final is also the first all-European World Cup final since 1982 when Italy beat West Germany 3-1.

Juventus is represented by eight players in the squads of Italy and France. Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi and Alessandro Del Piero face their French team mates Liliam Thuram, Patrick Vieira and David Trezeguet.

Today sees the Final match in this years World Cup tournament between Italy and France.

Italy defender Alessandro Nesta has been ruled out of the World Cup final in Berlin because of a groin injury. The AC Milan centre-back has missed Italy's last three matches after aggravating a long-term injury in Italy's 2-0 win over Czech Republic. Marco Materazzi continues in defence alongside skipper Fabio Cannavaro.

France's Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram will play their final games for Les Bleus after confirming their retirement from international football.

Italy are the designated home team and will sport their familiar home blue colours, while France will play in white for the fourth match in a row.

Check out the full match preview and live action during the match over at our Match Centre by clicking here and keep updated with much much more, available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre by clicking here .

Two long-range efforts from Bastian Schweinstieger ensured hosts Germany overcame Portugal to claim third place.

Germany took the lead when midfielder Schweinstieger cut in from the left and drilled in a swerving shot. The Germans went two up when the lively Schweinsteiger's free-kick was sliced into his own net by Armando Petit. Schweinsteiger sealed the victory with another rasping shot from 25 yards and Nuno Gomes headed Portugal a late consolation after a Luis Figo cross.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

As we enter the last few days of the World Cup and the daily news decreases, we are delighted that in partnership with our friends over at FIFA4Fans we can bring you all of their World Cup 2006 kits for your games of FIFA 06 and 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After my earlier mistake, today we catch up with all the kits for all the teams in Group A and Group B:

Group A	Kits available for:
Team	FIFA 06	WC 2006
Germany
Ecuador
Poland
Costa Rica
Group B	Kits available for:
Team	FIFA 06	WC 2006
England
Sweden
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago

Download these excellent Kits by clicking on the game logos above or direct from our Download Boutique.

France booked a World Cup final spot against Italy after Zinedine Zidane's first-half penalty earned victory over a disappointing Portugal in Munich.

Zidane struck coolly past Ricardo on 33 minutes after Thierry Henry was tripped inside the box by Ricardo Carvalho. Henry saw another shot trickle wide and Franck Ribery forced Ricardo to save. Luis Figo and Deco saw shots saved by Fabien Barthez and Figo nodded over late on, but France stayed in control and thoroughly deserved their win.

Raymond Domenech's side will now play Italy in the final in Berlin on Sunday at 1900 BST.

The final will be Zidane's last game before he retires from professional football and is a chance to win his second World Cup after the 1998 triumph on home soil.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Today sees the 2nd match in the Semi Finals with Engalnd's conquerors Portugal taking on the impressive France.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo are doubts for Portugal's semi-final on Wednesday against France in Munich, after training separately on Tuesday. But Costinha and Deco return from suspension with Tiago and Armando Petit likely to make way.

France coach Raymond Domenech is set to keep faith in the team that beat Spain and Brazil in previous rounds. The win over Brazil was the first time in two years that France have fielded the same team in successive games.

Check out the full match preview and live action during the match over at our Match Centre by clicking here and keep updated with much much more, available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre by clicking here.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

After a very impressive France took advantage of a still surprisingly weak Brazil, everybody is now praising the indisputable talent of the Great Zinedine.

And when I say everybody, even the majority of French people were already in disbelief and even shouting their “god” from 98. Even the Spanish newspapers headlining last week: “We’re sending Zidane to retirement”, are now praying that he will continue to play for Real!

Anyway, here’s the story and it’s about that famous door that Zidane kicked in Leipzig. “Zinedine Zidane nor any French man has kicked the door from the cloakroom in Leipzig”, are the words from the French delegation reported by the Committee of the Organisation of the World Cup.

The committee also announced they will hire a private-eye to find out who’s responsible for the damage.

As you could read in a recent article, it was believed that Zidane smashed the door out of frustration after the game against South Korea.

Stunning late extra-time strikes from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero took Italy into the World Cup final at Germany's expense with a 2-0 win.

An absorbing semi-final seemed set for penalties until Grosso curled man of the match Andrea Pirlo's pass past Jens Lehmann with just one minute left. Del Piero then finished an Italy break with a delicate chip into the corner.

Germany's Lukas Podolski earlier sent a header wide and saw a shot saved, but the hosts' Cup dreams were shattered.

There were, unsurprisingly, tears among German players and fans after the extraordinary end to an enthralling encounter - in which Italy also hit the woodwork twice in extra-time.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Today sees the 1st match in the Semi Finals with the hosts Germany taking on Italy.

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings will miss the match after being banned by Fifa. Frings was found guilty of throwing a punch at Argentina's Julio Cruz during the ugly fracas that followed Friday's quarter-final in Berlin. However, captain Michael Ballack and top scorer Miroslav Klose will be fit after shrugging off minor injuries.

Italy's Alessandro Nesta, who has missed the last two games with a groin injury, looks certain to miss out. Marco Materazzi is available again after a ban, but Mauro Camoranesi is struggling with a right knee injury.

Luca Toni's brace against Ukraine may have earned him a stay of execution after a below-par tournament before the quarters, but Alberto Gilardino looks set return in place of the injured Camoranesi in a 4-3-1-2 formation. That would free Francesco Totti to roam behind the front two with coach Lippi hoping to expose Germany's defensive flaws in Dortmund.

Check out the full match preview and live action during the match over at our Match Centre by clicking here and keep updated with much much more, available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre by clicking here.

To celebrate Independence Day, our MLS correspondent David Gwydir brings us some news coming out from the USA camp following their exit out of the World Cup.

Here are some links to a couple of stories about the United States' World Cup performance, as Coach Bruce Arena is coming under a lot of heat:

• Warning Signs
• Arena: "Right now, I'm just an idiot."
• MLS supporters lash out at Arena, critics
• Klinsmann: No interest in taking over U.S.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

While watching Germany v Argentina, somebody asked suddenly if they had already shown Diego Maradona in the crowd. During the game it was like looking for Waldo!

You remember that little game where you had to find that guy in the picture wearing a red & white pullover… So after looking out to see a Diego in a white & blue shirt we admitted that they curiously didn’t show him!

Somebody even came up with the idea that the German cameraman didn’t want to show him in order to prevent him from firing up the Argentinian crowd.

So where was “La Mano Di Dio” (The hand of God) while Argentina was getting knocked out in the penalty shootout?

Well, he was simply not there as he had received 4 VIP tickets for the game but came with a 5th person. And the person was of course not let in by the organisation.

“All out, all home” thought Maradona and so they went back to his hotel to watch the game in his hotel room.

“We are always saving tickets in case that Maradona wants to go to a game. Even, if he decides to show up at the last second. But Friday, he was with someone who we couldn’t let go inside”, said the organisation.

Wonder who that 5th person was...

David Beckham has decided to step down as England captain after holding the role for six years. But the Real Madrid star does want to continue his international career.

Beckham revealed his decision at England's final news conference in Germany in the wake of their World Cup quarter-final defeat by Portugal.

The 31-year-old midfielder said: "I feel the time is right to pass on the armband as we enter a new era under new coach Steve McClaren."

Read the full emotional announcement by clicking here.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

Goleo, the well-known mascot of this World Cup in Germany has brought a lot of positive waves to the German squad. But some other Germans won’t keep a good souvenir of that stuffed lion-look-alike toy with his talking ball.

Nici, the firm that created Goleo is planning to get rid of 123 of their employees. 24 of these had a temporary contract with the company.

The surprisingly disappointing sales of the mascot hasn’t had much to do with it. The company went bankrupt last month and the ex-director admitted afterwards that he laundered 40.5 millions Euros!

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

On Monday 26th, Ukraine needed the penalty shootout to defeat Switzerland. Weirdly enough, the Ukrainian coach didn’t watch it.

“What? Who missed? Shevchenko?”, Blochin looked amazed during the press conference when the journalists asked him to comment on the failure of The Star. “How come? He is our indisputable penalty kicker and he missed on such a moment!”

The thing was, that Blochin rushed inside the changing-room and came back only when it was over… and that he learned that his team had won of course!

“Penalties are great for the audience but too much of a stress for the trainer.”, Said Blochin.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

As France qualified for the semis by beating favourites Brazil, here is a story that takes us back a few days in time.

On Sunday June 18th, France played a frustrated game against South-Korea. Remember, in that game Zidane received his second card of the tournament preventing him to play the third group game against Togo. France won that third game 2-0 giving them a place in the next round where they met Spain, etc...

Anyway, that Sunday Zidane was so angry that he showed a part of his dark blue side by kicking hard several times at a door somewhere in the Stadium of Leipzig. The boss of the club didn’t find that funny in the first place but after thinking twice he finally had a laugh about it.

“I wanted to ask FIFA to repay the damage, but after all who’s got such a door in his house? I’m going to keep it!”, said the man. "This will be a marvellous souvenir of the Zidane the Magnificent!"

France are playing next on Wednesday against Portugal for a place in the Final.

Thierry Henry's superb volley sent holders Brazil out of the World Cup as France moved into the semi-finals.

Inspired by man-of-the-match Zinedine Zidane, France were the better side in the first half, but failed to create clear chances to trouble Dida. That changed just before the hour when Zidane swept a free-kick to the far post where it was sumptuously volleyed past the Brazilian goalkeeper by Henry. Fabien Barthez denied Ronaldo late on to set up a semi-final with Portugal.

Brazil had strolled their way to the quarter-finals, but Carlos Alberto Parriera's side had no answer to a France team that combined defensive discipline with some wonderful attacking play.

France's route to the last eight has involved plenty of huffing and puffing, but the knockout stages have brought out the best in Raymond Domenech's side.

Zidane was magnificent throughout, while after the interval the speed of Henry and Franck Ribery unsettled the Brazilian defence.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

England went out of the World Cup 3-1 on penalties after their quarter-final with Portugal ended 0-0.

England lost skipper David Beckham to injury just after half-time and Wayne Rooney was sent off after 62 minutes for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho. They battled on bravely for the rest of normal time and extra-time with 10 men to take the game to a shoot-out. But Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed to end their hopes and Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign.

The Swede leaves his post as England coach after going out at the quarter-final stage of a major tournament for the third time in succession and now hands over to Steve McClaren.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Chelsea manager José Mourinho takes a close look at both squads of players in advance of today's England v Portugal quarter final. Being Portuguese and managing in England he is a great authority on both sets of players.

See what he has to say about the English players by clicking here and the Portuguese by clicking here.

Today sees the last 2 matches in the Quarter Finals.

England v Portugal (16:00)
Thousands of England fans have gathered in Gelsenkirchen for the 1600 BST kick-off which will be played under a closed roof in 30C heat. Midfielder Frank Lampard and full-back Gary Neville are set to start for England after shaking off injuries.

Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a race against time to recover from an injured thigh.

Brazil v France (20:00)
Brazil midfielder Emerson and Kaka both took part in training as usual on Friday as they seek to prove their fitness following knee injuries. Juninho Pernambucano and Gilberto Silva stand by, while defender Lucio and striker Robinho (both thigh) should be fit to take on France too.

France have suffered a late scare after veteran midfielder Zinedine Zidane sat out training on Thursday. The 34-year-old has a sore foot but is expected to play in an unchanged team.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here and keep updated with much much more, available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

Jens Lehman, who just received some nice compliments from Oliver Khan himself, wood like to make the World Cup go on for a little longer. Logic you will say! But football is not the reason, the German squad hotel is!

The Mannschaft is currently staying in a luxury villa built 95 years ago and converted into a 5 star Hotel.

“This just fantastic”, said a smiling Lehman in a press conference, “Even when we have a free day and we can choose to go and do whatever we want, we all prefer to stay here.”

Just to give you an idea: the price of a Suite in the Schlosshotel in Berlin can go to 3.000 Euros. Don’t hesitate to visit the website by clicking here just to take a look of the place.

Italy will meet Germany in the World Cup semi-finals as they beat Ukraine to extend their unbeaten run to 23 games.

Ukraine adopted a policy of containment but were behind after six minutes when keeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy was unable to keep out Gianluca Zambrotta's shot. Italy extended their lead when Luca Toni guided home a 59th minute header. Maxim Kalinichenko twice hit the woodwork for Ukraine either side of Italy's second, before Toni sealed the win as he converted Zambrotta's cross.

Italy were well worth their win, with Gianluigi Buffon superb in goal.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Germany beat Argentina 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a tense quarter-final in Berlin ended 1-1 after extra-time.

Argentina led when Roberto Ayala took advantage of slack marking to head in a Juan Riquelme corner after 49 minutes. But with 10 minutes left Michael Ballack's cross was flicked on by Tim Borowski and Miroslav Klose headed home his fifth of the tournament.

Germany scored from their first four kicks but Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso both missed to send the hosts through.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Today sees the first 2 matches in the Quarter Finals.

Germany v Argentina (16:00)
Germany are confident skipper Michael Ballack and striker Miroslav Klose will shake off injuries in time for Friday's quarter-final. Ballack (swollen ankle) and Klose (tendonitis) missed Tuesday's training session but both returned on Wednesday.

Argentina's Luis Gonzalez has recovered from a groin injury and should be fit to play at right midfield. Nicolas Burdisso is still doubtful with a knee injury, while Leandro Cufre is likely to come in for Lionel Scaloni.

Italy v Ukraine (20:00)
Italy defender Alessandro Nesta will miss Friday's quarter-final against Ukraine because of a groin strain. Marco Materazzi is suspended so Andrea Barzagli - Italy's only other available centre-half - is likely to start alongside Fabio Cannavaro in defence.

Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin will miss the rest of the World Cup because of a thigh injury. Sergiy Rebrov is likely to come in to the midfield, meaning Andriy Vorobei will play further forward.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here and keep updated with much much more, available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre.

The guys in our forums have found this excellent site where you can find out what your "Brazil Name" is. It also enables you to print out your very own Brazil Shirt (including hanging tags).

Go and find out what your Brazil Name is by clicking here and then post the results in our forum by clicking here so we can all see who has the best Brazilian names.

We have some great behind the scenes information from the World Cup, regarding the IT setup, that will blow your minds.

There aren't many enterprises that boast 250,000 users, 10,000 network devices and an IT budget in the double-figure millions. But when you consider that budget is spent to support just one month's up-time it becomes clear why the Fifa World Cup Finals has been branded one of the world's largest - and most unique - IT projects.

Peter Meyer, head of IT at Fifa, said: "It's simple. You organise a tournament with 32 teams and at the end of it one of them wins. "Where the challenge comes in is because it is global. You need technology to stage an event of this magnitude."

The network created by Fifa for the duration of the World Cup spans 12 stadiums, each with a state-of-the-art media centre. Meyer said: "Four years ago there was one international media centre, now there are 12 stadium media centres," which means the network has exploded in size and complexity. The Fifa network also incorporates:

• the tournament HQ in Berlin;
• the international broadcast centre in Munich;
• the IT command centre in Munich;
• 14 accreditation centres issuing passes to 15,000 members of the media, as well as partners, sponsors and Fifa employees;
• venue hotels in all the host cities,
• the referee's hotel in Frankfurt; and
• connected information points and helpdesks at airports and train stations.

During the tournament the network will carry an estimated 20 terabytes of converged voice and data traffic - or enough to fill 5,120 iPod Nanos at a rate of 170 per day. Included will be the data created by 3.2 million RFID-chipped tickets.

The network for the Fifa World Cup 2006 consists of:

• Three million RFID chips in tickets
• 250,000 users
• 40,000 network connections
• 10,000 communications and network devices
• 8,000 temporary network ports
• 8,000km of temporary cabling
• 45 application servers
• 25 communication servers
• 20 software applications
• 20 terabytes of converged voice and data traffic

Doug Gardner, World Cup programme managing director at Avaya, said: "Security for the World Cup network is a major consideration. Somebody is going to try to break into the network just to say they have done it."

And as quickly as the giant project was assembled so too will it be disassembled. Avaya's Gardner said: "Leipzig's last game finishes on Saturday and by Tuesday we have to have gracefully take Leipzig off the network to avoid any security concerns. We will eventually do this at all stadiums until we get down to just one - Berlin on 9 July."

Read more about this fantastic IT project by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 CNET Networks, Inc.

The new ‘Fan of the Match’ award celebrates the passion of colourful supporters at every FIFA World Cup game in Germany. You also get the chance to vote for your ‘Fan of the Tournament’ from among the chosen winners in the Hyundai Fan Corner.

Check out all the winners and get your votes in by clicking here.

All this news and much much more is available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre.

Graham Poll has been named as one of 14 referees who have been sent home from the World Cup.

The English referee has paid the price for his yellow-card blunder in the Australia versus Croatia game when he booked Josip Simunic three times.

Russian Valentin Ivanov, who issued a World Cup record 16 yellow and four red cards in Portugal's fiery game against Holland, is also on his way home.

Poll, 42, had been tipped as a possible World Cup final referee prior to the tournament getting under way. But a series of errors in Australia's crucial final Group F match ended any such hopes of being given the showpiece final. Poll's biggest mistake led to him cautioning Croatia's Simunic three times before finally sending him off.

In explaining his actions to the committee, Poll said he incorrectly noted down the name of the Australia number three Craig Moore when booking Simunic for the second time and failed to realise his error.

Poll's assistant referees Philip Sharp and Glenn Turner will also not be involved in the latter stages of the tournament in Germany.

All this news and much much more is available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre.

Over at the official World Cup site Argentina's Juan Roman Riquelme has put together his adidas +10 team.

It includes:

1. Oscar Cordoba in goal
2. Hugo Ibarra
3. Fabricio Coloccini
4. Walter Samuel
5. Diego Placente
6. Fernando Redondo
7. Pablo Aimar
8. Juan Roman Riquelme
9. Gabriel Batistuta
10. Claudio Caniggia
11. Diego Maradona

See what he has to say about each of these great players by clicking here.

Keep track of all your team's latest injury worries in the build up to the World Cup quarter finals.

At PhysioRoom.com you can get full details of each players injury plus a league table of which team has how many injuries, to whom and what injury they have.

Keep track of all your team's injury worries throughout the World Cup by clicking here.

All this news and much much more is available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre.

As we have a couple of days off from all the action we catch up on a few items that may well be of interest to you.

The leading goalscorer at every FIFA World Cup™ finals is awarded the adidas Golden Shoe - past winners of the accolade include Gerd Muller, Ronaldo and Just Fontaine.

Check out who is winning so far and vote on who you think will win it this year by clicking here.

All this news and much much more is available direct from our dedicated 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre.

Lionel Messi, our Adopted Young Player of the World Cup, spoke at a recent press conference about the upcoming quarter final game against Germany, to be played on Friday:

"Germany are a hard team both at the back and upfront. We are going to try and put the ball on the ground. Playing this way we will probably get them into trouble."

"There are no easy games when you are talking about a World Cup quarter finals. Germany are a good team and besides they are the hosts. But we have proved our worth and showed we can beat any team."

"I always try to have fun when I am on the pitch. I am grateful to all the people supporting and praising me, but when I am playing I forget about everything else and just concentrate on doing my best and enjoying myself."

News courtesy of the Lionel Messi Weblog.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

Sepp Blatter has announced that the monthly "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking" will be built in a new way.

"The ranks have to show more logic. We will keep only the results from the last four years and not from the last eight anymore. The new method will be introduced on July 6th."

Blatter argues on the fact that he is really disappointed by the United States occupying 4th place and already so easily eliminated from this World Cup. Mexico are also in 4th place whereas Germany is only 19th. A bit weird indeed especially as you take a look at the present ranks:

1. Brazil
2. Czech Republic
3. Netherlands
4. Mexico
5. USA
6. Spain
7. Portugal
8. France
9. Argentina
10. England
11. Nigeria
12. Denmark
13. Italy
14. Turkey
15. Cameroon
16. Sweden
17. Egypt
18. Japan
19. Germany
20. Greece

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

One other story about the Great Beckenbauer is that he insisted on the fact that he would attend the maximum games. And he really seems to hold his promise as he is flying from one stadium to another in a helicopter or a private jet.

But last Friday he took a surprising day off! Taking time to write his “goodbye-and-many thanks” letters to the departing teams? (see previous article by clicking here). Not at all ladies & gentlemen, the guy came up with a bigger but private surprise: he got married! 60 years old Kaizer and 39 years old Heidi Burmester said yes to each other on Friday during a highly secret ceremony.

She is Franz Beckenbauer's former secretary and now third wife. The 23rd of June is not just any day, it’s Franz’s mother birthday (she passed away last January).

He commented on the ceremony saying: “We wanted to be alone, away from the mass. Also nobody expected we would get married during the World Cup.”

France struck twice in the last 10 minutes to see off Spain and set up a quarter-final meeting with Brazil.

Spain went ahead through David Villa's superbly struck penalty after Lilian Thuram rashly fouled Ibanez Pablo. France soon equalised when Frank Ribery rounded Iker Casillas after he was found by Patrick Vieira's clever pass. With seven minutes to go Vieira powered in a header and with Spain pushing forward Zinedine Zidane broke clear for a solo effort in stoppage time.

Zidane, who struggled in France's first two group games, looks to have finally found his rhythm, prompting and cajoling his teammates to victory just as he did during their successful 1998 campaign.

France's victory also means Brazil will face their nemesis Zidane again, the player who scored twice against them in the 1998 World Cup final.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Ronaldo became the highest scorer in World Cup finals history as Brazil beat Ghana to book a quarter-final place against France.

The 29-year-old took just five minutes to go past Gerd Muller's tally of 14, latching on to Kaka's through ball and rounding Richard Kingson to slot home. Adriano tapped in Cafu's cross and Ze Roberto ran through to wrap it up while Ghana's Asamoah Gyan was sent off.

The scoreline was perhaps a touch harsh on Ghana, who recovered from a horror start to match their more illustrious opponents. John Mensah had the Africans' best chance, but Dida saved his header.

Brazil will now meet France in the last eight on Saturday in Frankfurt at 2000 BST.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Today sees the last 2 matches in the Round of 16.

Brazil v Ghana (16:00)
Robinho, who started Brazil's win over Japan, has been ruled out with a minor thigh muscle injury, so Adriano is likely to return to the side. Alternatively, Ronaldinho could move up front with Juninho coming into midfield but coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will delay making a decision until Tuesday.

Ghana's influential midfielder Michael Essien is suspended for the match. Razak Pimpong hopes to be fit after injuring a rib against the USA, but otherwise Ghana are at full strength.

Spain v France (20:00)
Spain coach Luis Aragones has included Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Raul in the starting XI after resting many first choice players for the last group game. Raul should come in at the expense of forward Luis Garcia, and Fabregas will replace midfielder Marcos Senna.

French coach Raymond Domench has Eric Abidal and Zinedine Zidane back after bans so his only worry is whether to play Thierry Henry alone up front. He will leave it late before deciding if David Trezeguet will partner him.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Every team that gets eliminated from the World Cup gets a personal letter from Franz Beckenbauer. Franz nicknamed the Kaizer (the Emperor) is the well-known president of committee of organisation behind Germany 2006.

Amongst his honours he brought as a player a World Cup to West Germany in 1974 and then as the coach of the freshly reunited Germany in 1990 by beating Maradonna’s Argentina.

Anyway, the Organisation claims that these are not “standard letters” but that they are written with “personal feelings” from Beckenbauer over the performance of the country during the competition.

1. Costa Rica and Poland had the honour to receive the letter as firsts on Wednesday.
2. Thursday it was the turn of Paraguay, Serbia & Montenegro, Angola and Ivory Coast.
3. On Friday, Iran were taking their luggage away.

Franz knows what he has to do.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

A French man pretends he own the secret of success to make Zidane, Henry, Viera and the whole French team play better. He offers on eBay a “very rare” bottle of Champagne.

This Magnum (1.5 litres) is part of an official production of champagne specially delivered for the World cup 1998. The one that France brought back home… Well, as they where already home, let say the one Les Bleus won at home.

That legendary team of France of 98 under the direction of Aimé Jacquet was composed of:

• F. Barthez - L. Blanc - A. Boghossian - V. Candela - M. Desailly - D. Deschamps - B. Diomède - Y. Djorkaeff - C. Dugarry - S. Guivarch - T. Henry - C. Karembeu - B. Lama - F. Leboeuf - B. Lizarazu - E. Petit - R. Pires - L. Thuram - D. Trézéguet - P. Viera - Z. Zidane.

Anyway this Magnum has been conserved since 1998 in its original engraved and French-color-painted wooden box. This is the “have-to-own”, the lucky charm that made and will make France win that World Cup again.

The guy pretends it has to be probably the one and only Magnum left as there were nearly no magnum produced… and the rest was certainly smashed open and drunk.

“That very bottle was on my TV during the World Cup final between France and Brazil. You know how it did end! 3-0”: says the confident man. “I saved her and now, I have to separate myself from her… with regrets.”

The price? Well hang on because I don’t think you’ll ever drink this one after 8 years. Especially on a hot TV. The auction starts at 10.000 Euros and ends on June 29 at 9 pm, Paris time.

As I went looking… there was still no offers. Click here to visit eBay to see this very rare bottle of champagne (and make a bid if you wish!).

Ukraine reached the quarter-finals after beating Switzerland on penalties.

The Swiss missed three spotkicks, but Ukraine's Artem Milevskiy, Serghiy Rebrov and Oleg Gusev made no mistake to seal a 3-0 shoot-out victory. Shevchenko missed Ukraine's first penalty in the shoot-out, but as Marco Streller, Tranquillo Barnetta and Ricardo Cabanas failed with tame efforts, the Eastern European side progressed to the last eight. Ukraine goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy saved the penalties of Streller and Cabanas, while Barnetta hit the bar with his spot-kick.

Competing in their first World Cup finals, Ukraine now meet Italy in the quarter-finals in Hamburg on Friday.

As they exited the competition Switzerland set two records:

1. they are the first team to go out of the World Cup without conceding a goal; and
2. they are the first side not to score a single penalty in a shoot-out.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Francesco Totti came off the bench to score an injury-time penalty and put 10-man Italy into the quarter-finals.

With the clock ticking down, Fabio Grosso marauded down the left flank and worked his way into the box before falling over Lucas Neill's prone body. Totti kept his nerve to convert with the last kick of the game, breaking Australian hearts in Kaiserslauten.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Argentina's teenage star Lionel Messi (and our Adopted Young Player of the World Cup), has received more praise from the greats, this time from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, former German national team player and current president of FC Bayern Munich:

"Messi is one of the best players I have ever seen. Nobody was so wonderful at age 19, not even Maradona or Pelé".

Also, last week saw Lionel Andrés Messi's 19th birthday. He was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario.

Belated best wishes Lionel from us all here at the Sweetpatch site.

Today sees 2 more matches in the Round of 16.

Italy v Australia (16:00)
Italy's Alessandro Nesta has been ruled out of today's second round match with Australia because of a thigh injury. Nesta's place will be taken by Marco Materazzi, who scored in the 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic.

Australia goalkeeper Zejko Kalac, who let in a soft goal against Croatia, has been replaced by Mark Schwarzer. Harry Kewell (groin) is a doubt and manager Guus Hiddink has to choose between Mark Milligan and Jason Culina to replace the suspended Brett Emerton.

Switzerland v Ukraine (20:00)
Switzerland centre back Philippe Senderos, who dislocated a shoulder in the 2-0 win over South Korea, will miss the second-round game against Ukraine. The Arsenal defender will be out of action for the next five or six weeks, and is likely to be replaced by his Gunners team-mate, Johan Djourou. The 19-year-old Ivorian-born defender was the 53rd-minute substitute for Senderos in the victory over Korea. Striker Daniel Gygax should be available despite a muscle strain.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Portugal booked their place in the last eight of the World Cup and a meeting with England on Saturday after beating Holland in a stormy encounter.

Both teams finished the game with nine men after a game which equalled the World Cup record for bookings - 16 - and broke the record for red cards. Deco and Costinha were dismissed for Portugal, while Khalid Boulahrouz and Gio van Bronkhorst saw red for Holland. Maniche scored the only goal, firing into the top corner after 23 minutes.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's side will now play England on Saturday 1 July at 1600 BST in Gelsenkirchen.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

David Beckham became the first England player to score at three World Cups as his free-kick earned a quarter-final tie against Portugal on Saturday.

Beckham defied illness to curl home from 30 yards on the hour mark, but England made hard work of Ecuador. The South Americans could have gone in front early on, Carlos Tenorio's shot deflecting off Ashley Cole and on to the bar after John Terry's mistake. Frank Lampard missed two fine chances but England had done enough to win.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's side will now play Portugal - after their stormy 1-0 win against Holland - on Saturday 1 July at 1600 BST in Gelsenkirchen.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

A wonder strike in extra-time from Maxi Rodriguez gave Argentina victory in a pulsating end-to-end encounter.

Mexico took a surprise lead after five minutes when Rafael Marquez got on the end of a Mario Mendez free-kick.

Argentina replied five minutes later when a corner was forced home by a combination of Hernan Crespo's foot and Jared Borgetti's head.

Rodriguez set up a quarter-final with Germany when he chested Juan Sorin's pass and stunningly volleyed home.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Hosts Germany booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals as two early goals from Lukas Podolski helped secure victory over 10-man Sweden.

Podolski scored on just four minutes, driving home the loose ball after Sweden keeper Andreas Isaksson parried.

And Podolski finished smartly after Miroslav Klose's pass on 12 minutes.

Sweden's Teddy Lucic was sent off for a second booking on 35 minutes and their miserable day was complete when Henrik Larsson missed a second-half penalty.

It was an assured display from Germany, who always looked like adding to their lead after gaining the early advantage.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here.

Today sees 2 matches as we start the knock stages of the tournament in the Round of 16.

Germany v Sweden (16:00)
German manager Jurgen Klinsmann has a fully fit squad to choose from for the last 16 match against Sweden. Defender Christoph Metzelder has recovered from a knee injury and could return to the side meaning deputy Robert Huth would return to the bench.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could play some part against Germany after he came through a solid training session. If Ibrahimovic fails to shake off a groin injury then Marcus Allback will continue to deputise.

Argentina v Mexico (20:00)
Argentina right-back Nicolas Burdisso is sidelined with a sprained right knee so Fabricio Coloccini will step in. Hernan Crespo is set to lead the line and Javier Saviola will sit behind him with Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez returning to the bench.

Mexico striker Jared Borgetti is on the verge of a return from a thigh injury - but the Bolton striker will have the final say over his fitness. Brazilian-born Antonio Naelson "Zinha" shoud replace suspended Luis Perez.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Group G came to its conclusion yesterday with the following matches:

Switzerland 2 South Korea 0
Switzerland booked their place in the second round with a gutsy victory in their final Group G game in Hanover.

Hakan Yakin's pin-point cross was met by the brave Philippe Senderos who powerfully headed Switzerland in front. Jin-Chul Choi and Chun-Soo Lee went close for South Korea before Alexander Frei scored a controversial second. Frei rounded the keeper after the referee overruled his assistant's offside flag, ensuring the Swiss will now meet Ukraine in the second round.

Togo 0 France 2
Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry scored as France secured their place in the knockout stages of the World Cup.

France needed victory to ensure their progress from Group G, but they were frustrated by a spirited Togo defence during a goalless first half. But Vieira, celebrating his 30th birthday, eased the nerves as he fired home from inside the box on 55 minutes. And Henry turned before sending in a low shot six minutes later to set up a second round tie against Spain.

The win seemed comfortable in the end, but it was anything but for much of the opening hour as France looked in real danger of making an early exit from the competition.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group G was as follows:

Group H came to its conclusion yesterday with the following matches:

Ukraine 1 Tunisia 0
Ukraine reached the knockout stages on their World Cup debut with a narrow victory against 10-man Tunisia.

Andriy Shevchenko's 71st-minute penalty sealed victory after Chelsea's new recruit had tumbled over in the area. Striker Ziad Jaziri's dismissal just before half-time for a second bookable offence stunned Tunisia, who needed a win to stand any chance of qualifying.

Ukraine's victory sealed second spot in Group H and a second round match against Switzerland in Cologne.

Saudi Arabia 0 Spain 1
Spain strolled their way to three wins from three and top spot in Group H as their second string beat a poor Saudi Arabia outfit in Kaiserslauten.

Having enjoyed a wealth of possession, the only surprise was that Juanito's header was the only goal at half-time. Mabrouk Zaid produced a string of saves in the Saudi goal, with Joaquin, Jose Antonio Reyes and David Albelda denied. However, a late Saudi surge did cause Spain some discomfort, with Saad Al Harthi firing a fine chance over.

The result means Spain will face France, who finished runners up in Group G behind Switzerland, in the second round on 27 June in Hanover (2000 BST).

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group H was as follows:

Today sees 4 matches as teams play their final games in groups G and H.

Ukraine v Tunisia (15:00)
Ukraine defender Vladyslav Vashchyuk is available after missing the win over Saudi Arabia after being sent off in the opener against Spain. But fellow defender Volodymyr Yesersky is doubtful with the thigh injury which ruled him out against Saudi Arabia.

Tunisia are bracing themselves for the results of a scan for Brazilian-born striker Francileudo Santos. Santos missed Tunisia's first two games with a calf injury but despite resuming training is not expected to be fit.

Saudi Arabia v Spain (15:00)
Saudi Arabia skipper Sami Al Jaber may start alongside Yassir Al Qahtani in attack when they take on Spain on Friday in their final group match. Saudi need to beat Spain to stand any chance of progressing through to the second round.

Spain will make sweeping changes having already qualified for the last 16. Striker Fernando Torres will be rested, Santiago Canizares will replace Iker Casillas in goal and boss Luis Aragones will field a new-look back four.

Switzerland v South Korea (20:00)
Switzerland's influential midfielder Daniel Gygaz is out of the tie because of badly bruised stomach muscles. Swiss coach Koebi Kuhn could hand a start to Hakan Yakin, who replaced Gygaz against Togo, otherwise he is expected to stick with the same side.

South Korea coach Dick Advocaat has no new injury concerns for the must-win match against Switzerland. Advocaat could bow to pressure to recall striker Ahn Jung-Hwan, who scored against Togo as a substitute.

Togo v France (20:00)
France coach Raymond Domenech is expected to make some changes for their must-win match against Togo. Franck Ribery is set to deputise for suspended playmaker Zinedine Zidane, with Mikael Silvestre slotting in for banned left-back Eric Abidal.

David Trezeguet or Manchester United's Louis Saha could also join Arsenal striker Thierry Henry in attack. Togo welcome back influential defender Jean-Paul Abalo from suspension for their final match in Germany.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Group F came to its conclusion yesterday with the following matches:

Japan 1 Brazil 4
Brazil striker Ronaldo became the joint highest scorer in World Cup history as he scored twice against Japan.

The 29-year-old headed in an equaliser before half-time to go past Pele and then curled in his 14th finals goal at the end to go level with Gerd Muller. Japan went ahead through Keiji Tamada's left-foot drive but Brazil took control through Ronaldo, Juninho Pernambucano's 30-yarder and Gilberto's sweet strike. Ronaldo wrapped it up and the Group F winners now play Ghana in the last 16.

In the process, Brazil made it 10 consecutive wins at World Cup finals and they finally produced the sort of free-flowing football their fans have been waiting for.

Croatia 2 Australia 2
Harry Kewell's late strike sent Australia through to the second round after a thrilling Group F decider.

Darijo Srna's precise free-kick gave Croatia an early lead. Australia were level through Craig Moore's penalty after Stjepan Tomas handled a cross, but Croatia hit back through Nico Kovac's bobbling drive. Kewell was on hand to fire home from close range to send the Socceroos through, while Dario Simic, Brett Emerton and Josip Simunic all saw red.

Australia's draw sets up a second-round clash with Group E winners Italy as Japan failed to overhaul group winners Brazil.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group F was as follows:

Group E came to its conclusion yesterday with the following matches:

Czech Republic 0 Italy 2
Italy won convincingly to finish top of Group E and eliminate the Czech Republic from the World Cup.

Substitute Marco Materazzi scored the opening goal with a powerful header from Francesco Totti's corner. The Czech's hopes of progress effectively ended when Jan Polak was sent off for a second bookable offence in first-half stoppage time. And Filippo Inzaghi killed the game off near the end when he broke from almost halfway to round Petr Cech and score.

The Czech Republic had started the tournament in superb form by beating the USA 3-0, but their fortunes changed when Jan Koller went off with a hamstring injury near the end of that game.

Ghana 2 USA 1
Ghana clinched a place in the last 16 of the World Cup against Brazil by ending the hopes of the United States with victory in Nuremberg.

Haminu Dramani gave Ghana, who lost their group opener to Italy, the lead after he robbed Claudio Reyna but Clint Dempsey's first-time shot made it 1-1. Stephen Appiah restored Ghana's lead from a controversial penalty - awarded against USA defender Oguchi Onyewu.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group E was as follows:

Today sees 4 matches as teams play their final games in groups E and F.

Czech Republic v Italy (15:00)
The Czech Republic have been boosted by the news that striker Milan Baros has resumed full training and could play some part in this vital Group E clash. Baros missed the first two games with a foot injury. Jan Koller (hamstring) is sidelined, as are suspended pair Tomas Ujfalusi and Vratislav Lokvenc.

Italy midfielder Simone Perrotta, who injured his leg in the draw with the USA, is expected to be fit to start. Daniele De Rossi is banned after receiving a terrible red card in the same match.

Ghana v USA (15:00)
Ghana are without striker Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari who have both picked up suspensions. Derek Boateng and Eric Addo will compete for the midfield place left by Muntari while Razak Pimpong is likely to replace Gyan in attack.

USA are minus Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope who were sent off against Italy. Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra is likely to switch to left-back meaning Greg Berhalter and Jimmy Conrad will vie for the vacant spot in the centre.

Japan v Brazil (20:00)
Japan coach Zico may make changes to his strikeforce after seeing his side score just once in their two matches. Naohiro Takahara and Atsushi Yanagisawa are under threat, with Keiji Tamada and Seiichiro Maki chasing starting berths.

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira could rest some his star names after they qualified for the second round. The likes of Juninho Pernambucano and Robinho may be handed starts, though out-of-form striker Ronaldo will be given another chance to impress.

Croatia v Australia (20:00)
Croatia make two changes as they go all-out for the victory they need to have a chance of qualifying. Stjepan Tomas comes in for suspended Robert Kovac at right-back while Ivica Olic is preferred to Ivan Klasnic as Dado Prso's partner up front.

Australia defender Tony Popovic has been ruled out with a calf strain, so Brett Emerton may play at right-back and Lucas Neill at centre-half. Harry Kewell avoided a ban for arguing with the referee after the Brazil tie.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

Last Sunday, a woman was robbed just before the game between Brazil and Australia. A little crook that was looking around for a prey in the crowd saw suddenly a nice little handbag hanging on someone’s arm. A few seconds later after his raid he was looking through the purse when he found a precious ticket for the game.

The problem was he didn’t think any better that to not only walk into the stadium, but to sit in the right place next to… her surprised husband! In the nick of time the police took this clumsy robber into custody.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

It has been proven several times; real Scots don’t wear anything under their kilts. As a party for football-lovers was held in Munich, a Brit took things a bit over his head. He found nothing better than to show his jewels and behind to a police officer. This little game brought him directly to jail for a one night sleep over.

Meanwhile, you still know about that crazy wave of orange rising when the Dutch are coming. So this is what happened before the match against Ivory Coast. Hundreds of their fans were held at the entry of the stadium and so were forced to take off their orange lederhosen displaying the name of a brewery.

The lederhosen brigade was part of an ambush marketing effort sponsored by the Dutch brewery Bavaria. As is usually the case, FIFA went to full lengths to protect its sponsors’ good (or bad) names. In this case the sponsor being Anheuser Busch’s Budweiser, the official beer of the World Cup.

So the fans watched the game in their underwear. Talk about a distraction for the fully clothed fans and players alike! Luckily they all seemed to wear orange underwear’s. Honour was safe!

And what if, the next time the Dutch fans all wear underwear with a sponsor written on it. What will FIFA do, make them watch the games naked? Now that’s a thought, no?

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

That well-known crazy Orange Dutch effect doesn’t bring euphoria to everybody. Insurance companies are moaning because a lot more demands for compensations are flowing since the beginning of the World Cup.

For instance when Arjen Robben scored last week in the 1-0 win against Serbia & Montenegro a whole family jumped from exaltation on their sofa. Of course this last poor one cracked in two under the heavy pressure of joy and now the family is asking for some compensation. Of course a lot of glass and porcelain was smashed as well in the process of happiness.

Another example comes from an insurance company who has to intervene for a mobile phone where some indelible paint was splashed. How did it happen? Well, some euphoric fans playing Flying Dutchmen played a bit messy with some orange hair paint…

So if you or your wife absolutely wants a new living room, take a good look to your insurance policy, bring on some good heavy clumsy friends and just wait for the good occasion to unleash a hell of a bliss!

Group C came to its conclusion last night with the following matches:

Ivory Coast 3 Serbia & Montenegro 2
Ivory Coast came from two goals behind to beat 10-man Serbia & Montenegro.

Serbia were 2-0 up after 20 minutes, Nikola Zigic rounding Boubacar Barry for the first and Sasa Ilic punishing Cyril Domoraud's poor miscontrol. Aruna Dindane then scored a twice-taken penalty before Albert Nadj was sent off at the end of the first-half. Dindane's header made it 2-2, before Bonaventure Kalou scored a second penalty, though Ivory Coast ended up with 10 men after Domoraud's dismissal.

The win was Ivory Coast's first in the World Cup finals, delighting the 66,000 crowd at Munich's Allianz Arena. It was also the first time a team had come back from two goals down to win a match in the competition since West Germany's 3-2 victory over England in 1970.

Holland 0 Argentina 0
World Cup heavyweights Argentina and Holland played out a goalless draw in a keenly fought contest in Frankfurt.

Argentina came closest to scoring when Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz deflected a Juan Roman Riquelme free-kick on to the post. Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt tested Roberto Abbondanzieri while Philip Cocu also forced the keeper to tip over.

Argentina top Group C and will play Mexico in the last 16 on Saturday while the Dutch face Portugal on Sunday. The winner of the match between Holland and Portugal will face England in the quarter-final should Sven-Goran Eriksson's men defeat Ecuador.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group C was as follows:

Group D came to its conclusion last night with the following matches:

Portugal 2 Mexico 1
Portugal topped Group D after a narrow win as 10-man Mexico took second place.

The Portuguese took an early lead with a well-worked goal, Maniche sidefooting the ball into the roof of the net. Maniche's goal was set up by Simao Sabrosa, who calmly converted the penalty for Portugal's second after Rafael Marquez's senseless handball. Jose Fonseca's glancing header reduced Portugal's lead, but Omar Bravo blazed over a second-half penalty, before Mexico's Luis Perez was red-carded.

The win gave Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari a World Cup record of 10 successive victories as a coach.

Iran 1 Angola 1
Angola's hopes of reaching the second round were shattered as Iran came from behind to share the spoils.

For 14 second-half minutes the dream was alive, with Angola one-up through Amado Flavio's header, although they still needed a favour from Portugal. But Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh spoiled the party by nodding in an equaliser 16 minutes from time.

Iran deserved their first point in this competition, but it was Angola who were left to rue what might have been. They started the match knowing a 2-0 victory, coupled with a similar result for Portugal against Mexico, would see them through to play Holland or Argentina.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group D was as follows:

Today sees 4 matches played as teams play their final matches in groups C and D.

Portugal v Mexico (15:00)
Portugal could decide to rest a trio of players that are all one yellow card away from a suspension that would see them miss the second round. Deco, Costinha and Pauleta received their bookings in the 2-0 win over Iran in their opening fixture.

Mexico, who need a point to go through to the next stages, will be without striker Jared Borgetti. The Bolton player picked up a hamstring injury in Mexico's first World Cup group match against Iran.

Iran v Angola (15:00)
Iran, who have failed to qualify for the second round, will be without suspended midfielder Javad Nekonam. Playmaker Ali Karimi has been struggling with an ankle injury and is expected to be left out of the line-up in favour of striker Ali Daei.

Angola, who have a narrow chance of making the second round, may decide to drop their 4-5-1 formation to accommodate a second striker. That may mean captain Akwa could be joined in attack by Mantorras.

Ivory Coast v Serbia & Montenegro (20:00)
Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel can pick from a full-strength squad, with the exception of suspended Didier Drogba. Kanga Akale is expected to come into the side, while Michel has hinted he may blood some other youngsters.

Serbia & Montenegro, playing their final game before the countries split politically, are without the banned Mateja Kezman and Ognjen Koroman. Meanwhile, Ivica Dragutinovic, Dusan Basta, Albert Nadj and Danijel Ljuboja are all injury doubts.

Holland v Argentina (20:00)
Holland's Gio van Bronckhorst, Arjen Robben, Mark van Bommel and Joris Mathijsen, who are all on yellow cards, are expected to miss out. Players who receive two bookings in the group stages are banned for the next game. Meanwhile, Philip Cocu should shake off his ankle problem. Striker Dirk Kuyt is tipped to come into the Holland side, with Liverpool's Jan Kronkamp filling in at right-back.

Argentina's Luis Gonzalez is out with a groin strain, while key midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme is set to be rested. Gabriel Heinze and Hernan Crespo may also not play to avoid suspension. Argentina are likely to leave Lionel Messi on the bench despite his excellent cameo against Serbia & Montenegro, with Pablo Aimar, Carlos Tevez and Julio Cruz poised to make the starting line-up. Gabriel Milito is also likely to start in place of Heinze.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Group B came to its conclusion last night with the following matches:

Paraguay 2 Trinidad and Tobago 0
Trinidad and Tobago's spirited World Cup campaign ended with defeat by Paraguay in Kaiserslautern.

The Caribbean side went behind in the 25th minute through a headed own goal from Gillingham defender Brent Sancho. Paraguay doubled their lead through Nelson Cuevas four minutes from time for a scoreline which slightly flattered the South Americans.

Trinidad attacked with gusto, but defeat left them goalless and bottom of the group on their tournament debut.

England 2 Sweden 2
England will play Ecuador in the last 16 of the World Cup after securing a draw with Sweden to top Group B.

England went in front when Joe Cole hit a sensational lob from 35 yards, only for Marcus Allback to equalise when he headed home from a right-wing corner. Steven Gerrard headed in Joe Cole's 85th-minute cross, but Henrik Larsson levelled for Sweden in injury time.

The result was marred by a knee injury to striker Michael Owen, who was stretchered off in the first minute.

England will now meet Ecuador in the second round on Sunday at 1600 BST in Stuttgart, while Sweden play Germany in Munich 24 hours earlier.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group B was as follows:

Group A came to its conclusion yesterday with the following matches:

Ecuador 0 Germany 3
Hosts Germany made it three wins out of three in the World Cup as they beat Ecuador to finish top of Group A.

Miroslav Klose, now with four goals, became the tournament's leading scorer, first putting the Germans ahead early on by rifling home from close range. He then coolly slotted in from Michael Ballack's brilliant chip before Lucas Podolski slid home to wrap it up.

Costa Rica 1 Poland 2
Bartosz Bosacki notched his first goals for Poland to help his side to victory in Group A's dead rubber and ease the pressure on coach Pawel Janas.

With both sides already eliminated from the competition, it was an uninspiring start before Costa Rica's Ronald Gomez fired a low free-kick past Artur Boruc. However, Bosacki equalised minutes later, volleying home from a corner. And the defender sealed the win with a thumping header, before Paulo Wanchope saw a late effort denied for offside.

The win ensured Poland, who were favourites to progress to the second round alongside Germany before the tournament, ended their campaign with a valuable win that might help keep Janas in a job following a raft of criticism.

Check out the full match reports, photo gallery and virtual replays by clicking here. The final table in Group A was as follows:

Today sees 4 matches played as teams play their final matches in groups A and B.

Ecuador v Germany (15:00)
Ecuador striker Carlos Tenorio (ankle) is set to be rested, with Ivan Kaviedes likely to deputise in attack. Ivan Hurtado, Cristian Mora, Edison Mendez, Ulises de la Cruz, and Castillo Segundo are a booking away from a ban.

Germany's key midfielder Torsten Frings is a doubt after picking up a calf injury in training. He left the session with his lower leg bandaged. Michael Ballack is on a yellow but expected to be risked, while Christoph Metzelde (knee) could miss out.

Costa Rica v Poland (15:00)
Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes is expected to name an unchanged side from the one that lost 3-0 to Ecuador. Apart from injured defender Gilberto Martinez, who has already gone home, Guimaraes has no fresh injury concerns.

Bartosz Bosacki is doubtful for Poland after picking up an injury in the 1-0 defeat by Germany, Mariusz Jop is on stand-by to replace him. Radoslaw Sobolewski is suspended and coach Pawel Janas is expected to give run outs to a number of young players.

Paraguay v Trinidad & Tobago (20:00)
Veteran skipper Carlos Gamarra, 35, will make his 110th and final appearance for Paraguay on Tuesday. Carlos Bonet (hamstring) is out and will be replaced by Julio Dos Santos. Midfielder Jorge Nunez is doubtful.

Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Kelvin Jack, who missed the first two games through injury, is available again. Defender Avery John is back from a ban after his sending off against Sweden and he will replace Cyd Gray who picked up a leg injury against England.

Sweden v England (20:00)
England defender Gary Neville will miss their Group B tie with Sweden on Tuesday due to his calf injury. Neville, 31, sat out the win against Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday and has still not returned to training. Sven-Goran Eriksson will rest Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch as they are one booking away from a ban, with Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves starting.

Sweden seem certain to be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has a groin problem, so Marcus Allback will start.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Teenager Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to guide Spain into the last 16.

Tunisia had taken a surprise lead on eight minutes after Joahar Mnari beat Iker Casillas at the second attempt. But on 71 minutes Ali Boumnijel spilled Fabregas' shot allowing Raul to score, with the Arsenal midfielder then setting up a goal for Fernando Torres. The Atletico Madrid striker scored his third goal of the tournament when he won and scored a stoppage-time penalty, a spot-kick Boumnijel almost saved.

The win sent Spain to the top of Group H with six points, though Tunisia still have a chance of qualifying.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Ukraine put their hammering at the hands of Spain behind them by outclassing a poor Saudi Arabia side.

Ukraine were ahead inside four minutes when Mabrouk Zaid needlessly gave away a corner and Andriy Rusol bundled in. Saudi keeper Zaid was also at fault when he slipped attempting to keep out Serhiy Rebrov's 35-yard piledriver. Maxim Kalinichenko set up Andriy Shevchenko to head a third just after half-time and the roles were reversed for Kalinichenko to tap in a fourth.

Little went right for Ukraine on their World Cup finals debut against the Spanish. But it was a vastly different story in Hamburg as they showed why they were the first European side to qualify for the finals.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Switzerland stepped up their bid for a place in the knock-out stages and ended Togo's campaign thanks to goals from Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta.

Rennes striker Frei neatly stabbed home the unmarked Barnetta's cross from close-range after 17 minutes. Togo were denied a decent penalty claim when Emmanuel Adebayor was chopped down and Mohammed Kader twice went close. But despite a sustained spell of Togo pressure, Barnetta rifled in late on to send the World Cup debutants home.

After the 2-1 defeat to South Korea in their first match, the African side needed to avoid defeat in Dortmund to stand any chance of getting out of the group. There was even a doubt before the match that the fixture would go ahead after a row over player bonuses in the Togo squad.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

France remain without a win in the World Cup finals since their 1998 victory over Brazil after South Korea came from behind to snatch a point.

Thierry Henry gave France an early lead, latching on to Sylvain Wiltord's deflected shot to sidefoot home. Patrick Vieira was denied a goal when his header was blocked by Korea keeper Lee Woon-Jae after it crossed the line, but the referee did not give the goal. But with 10 minutes to go Park Ji-sung punished sloppy French defending.

The draw left South Korea top of Group G with four points, two ahead of France, who are in jeopardy of crashing out of the World Cup at the group stages for the second successive time.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Goals from Adriano and substitute Fred sealed Brazil's place in the last 16 with a win over a gallant Australia.

The Socceroos' well-organised defence frustrated Brazil until Ronaldo squared for Adriano to score from 18 yards. Harry Kewell blasted over an unguarded goal and Mark Viduka's lob landed on top of the net as Australia battled back and came close several times. But Fred tapped home the second for the unconvincing holders after fellow sub Robinho's shot came back off the post. Their second win sees them almost stumble through to the knockout stages.

But on a day Australian football came of age, the Socceroos need only a draw in their final game against Croatia to seal a place in the last 16.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

A penalty save from Japan's Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi denied Croatia victory, with a goalless draw not doing much to help either side's hopes of progression. Goalkeeper Kawaguchi palmed away Darijo Srna's spot-kick after Dado Prso was fouled by defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto in the first half.

Croatia created the best chances, with Niko Kranjcar hitting the bar and Ivan Klasnic forcing Kawaguchi to parry. Atsushi Yanagisawa came closest for Japan but scuffed wide from four yards.

Croatia will be happier with the point with Australia to come next, while Japan face the awesome task of having to beat Brazil to stand a chance of qualifying from Group F.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

USA held on for most of the second half with nine men to earn a gutsy draw with 10-man Italy in an enthralling match.

Italy went ahead when Alberto Gilardino headed home Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, before USA levelled soon after thanks to Cristian Zaccardo's sliced own goal.

For only the fourth time at a World Cup three men were sent off, Daniele De Rossi for an elbow, Pablo Mastroeni for a foul and Eddie Pope for two bookings.

Kasey Keller saved well from Alessandro Del Piero to leave Group E wide open.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Ghana threw Group E wide open with victory over the Czech Republic.

Asamoah Gyan fired Ghana ahead after just 70 seconds, finishing superbly to punish Tomas Ujfalusi's mistake.

Ujfalusi was later sent off for bringing down Matthew Amoah, but the Czechs had a reprieve as Gyan struck the resulting penalty against the post.

Petr Cech kept Ghana at bay with a string of great saves but the Black Stars sealed victory with a second when Sulley Muntari rounded off a fine move.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Goals from Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo secured Portugal's passage into the last 16 of the World Cup after victory over Iran in Frankfurt.

Barcelona playmaker Deco opened the scoring on 62 minutes with a vicious 22-yard strike past stranded Iran goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour.

And Ronaldo doubled the score from the penalty spot when Luis Figo was brought down in the box on 78 minutes.

Javad Nekounam went closest for Iran, who now cannot qualify.

But despite their dominance Portugal failed to capitalise on their superiority, a factor which is likely to concern manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Angola caused a shock by holding Mexico to a goalless draw, despite playing the last 11 minutes with 10 men.

Mexico enjoyed all the best chances, but a combination of poor finishing and the acrobatics of Angola keeper Joao Ricardo kept them out.

Andre Macanga was sent off after 79 minutes after handling the ball and being shown a second yellow card.

Rafael Marquez then went close with a rasping shot and Omar Bravo hit the bar, but Angola managed to hold out.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

The lovely ladies of Wadebridge Town FC choose these players as top ten sexy hunks:

• Frank Lampard - England
• Freddie Ljungberg - Sweden
• Raul - Spain
• Ballack - Germany
• Zidane - France
• Reyes - Spain
• David Beckham - England
• Xabi Alonso - Spain
• Francesco Totti - Italy
• John Terry - England

Holland sealed a World Cup second-round berth after repelling a brave fightback by Ivory Coast in Stuttgart.

The Dutch went ahead with a stunning free-kick from Robin van Persie on 23 minutes before Ruud van Nistelrooy hit a sweet second four minutes later.

Bakari Kone pulled one back for the Ivorians when he smashed home from 25 yards after a powerful run.

But the Africans bowed out of the tournament as Holland held on for their second Group C victory.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Argentina put one foot into the last 16 by demolishing Serbia and Montenegro.

Maxi Rodriguez fired Argentina ahead from Javier Saviola's pass before Esteban Cambiasso rounded off a flowing 24-pass move, finishing from 12 yards.

Rodriguez added his second after sloppy defending, Hernan Crespo converted the fourth from Lionel Messi's cross and Carlos Tevez rolled home a fifth goal.

Tevez's pass set up Messi to complete the rout with the sixth goal. Mateja Kezman had earlier been sent off.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

FIFA attributed the Trophy of Man of the Match in the clash between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia to the Tunisian Ziad Jaziri.

It doesn’t look strange as he did score the first and provide the assist for 2-2 in the 93rd minute. But Ziad Jaziri spared FIFA of any trouble.

The fact was that the FIFA planned to naturally reward the Saudi player, Al Jaber, who gave the advantage to his team in the 84th minute. The problem is that no Saudi can take the trophy as it is sponsored by a beer company and you should know that alcohol isn’t the most popular drink in Muslim countries. It’s in fact absolutely forbidden in Saudi Arabia.

As the Saudi's are playing next against Spain and Ukraine in the first round, here's wondering if FIFA is hoping for a stunt.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

“If I had to choose a Mister World from all the World Cup football players, then I would pick up David Beckham.” These are the wise words of our actual Miss World, the 22 year old Icelandic,… heum… Birna Vilhjalmsdottir!

“Beckham has the full package”, says Birna. "He’s handsome, has a good look and don’t talk about the hair, he has everything. He is a Metrosexual!”

A Metro-what-Sexual? Alright let’s see about this one:
Metrosexuality is, according to British journalist Mark Simpson, the trait of an urban male of any sexual orientation who has a strong aesthetic sense and spends a great amount of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle. In other words, it’s a guy who shows plesure in expressing his femeinin side: he loves to go shopping, pays a viste to an esthetician for his nails, etc. BUT most importly, he is stil not a wussy!

But finally Birbna admits that Beckham is certainly not here type of man. “I would certainly not date him. I dislike getting involved with famous people. I’m looking out for a normal guy.”

If you are still Nobody, you might get a chance!

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

The historical debut for Togo hasn’t happen quietly. First there was this financial dispute with National Coach Otto Pfister who finally came back? Well I lost this story in the end.

But anyway, let’s move on to Togo’s first game against South Korea where it started a bit like a farce when the national anthems got mixed up.

First we got to hear the anthem of South Korea who was playing as home-team in their first game in group G. When Togo was supposed to follow, the Korean's went for a replay provoking confusion in the "Waldstadion" of Frankfurt.

The Korean's enjoyed it as they went on for a second full-pumped-breast singing round. Finally Togo got their anthem and the game could start.

Freddie Ljungberg's 88th-minute winner for Sweden knocked Paraguay out of the World Cup.

England, already certain of a place in the second round, would have won the group had this game been a draw. But Ljungberg popped up at the far post to head home after Marcus Allback had nodded a cross back across goal.

Earlier, Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot tamely at the keeper and Allback had an effort cleared off the line as it looked like Sweden would not break Paraguay down.

Sweden now know that victory over England on Tuesday will see them, and not Sven-Goran Eriksson's men, win Group B. But defeat could send the Swedes home and put Trinidad and Tobago into the second round.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard spared England's blushes with late goals against Trinidad & Tobago to book their place in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Crouch, who had missed several chances, met David Beckham's right-wing cross to power a header past Shaka Hislop. Gerrard wrapped it up in stoppage time with a stunning left-foot drive after England made hard work of the contest.

Wayne Rooney came on, but it was fellow subs Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing who helped turn the game England's way.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

Ecuador booked a place in the knock-out stages for the first time ever with a comfortable win which also put Germany through to the second round.

Carlos Tenorio gave Ecuador an eighth-minute lead with a powerful header from Luis Valencia's cross. The advantage was doubled when Agustin Delgado lashed home from a tight angle shortly after half-time. Ecuador finished with a flourish when Ivan Kaviedes capped a flowing move by volleying home from six yards.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where the teams now sit in their Group by clicking here.

To celebrates England's game today v Trinidad and Tobago, we bring you Sweetpatch Development Posse member Hayan's great new Face Patch for England and Real Madrid Star Midfielder David Beckham.

This face patch works for both your 2006 FIFA World Cup and FIFA 06 games and you can check out a full size screenshot by clicking on the image on the right.

Download this excellent face direct from our Download Boutique.

Today sees 3 matches played as teams commence their second matches in groups A and B.

Ecuador v Costa Rica (14:00)
Ecuador are almost certain to stick with the same side that beat Poland. Ivan Hurtado (calf), Carlos Tenorio (calf) and Agustin Delgado (back) have all needed treatment this week but should be fit to play.

Costa Rica are without defender Gilberto Martinez who has tendonitis in his left leg, with Jervis Drummond set to deputise. Coach Alexander Guimaraes also says he plans to name a more attacking line-up from the side that lost to Germany.

England v Trinidad & Tobago (17:00)
Striker Wayne Rooney could make the England bench after coach Sven-Goran Eriksson described him as "match fit". But right-back Gary Neville (calf) is doubtful after being sent to hospital for a scan, with either Owen Hargreaves or Jamie Carragher set to deputise.

West Ham's Shaka Hislop will continue to fill in for injured Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Kelvin Jack. Defender Brent Sancho keeps his place but full-back Avery John is suspended.

Sweden v Paraguay (20:00)
Sweden welcome back first-choice keeper Andreas Isaksson who has recovered from the concussion that ruled him out of the draw against Trinidad and Tobago. And in midfield Kim Kallstrom is set to replace Anders Svensson.

Aldo Bobadilla will play in goal for Paraguay after first-choice stopper Justo Villar was ruled out for the rest of the World Cup through injury. Left-back Delio Toledo will also be missing because of a thigh injury, with attack-minded Jorge Nunez stepping up.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Oliver Neuville put Germany within reach of the last 16 with a goal in the first minute of stoppage time to leave Poland pointless after two games.

The forward latched on to a low cross from fellow substitute David Odonkor to slide the ball past the despairing dive of Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc. The goal came a minute after Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack had hit the bar within seconds of each other.

Poland's Radoslaw Sobolewski was sent off late on for two bookable offences.

Check out the full match report, photo gallery and virtual replay by clicking here and see where Germany now sit in Group A by clicking here.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

When Victoria “Posh Spice” learned the plane between Madrid and Frankfurt had technical difficulties and she wouldn’t make it to the game between England and Paraguay, she decided to put her money on the table.

30.000 Euros later she took off with sons Brooklyn and Romeo in a Private Jet and appeared on time in the tribune. She was dressed in a white outfit with a big red English cross on it.

At the same time , Roman Abramovich, the Russian Chelsea mogul, was comfortably watching the game on his yacht in the harbor of Lübeck. Suddenly he was recognized by a few English supporters who he directly offered a round of 50 pints to celebrate the English victory over Paraguay.

It is said that Abramovich has tickets for every game in the World Cup!

Aha-ahaaa Abba
All the things we could do too
If we had a little to much money
It's a damn rich man's world...

Argentina's teenage star Lionel Messi (and our Adopted Youing Player of the World Cup), who has not played in the World Cup yet, has a painful left foot following training, a team source said.

Team doctors were keeping an eye on Messi but he was not thought to be seriously injured, the source at the squad's base in southern Germany added, two days ahead of Argentina's tie against Serbia-Montenegro in Group C.

"It's from a blow or a strain to the left foot, but it's not a tear," the source disclosed.

Coach Jose Pekerman chose to bolster the team's defensive capability in the 2-1 victory against Ivory Coast last Saturday and did not field the 18-year-old.

Messi, who has recovered from a three month layoff due to a thigh injury, was in scintillating form for Spanish league champions Barcelona this season.

Pekerman has come under intense pressure to include the youngster, who has been hailed as an heir to Diego Maradona, in his starting line-up.

© 2006 WorldSoccerNews.com and AFP

Bolton defender Radhi Jaidi salvaged a point for Tunisia with a powerful header in stoppage time in Munich.

Saudi Arabia's record goalscorer Sami Al Jaber looked to have given his side the win when he came off the bench to put them 2-1 up with six minutes to go. Just 90 seconds after his introduction, veteran Al Jaber beat Tunisian keeper Ali Boumnijel with a left-footed shot. Ziad Jaziri's first-half volley had given Tunisia the lead, before Yasser Al Kahtani equalised with a deft flick.

The draw means Spain are top of Group H with three points, with Tunisia and Saudi Arabia joint second on one point each.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Spain produced a super display to outclass a Ukraine side that played most of the second half with 10 men.

Xabi Alonso headed Spain in front from a Xavi corner and David Villa doubled the lead with a free-kick that deflected past Olexandr Shovkovskiy.

Vladislav Vashchuk was sent off for pulling back Fernando Torres and Villa added a third goal from the penalty.

Spain saved their best for last when Fernando Torres finished off a sublime move by drilling home.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament we will be providing you with all the latest and greatest news, information and special features for the 2006 FIFA World Cup event and game.

We have also added lots of great new features (based on your recent feedback). Features to include:

• Results and match information*
• Group news
• Team news
• Player news (including Injuries, Adopted Young Player, Men of the Match and Golden Shoe)
• Venue information
• Share your views in our World Cup forums
• Enter our Crazy Videos and Photos competition
• Join in with our Sweetpatch's Game of the Day simulation
• 4 pairs of tickets to give away for the semi finals
• Fantasy League

* For every match we also provide:

• Minute by minute text updates
• Live match videos (UK only)
• Live Radio commentary (UK only)
• Match reports
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• and lots more...

Sweetpatch will certainly be a happening place to be during the World Cup. Check out our 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre by clicking here and see what we have in store for you during the tournament.

Time (UK)	Group	Team	v	Team	Game of the Day	Venue
14:00	H	Spain	v	Ukraine		Leipzig
Spain captain Raul is expected to start on the bench, with Fernando Torres and David Villa likely to start up front. With the injured Asier del Horno ruled out of the tournament, Mariano Pernia - who made his international debut last week - is set to start at left-back. Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin will decide whether to hand striker Andriy Shevchenko a starting line-up place. The 29-year-old has been out for a month with a knee injury but says he is fit to face the Spaniards.
17:00	H	Tunisia	v	Saudi Arabia		Munich
Tunisia are without Francileudo Santos for their group opener against Saudi Arabia after the striker picked up a leg injury in a warm-up match. Coach Roger Lemerre has indicated that 19-year-old Yassine Chikhaoui will take his place. Saudi Arabia are sweating on the fitness of skipper and veteran attacker Sami al-Jaber who has been nursing a thigh injury. If Al-Jaber is ruled out, 23-year-old Yasser al-Qahtani could take his place.
20:00	A	Germany	v	Poland		Dortmund
Germany skipper Michael Ballack seems certain to return against Poland after missing their opener against Costa Rica with a calf strain.Ballack has return to training and is expected to take the place of midfielder Tim Borowski. Poland's Kamil Kosowski could miss the clash with a strained hamstring. The Southampton player, who came on for the last 15 minutes of their 2-0 loss to Ecuador, is rated as "doubtful" by the team doctor.

Check out the full match previews and live action during the matches over at our Match Centre by clicking here.

Also, please post your vote for the score of our Game of the Day by clicking here.

Brazil beat Croatia to become the first team to win eight successive matches in the World Cup finals.

Croatia's tactics frustrated Brazil for much of the match, but just before the interval Kaka's wonderful curling left-footed shot beat Stipe Pletikosa. Pletikosa's opposite number Dida frequently came to Brazil's rescue, notably with second-half saves from Dado Prso and Ivan Klasnic. Brazil finished strongly, with Kaka again going close with a rasping shot.

The Brazilians might be favourites to claim the "Hexa" - a sixth World Cup - but the way Croatia made Carlos Alberto Parreira's side work for this win suggests the world champions are not without their weaknesses.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

France got their World Cup campaign off to a disappointing start with an uninspiring draw against Switzerland. Both teams found it hard in stifling conditions and lacked any real creative spark until the closing stages.

Switzerland came closest to scoring, with Alexander Frei fluffing an easy chance and Fabien Barthez brilliantly denying substitute Daniel Gygax. Thierry Henry was denied a penalty when his shot was handled by Patrick Mueller but the referee waved his claims away.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

South Korea took their time to get going before finally overcoming the resistance of 10-man Togo.

The one moment of real quality in the first half came when Togo's Mohamed Kader controlled the ball on his thigh and lashed home a fine shot. Kader nearly made it two after the break before Jean-Paul Abalo's second booking saw him sent off.

Lee Chun-Soo curled in the resulting free-kick and Ahn Jung-Hwan's deflected strike won the game for South Korea.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Check out our completely unique coverage of all the matches including Live Radio commentary (UK only), Minute by minute text updates, Live match videos (UK only), Match reports, Virtual 3D match highlights and Goal video highlights.

Visit our Match Centre before during and after all matches to keep updated with our comprehensive match coverage by clicking here.

You will also see our nominated Sweetpatch Game of the Day there. Today's is Brazil v Croatia. Click here to post either your simulated FIFA game result or vote on what you think the actual score of this game will be.

The leading goalscorer at every FIFA World Cup™ finals is awarded the adidas Golden Shoe - past winners of the accolade include Gerd Muller, Ronaldo and Just Fontaine.

Check out who is winning so far and vote on who you think will win it this year by clicking here.

Each of the 64 matches at the FIFA World Cup will feature an outstanding individual performer who earns the Man of the Match award from FIFA's Technical Study Group (TSG).

For each winner you can see their match stats, see what the experts said plus download a great free Wallpaper celebrating their award.

Check out the 11 winners so far by clicking here.

Italy got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with a deserved victory over Ghana in Hanover.

Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring with a rasping long-range drive in the first half and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta extended the advantage near the end.

World Cup debutants Ghana played their part in an entertaining match and defender Emmanuel Pappoe wasted their best chance before the interval. But Italy, prompted by the superb Pirlo, were more clinical throughout.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Czech Republic got off to a flying start with a fabulous victory over USA.

Giant striker Jan Koller headed home a Zdenek Grygera cross after five minutes before Tomas Rosicky's 30-yard screamer doubled their half-time advantage.

After Koller went off injured Tomas Ujfalusi headed wide and Rosicky hit the bar, before racing through and chipping over Kasey Keller to seal it.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Substitute Tim Cahill's late double inspired Australia to an historic victory over Japan in Kaiserslautern.

Japan took the lead when Socceroos keeper Mark Schwarzer appeared to be impeded as Shunsuke Nakamura's intended cross sailed over his head.

But Cahill drilled in a loose ball from close range on 84 minutes and lashed home from 18 yards soon after.

John Aloisi then sealed a first World Cup finals victory for Australia with a well-placed shot in injury time.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

The next game to be simulated in our Game of the Day feature is the group E clash between USA and Czech Republic.

If you want to simulate this match, feel free to play it and then post your score and match report in our forums by clicking here. You can also vote in our poll for your predicted score of the actual game.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

If the team of Ecuador makes it to the final, then they will to make it with 4 weeks without sex. National Coach Luis Fernando Suarez is behind that Spartan plan to keep his men fit and focused on the one and only ball!

But Suarez showed solidarity in his ban as he promised he would follow the abstinence of the team. When a female journalist asked about his commitment Suarez replied: “This is good that I show solidarity, don’t you think so?”

Meanwhile it is a fact that not every trainer has the same treatment for his players as Oleg Blokhin, the Ukrainian coach, promised his team that their wives and girlfriends would join them at the semi-finals… and even earlier if necessary.

Portugal got the better of former colony Angola to move level on points with Mexico at the top of Group D.

Pedro Pauleta, who almost scored after just 12 seconds, gave Portugal the lead on five minutes with a neat shot after Luis Figo's run and cross.

Making their World Cup debut, Angola must have feared the worst after that Pauleta goal, particularly as they had lost 6-0 and 5-1 in their two previous meetings with Portugal.

But to their immense credit Angola refused to be overawed and went on the offensive.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Late goals from Omar Blanco and Antonio Zinha handed Mexico a comfortable victory in Nuremberg.

Mexico took the lead from a free-kick which was flicked on by Guillermo Franco leaving Bravo a simple tap-in.

Iran drew level when Yahya Golmohammadi pounced on a loose ball after a flap by goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.

But Rahman Rezaei's dithering on the ball allowed Zinha to play in Blanco, who tucked away Mexico's second before Zinha turned scorer with a free header.

The result means Iran fail to improve on their record of only one victory in the World Cup.

But seasoned tournament competitors Mexico extended their record of no defeats in their last nine group-stage matches.

It was very emotional at the end as the Mexican keeper Sanchez was overcome following his father's death on Thursday.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Holland opened their World Cup campaign with a hard-fought Group C victory over Serbia & Montenegro in Leipzig.

Chelsea striker Arjen Robben scored the only goal after 18 minutes, sliding the ball under Dragoslav Jevric following a flick-on from Robin van Persie.

With Robben always probing and Wesley Sneijder running the show in midfield, the Dutch were coasting at half-time.

And despite a more upbeat display from Serbia & Montenegro after the break, Holland were good value for their win.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Check out our completely unique coverage of all the matches including Live Radio commentary (UK only), Minute by minute text updates, Live match videos (UK only), Match reports, Virtual 3D match highlights and Goal video highlights.

Visit our Match Centre before during and after all matches to keep updated with our comprehensive match coverage by clicking here.

As you watch the World Cup matches, don't forget to stick a video camera/mobile phone on in your living room or local pub or wherever you happen to be watching the matches and then send us your clips of reactions to goals and stuff. You will then be entered in our Crazy Videos and Photos Competition with the chance to win some great prizes.

Even better, at the end of the World Cup you, the visitors, can vote on your favourite videos and photos from throughout the World Cup and the winners will receive some great prizes.

Click here to send us your first videos and photos from today's games

The next game to be simulated in our Game of the Day feature is the group C clash between Serbia & Montenegro and Netherlands.

If you want to simulate this match, feel free to play it and then post your score and match report in our forums by clicking here. You can also vote in our poll for your predicted score of the actual game.

Argentina got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with victory over Ivory Coast in a gripping opening to Group C in Hamburg.

Roberto Ayala saw a header come back off the post before Hernan Crespo put Argentina ahead from close range.

Javier Saviola then latched on to Juan Riquelme's exquisite throughball to flick in the second before the break.

Didier Drogba's low shot set up a frantic finale but the Ivorians were let down by some sloppy finishing.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Trinidad and Tobago held on for a courageous draw despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.

Soca Warriors defender Avery John picked up the first red card of the World Cup after two reckless tackles. Cornell Glen had Trinidad and Tobago's best chance with a thumping drive that hit the bar, but they were pinned back for much of the game.

Marcus Allback and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both should have done better with good chances but the islanders held on.

The result means that England will progress to the next round if they beat Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday.

While Sweden will be looking to take three points from Paraguay on the same day.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

England stuttered to victory in their Group B opener in Frankfurt thanks to a third-minute Paraguay own goal.

Carlos Gamarra put David Beckham's left-wing free-kick past his own keeper to set up a half dominated by England.

It was a different story in the second half as Paraguay threatened more as a cautious England put themselves under unnecessary pressure.

Frank Lampard came closest to extending the lead with two long-range efforts as the South Americans pressed for a draw.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will be happier with the points than the performance.

But England will not complain, and rightly so with their history of making slow starts to major tournaments.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado proved enough to give Ecuador a deserved victory over World Cup Group A rivals Poland in Gelsenkirchen.

Tenorio nodded past Poland keeper Artur Boruc after connecting with a headed flick-on from Delgado. Delgado tapped in the second after Ivan Kaviedes sprung the offside trap to lay the ball into his path.

Poland came closest when Ireneusz Jelen and Pawel Brozek hit the woodwork with fierce shots in the second half.

The result is a massive boost for Ecuador and their chances of taking second spot in Group A.

And from this performance they may even give Germany something to think about when the pair meet in the final group match on Tuesday 20 June.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

Catching up after the first 5 games of the World Cup we bring you right up to date with all the matches from day 1 and 2.

Miroslav Klose's double and brilliant strikes from Philip Lahm and Torsten Frings lit up the World Cup's opening match as hosts Germany won in style.

Lahm's stunning sixth-minute drive from distance put Germany ahead, but Paulo Wanchope slid home to level.

Klose converted Bernt Schneider's cross, then followed up his own header to put the home team 3-1 ahead.

Wanchope produced a smart finish to give Costa Rica hope, but Frings' sensational 30-yarder sealed victory.

It was the perfect start for Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann, whose side triumphed in the highest-scoring opening match in World Cup history.

Check out the full match report by clicking here.

The 2nd game to be simulated in our Game of the Day feature is England's 1st match in this year's tournament v Paraguay.

If you want to simulate this match, feel free to play it and then post your score and match report in our forums by clicking here. You can also vote in our poll for your predicted score of the actual game.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

The Anglican church from England is getting 30 percent more “believers” on their website these days. Well that looks kind of strange, doesn’t it?

Not really, if you know that Football has something to do with it. Yes football again. This is marvelous to see that sports bring again acts of peace and brotherhood amongst the people in the world.

“When you come to the penalty kicks, you’ll find out that you don’t have so many Unbelievers," said the spokesperson of the Church.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister, Tony Blair has ordered that the Union Jack (United Kingdom Flag) should be floating every day the English football team play. He even wrote a letter to Sven Göran Eriksson, the English national coach to wish him luck: “It is a great and well-guided team. Everybody is hoping on great results.”

To be completed, this is how the Prayers for the World Cup sounds:

Prayers for all involved in the World Cup Lord God, the source of all life and joy, recreation and skill, we pray for all involved in the World Cup, and especially for those who represent our nation, for good health for the players, for high standards of sportsmanship and fairness, and for the safety and well-being of all who will watch, that in our shared enjoyment of the game, we may rejoice in the one who came to bring life in all its fullness, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

God of work and play, Lord of all the nations, guide, guard and protect all who work or play in the World Cup. May all who watch or engage find in this competition a source of celebration and a recognition of what it means to be made in the image of the One who brought the cosmos into being.
Amen.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if luck involves for you a spiritual blow from above the sky and the Lord himself watches football, you know who to call when the ball will be placed on the spot…

As you start to watch the World Cup matches today, don't forget to stick a video camera/mobile phone on in your living room or local pub or wherever you happen to be watching the matches and then send us your clips of reactions to goals and stuff. You will then be entered in our Crazy Videos and Photos Competition with the chance to win some great prizes.

Even better, at the end of the World Cup you, the visitors, can vote on your favourite videos and photos from throughout the World Cup and the winners will receive some great prizes.

Click here to send us your first videos and photos from today's games.

As the World Cup starts today, so we commence our massive coverage of the event. Never before have we covered any event in so much detail and with so much preparation gone in to our delivery. We really hope you enjoy it and will feedback to us your views.

We start today by bringing you completely unique coverage of all the matches including Live Radio commentary (UK only), Minute by minute text updates, Live match videos (UK only), Match reports, Virtual 3D match highlights and Goal video highlights.

Visit our Match Centre before during and after today's matches to keep updated with our comprehensive match coverage by clicking here.

Sweetpatch's Adopted Young Player at the World Cup, Argentina's Lionel Messi, has had a huge image of himself displayed on a building in Germany.

A new theme park called World of Football has been opened opposite the German Parliament in Berlin. Among many other things, the 40,000 square meter-park will feature giant screens on which the World Cup matches will be shown. A huge image of Lionel Messi is one of the stand-outs in the place.

Check out the full story and see more photos at the Lionel Messi Weblog site.

The first people have played their simulated game in our "Game of the Day" feature. Scores in so far for Germany v Costa Rica are 1v0 and 2v0 in favour of Germany.

If you want to simulate this match, feel free to play it and then post your score and match report in our forums by clicking here. We also have a poll for you to vote on your predicted score of the real game.

Let's see how close these predictions are to tonight's real game.

Come 6pm today (5pm BST) the eyes of the world will be fixed on one person. The man in question, Argentina's Horacio Elizondo, will take a deep breath and cast a glance at his assistants before embarking on one of the biggest challenges in his illustrious career: officiating the Opening Game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.

On the eve of the game in Munich, FIFAworldcup.com spoke to Elizondo about the exciting challenge awaiting him, his expectations, preparations and his biggest wish of all: to referee an incident-free game.

Check out the interview by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

As reported earlier this week, during the World Cup every match day we will nominate a "Game of the Day". You will all then have the opportunity the day before the actual match to simulate it (on your own or with a mate) in your game of 2006 FIFA World Cup and post your score and match report/stats in our forum.

Then we will be able to compare how accurate your match was when the real match is played.

The first game to be simulated is the 1st match in this year's tournament, i.e. Germany v Costa Rica.

If you want to simulate this match, feel free to play it and then post your score and match report in our forums by clicking here.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

The Magic 11 from David Beckham has been published in the German Newspaper Die Welt. Well known for his modesty he naturally included himself in it and Gary Neville. Well I kind of understand him.

What more naturally to pick up a Dream Team to of course play with it… and so include your best mate in it to share the fun.

Anyway, here are the Ones:

• Goalie: Peter Schmeichel
• Defence: Roberto Carlos, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Gary Neville
• Midfield: George Best, Lothar Matthäus, Zinédine Zidane, David Beckham
• Attack: Ronaldo en Diego Maradona.

Are you seeing some links???

Well think about Manchester United and Real Madrid and you’ll get a bunch of them. For the rest, ask him.

One question: where did he put Pele in his mind?

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the Swedish camp.

Everybody is aware that Henrik Larsson won’t be playing for Barcelona anymore after he definitely decided to move to Helsingborg back home in Sweden. All this before he marvelously grabbed the Champions League Trophy by giving the two assists in the final game against Arsenal (2-1).

But all this doesn’t mean that “Henke” will quit the national team. If you remember, his first decision to retire from international football met with much dismay in his homeland as there was a vast movement launched to convince him to come back for their campaign at Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Then despite initially turning down overtures even from UEFA President Lennart Johansson and the Swedish Prime Minister, he eventually returned to the national side at the behest of his son! He scored three goals in four matches and led Sweden to the quarterfinals, where they were defeated in (sadly) a penalty shootout by the Dutch.

The Golden Boot 2000-2001 from Celtic will play his third World Cup after 1994, 2002 and now 2006. Yes that’s right, the Rasta-man was part of the team which took the third place by beating the legendary team of Bulgaria with Hristo Stoichkov, Balakov, Kostadinov, Letchkov and other Mihailov in the USA.

“I’m still not 35 years old and I feel great. As long I’m asked to play for country, I’ll be available.”

Have some fun entering your predicted scores in the BBC's World Cup Predictor to see who you think will win the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Get predicting by clicking here.

Who did you match up in the final? For some fun, please post your final match up in our forums by clicking here and lets see who everybody's favourite final is going to be between.

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament we will be providing you with all the latest and greatest news, information and special features for the 2006 FIFA World Cup event and game.

We have also added lots of great new features (based on your recent feedback). Features to include:

• Results and match information*
• Group news
• Team news
• Venue information
• Share your views in our World Cup forums
• Enter our Crazy Videos and Photos competition
• Join in with our Sweetpatch's Game of the Day simulation
• 4 pairs of tickets to give away for the semi finals
• Fantasy League

* For every match we will also provide:

• Live Radio commentary
• Minute by minute text updates
• Live match videos (UK only)
• Match reports
• Virtual 3D match highlights
• Goal video highlights
• and lots more...

Sweetpatch will certainly be a happening place to be during the World Cup. Check out our brand new 2006 FIFA World Cup News Centre by clicking here and see what we have in store for you during the tournament.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the tournament.

I always said that a girl who appreciates football and a beer is priceless! But we know that when women are watching football then is it mostly for the muscular legs or the magnificent torsos of the players.

But men can visibly also appreciate body parts of their favourite players.

A Dutch website @ Gay Krant wants to build up a team, that they would call FC Hunks, with “the most beautiful, handsome, yummy, sexy players from the World Cup”. Why not!?

The website already made a pre-selection of who they identify as 25 hot players like: David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Francesco Totti, Michael Ballack and Iker Casillas… Weirdly enough players like Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney and Zinedine Zidane seemed to have no chance at all. Ha!

It is reported that Markus Rosenberg and Johnny Heitinga are among the favourites as is the Portuguese Red Devil Ronaldo, was voted sexiest player by the gay Community at Euro 2004!

The votes are counting until June 11th, the day that Van Persie & Co are playing their first game against Serbia & Montenegro at 3 PM GMT+1.

Check out the competition @ Gay Krant and place your bets!

As we all prepare for the forthcoming month, we have some extremely important advice and recommendations for you to be passed on to wives, girlfriends, fiancés, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc. (to all women in general).

Click here to download your complimentary copy of these rules and get communicating with your good lady so you can enjoy your World Cup.

Please note: These rules must be communicated prior to the World Cup, so hurry now whilst you still have time.

In support of Sweetpatch's Adopted Young Player at the World Cup, Argentina's Lionel Messi, I have tonight been researching some sites that exist in his honour.

I found a great one, the Lionel Messi Weblog, which features regular news updates, some great photos plus some cool videos.

Their latest report on Lionel's fitness states that he will probably be on the bench to face Ivory Coast in the World Cup this Saturday, and most likely get on the pitch in the second half.

José Pekerman wants to take things slow with Lionel through out the championship, due to his long absence and all the expectations that have been put on him. If he finds himself in good condition in the first game, Messi will probably get a spot in the line-up for the rest of the tournament.

Yesterday, Lionel Messi did separate training with the fitness coach. At the end of the session he could be seen having fun with the ball and trying some games and tricks.

A video of a barefoot Lionel having fun with the ball is now available on the site. Click here to view it.

We recommend keeping a regular eye on the Lionel Messi Weblog site throughout the World Cup to keep up to date with all the very latest on Lionel Messi, our Adopted Young Player of the World Cup.

With the grand prize an Xbox 360 and the World Cup game to boot - this exciting competition by our good friends at Breamster will be broken down into three parts and will be carried out during the World Cup 2006!

They have one sought-after Microsoft Xbox 360 console up for grabs, complete with detachable 20Gb Hard Drive, Headset, Universal Media Remote, and not one, but two Wireless Controllers - so you can get straight into multiplayer action with a mate on the EA Sports World Cup 2006 game, which is also included!

Not only will the overall winner enjoy this fantastic prize but 2nd to 4th places will also find a copy of the Official FIFA World Cup 2006 for the Xbox 360 heading their way!

As it's a big prize and running in conjunction with the biggest Football event in the World - the World Cup - they have created a three part event, in which you will need to complete all parts to be in with a chance of winning.

More information on how to apply can be found by clicking here.

Thanks to our friends over at PhysioRoom.com, now you can keep track of all your team's latest injury worries in the build up to and throughout the World Cup.

At PhysioRoom.com you can get full details of each players injury plus a league table of which team has how many injuries, to whom and what injury they have.

Keep track of all your team's injury worries in the build up to and throughout the World Cup by clicking here.

With World Cup madness descending on us this week, how about a crazy competition to get us all excited!

Sometimes when watching your own team play it can get pretty tense. So how about you stick a video camera/mobile phone on in your living room or local pub or wherever you happen to be watching the World Cup games and then send us your clips of reactions to goals and stuff. You will then be entered in our Crazy Videos and Photos Competition.

Even better, at the end of the World Cup you, the visitors, can vote on your favourite videos and photos and the winners will receive some great prizes.

Click here to see how easy it is to enter this competition.

During the World Cup every match day we will nominate a "Game of the Day". You will all then have the opportunity the day before the actual match to simulate it (on your own or with a mate) in your game of 2006 FIFA World Cup and post your score and match report/stats in our forum.

Then we will be able to compare how accurate your match was when the real match is played.

If you are interested in getting involved with this please post your details in our forums by clicking here.

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll to select the young player we should adopt and follow his exploits during the World Cup and be named Sweetpatch's Adopted Young Player at the World Cup.

And the winner was Argentina's Lionel Messi, who our site visitors selected with 40% of the votes.

Check out all Lionel's latest news by clicking here and we will keep you regularly updated with his progress during the tournament.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the Spanish camp.

Mariano Pernia has accepted his late Spanish selection for the World Cup in Germany and he is ready to postpone his wedding.

Luis Aragones had to face up to a withdrawal as Asier Del Horno, a key player in Chelsea’s defence, left the Spanish squad after an injury on Wednesday.

Born in Argentina, Mariano Pernia was looking forward to the World Cup, as he was naturalized Spanish in April. The 29 year old defender was part of the first selection, but he didn’t make it to the final squad and is now finally asked back again. He was on holiday in his native Argentina, where he was due to get married on June 20!

“My wife is very happy for me, but very disappointed that we had to cancel our wedding for it. We'll get married as soon as possible afterwards. It isn't really a big problem to postpone a wedding for a World Cup."

The Spanish trainer announced he decided to take Pernia instead of Joan Capdevila from Deportivo La Coruña. Pernia is now in competition with Antonio Lopez from Atletico Madrid.

“They have a similar style. The one who will show the best motivation in training will play”, says Aragones.

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the Togo camp.

Togo have already booked a first win in Germany as their 24 year old Edwige Madze Badakou, a Togolese student, was chosen on Thursday night to be Miss World Cup 2006.

Badakou who was Miss Togo 2 years ago came out of the 1,500 candidates of the first edition of this beauty contest. At the end they were 32 women left: one per participating country.

The jury was partly composed with (lucky) ex-soccer players like Mario Basler the former wild child of Werder Bremen and Bayern Munchen.

The brand new Miss World Cup is going home with a car and 2,000 Euros.

Yahoo Mobile have 4 pairs of tickets to give away to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ Semi Finals in Germany.

To enter simply click here and enter your details for the chance to win. Competition open from 1st June to 15th June 2006.

The 32 teams set to take part at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ are gradually arriving on German soil, with many of this summer's hopefuls following vastly different pre-tournament routines.

Denmark famously won the UEFA European Championship in 1992 without a warm-up programme of any description, having been invited to the tournament at the 11th hour following the exclusion of Yugoslavia. While none of the sides heading to Germany have followed the Danish route, each side has favoured a different pre-tournament approach.

Check out the teams different preparations by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

Peter Crouch gave the nation a World Cup farewell party to remember as he scored a hat-trick in a six-goal jamboree against Jamaica.

The Reggae Boyz and their fantastic fans came to Old Trafford to party but it was Crouch, with his robotic finishing, who led the dance.

He entertained the crowd three times with his trademark celebration, while Frank Lampard, Michael Owen and an own goal from Jermaine Taylor completed the rout.

It could even have been four for Crouch, who missed a penalty won for him by Owen, but nothing was going to spoil this day for England.

It was the perfect way for the Three Lions to say goodbye to their delighted fans ahead of the World Cup Finals in Germany, and they will certainly fly to Baden Baden on Monday in tremendous spirits.

• 1-0: There was never any doubt that Sven’s men were going to complete their sixth victory in a row by seeing off Jamaica, especially when they took the lead after only 15 minutes. A long kick from goalkeeper Paul Robinson arrowed its way up to Crouch on the left and his deft knock-down allowed Owen to acrobatically hook the ball back across goal for Lampard to guide home a first-time volley.
• 2-0: It was a superbly worked goal and it was soon 2-0 when Beckham’s fine free-kick was headed into his own net by Taylor.
• 3-0: Beckham then produced the 31st assist of his England career, in his 89th game, when he sent over a corner for Crouch to fire home. The ball took a big deflection on the way as Omar Daley kicked it into his own net, but no-one was in a mood to deny Crouch his third goal in three games for England - especially when the crowd were so desperate to see that dance again.
• 4-0: The icing on the cake for the Three Lions arrived before the break, however, with Owen scoring the goal he so desperately wanted after recovering from injury. A long ball from Rio Ferdinand completely beat the Jamaica defence and Owen rounded keeper Donovan Ricketts before expertly turning the ball home for his 36th goal in an England shirt.
• 5-0: it was man of the moment Crouch who extended the victory margin in front of 70,373 fans at Old Trafford. This time a superb reverse pass from Beckham set Carragher racing down the right flank, and his fiercely struck low cross was rapped home at the far post by the Anfield striker.
• 6-0: What a week it’s been for Crouch. Only a late missed penalty, which he chipped over the bar after Owen was fouled, brought him back down to earth. But he still found time to sweep home England's sixth, superbly finishing off a move created by Downing's low cross and Owen's neat lay-off.

Crouch was cheered to the rafters at the final whistle, as were the entire team. So now it’s on to Germany - and England couldn’t be going there in better shape. Read the full match report by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 TheFA.com

Our World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his latest great story out of the Dutch camp.

Rutgerus Johannes Martinius van Nistelrooij or better known as Ruud van Nistelrooy has some hidden talents. He just teamed up with a Dutch songwriter (Guus Meeuwis if it rings a bell for some of you?) to write the lyrics for his World Cup song: “I want my country to bring it out loud.”

Ruud explains that he didn’t look for the rimes but on his feelings: how do you make History, how do you get prepared for a game, as… a team! It describes the sensation you are going through when you are in the tunnel ready to appear on the field.

If the striker seemed to enjoy the collaboration he has however no ambitions to become a singer:
“I can’t do that to the people, Doh!”

By the way, Dutch players like Simon Tahamata, Ruud Gullit and Johan Cruijff crossed the barrier in the past. So who knows?

Frankfurt will beam a FIFA World Cup™ welcome around the world this weekend.

The Frankfurt skyline will be transformed into a unique stage with a supreme projection show on a 10,000 square-metre backdrop. Unforgettable scenes from previous FIFA World Cup finals will be projected on to the skyline along with images of legendary players from the past.

For three days, from 3 to 5 June, the skyline will be illuminated from 11pm, with images of football stars projected on to 11 high-rise buildings for 45 minutes, accompanied by music and light shows. Forty high-performance projectors will illuminate the facades of the bank buildings, using images to tell the stories of previous tournaments.

The accompanying music will be played via a PA system located on the Sachsenhausen riverbank between the Friedensbrucke and the Eiserner Steg bridges, as well as on the Untermainbrucke bridge and in Willy-Brandt-Platz. Anybody who brings a radio can also listen to the music outside the range of the PAs: Hessischer Rundfunk is broadcasting the soundtrack every evening on hr2 (96.7 FM in the Rhine-Main area).

Check out the full story by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

SFTLA member BraddersMacc was lucky enough to attend the England and Hungary match at Old Trafford on Tuesday night and in our forums he has posted a great match report and lots of accompanying photos.

Read his full match report and see all the photos by clicking here.

As we enter the month of June the start of the quadrennial, month-long carnival that is the FIFA World Cup™ finals is getting closer.

From the tens of thousands of visiting fans to the hard-working volunteers, many factors conspire to make the FIFA World Cup a spectacle without peer in the world of organised sport. However, one thing is certain: without the players, 736 footballers from 32 different nations spread over six continents, nothing else would really matter.

Whether they started their journey on bumpy Caribbean pitches or in the cathedrals of the European game, they come to Germany all in search of the same thing: glory, respect and a chance to lift the most-coveted prize in sport, the FIFA World Cup.

Of the 736 players, there are seven preparing for their fourth FIFA World Cup: Cafu and Ronaldo (both Brazil), Oliver Kahn (Germany) Mohammed Al Deayea and Sami Al Jaber (both Saudi Arabia), and Kasey Keller and Claudio Reyna (both USA). Only Cafu, Al Deayea and Al Jaber actually appeared in all three previous tournaments while USA goalkeeper Keller is the only player going to Germany who was at the 1990 finals.

Keller may be a veteran at 36 but he is a youngster compared to Tunisia goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel, the tournament's oldest player. He turned 40 in April and in the entire history of the FIFA World Cup, only Roger Milla, Pat Jennings, Peter Shilton and Dino Zoff have been older.

By contrast the youngest player in the competition, England's Theo Walcott, is just 17 and will become the FIFA World Cup's youngest ever scorer if he finds the back of the net in Germany.

You will find a biography, career history and exclusive written profile of every player in every squad, together with extended profiles of five key players from each team by clicking on the team names below:

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro, Netherlands
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: France, Switzerland, Korea Republic, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

The World Cup 2006 Roster Update v1.0 is FIFA Korea's official patch that offers more correct national team rosters based on EA Sports's 2006 FIFA World Cup.

It creates 156 new players and updates hundreds of player figures. This accurate roster patch includes lots of features for you, so don't miss this great patch! The details are:

• The accurate roster updates of final entry for 32 nations
• Real formation and position data for each team
• Many players are newly created. (156 players)
• Tons of modification for player figures
• Accurate FIFA World Ranking from 1th to 70th
• Fixes information about some players
• And many other changes

Download this excellent Roster Update direct from our Download Boutique.

GAME and EuroGamer are offering you the chance to win some great prizes when you take part in their fantasy football league.

Top prize is the fantastic Gold, Silver and Diamond 2006 FIFA World Cup Game Box worth £20,000. You can also win a trip to Australia, replica World Cup footballs or even win one of five Xbox 360 Core Systems.

Visit EuroGamer now to have a chance of winning these great prizes.

Our new World Cup correspondent Artus brings us his 2nd great story out of the Brazilian camp.

Ronaldo still seems to be the most popular Brazilian player. That’s what came out of an auction of all the bedrooms the players are currently occupying in the heart of the Swiss Alps.

Somebody on the Internet is ready to pay 1010 Swiss Franks (around 670 €) to spend ONE night in Ronaldo’s bed. The manager of the Park Hotel Weggis said he was surprised that Ronaldinho’s room brought less than Ronaldo’s (only 850 Swiss Franks by the way).

Now the winner of the auction will still have to wait a few days before spending some time in Ronaldo’s bed as on the 3rd of June the Seleção move to Germany.

John Terry scored his first ever goal for the Three Lions as England raced to 3-1 feel-good victory over Hungary - with Theo Walcott becoming the country’s youngest ever debutant.

Terry, who had never scored for his country in 22 previous caps, headed home a David Beckham free-kick to add to a goal from Steven Gerrard and keep Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men buzzing.

The Chelsea captain has just become the father of twins and he marked his goal with the ‘baby rocking’ celebration made famous by Brazil’s Bebeto at the 1994 World Cup Finals.

Just for good measure, too, another ‘baby’ - 17-year-old Walcott - came on as a sub to beat Wayne Rooney’s record as England’s youngest ever player in the second half, to the cheers of the Old Trafford crowd.

And fellow sub Peter Crouch scored a superbly crafted and well-finished third for England with five minutes left on the clock to round off a highly satisfactory night.

With just one more game to go before the World Cup starts this was a very satisfying night indeed. Read the full match report by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 TheFA.com

It was suggested during our recent World Cup Competition that we should adopt a young player and follow his exploits during the World Cup.

Therefore, from the following 6 players, already selected for the Gillette Best Young Player Award, vote above who you feel we should follow during the World Cup and therefore become the Sweetpatch Adopted Young Player of the World Cup.

Player		Country	Details
	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Lionel Messi became the toast of Argentina when, just days after his 18th birthday, he inspired his country's U-20 side to a fifth world title with a series of masterful displays at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005. Such was the impression made by the prodigious midfielder that in addition to taking home a gold medal he also picked up the adidas Golden Shoe award as top scorer, and the adidas Golden Ball as best player. Click here for more details
	Wayne Rooney	England	In the fast-track world of Wayne Rooney, the Player to Watch tag could be considered a good three years too late as all eyes have been on the young Manchester United and England striker ever since 17 August 2002 when he made his debut for his boyhood club, Everton. He will likely be the focus of attention again at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™. Click here for more details
	Theo Walcott	England	England’s latest hot prospect Theo Walcott started this season as a 16-year-old playing for second-tier side Southampton having just broken into the first team, yet the past six months have been beyond the realms of fantasy football. He has gone from being a gifted, but as yet unproven, striker learning his trade outside the Premiership, to outsprinting his idol – and now team-mate - Thierry Henry at Arsenal. Just for good measure, he has become the most talked about player in England’s FIFA World Cup™ squad. The term ‘meteoric rise’ fails to do him justice. Click here for more details
	Lukas Podolski	Germany	Less than two years ago, Lukas Podolski was an unremarkable U-19 striker seeking to bridge the gap between youth and senior football. Now the 20-year-old has his name splashed over an adidas designer collection following a stellar ascent hitherto unprecedented in German football. Click here for more details
	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Imagine being a full-back confronting Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo in full stride - the ball is at his feet, except you can't keep track of it as he drags his legs and steps over it two, three, four times and all the while you are scrambling backwards, trying to maintain concentration. Ronaldo is most certainly a Player to Watch - but only if you can keep your eyes on him for long enough. Click here for more details
	Cesc Fabregas	Spain	After maintaining a relatively low profile in his native Spain until recent months, the explosive form of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas has now changed all that. Two stand-out displays against Real Madrid in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League followed by an assured performance on his international debut have catapulted the young Catalan into pole position for a place in Luis Aragones's 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Click here for more details

Vote in our Poll at the top of this page for your choice as the Sweetpatch Adopted Young Player of the World Cup.

The guys from our excellent Sweetpatch FTL Academy (SFTLA) have setup a free World Cup Fantasy Football game here for you all to join in with.

Unlike other fantasy games, this one is completely free to enter and there will be £20,000 in cash prizes up for grabs throughout the month-long tournament.

To join in you need to click here to register and then join our league using the following details:

• league = SFTLA
• code = 29178-7082

Have fun everyone during the World Cup and thanks to the guys from the SFTLA for setting up this World Cup Fantasy Football for you all.

Poor old Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast and his two assistants, Anthony Garwood (Jamaica) and Joseph Taylor (Trinidad and Tobago), will soon be leaving the referees’ 2006 FIFA World Cup™ headquarters, the Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg, and heading home due to a knee injury sustained by Prendergast. In-depth medical examinations have confirmed that the Jamaican will not be able to take charge of any matches during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

On 31 May, the 21 referees and 42 assistant referees who will be in action in Germany will be joined by the support and development group (five referees and ten assistant referees) for a final fitness test, which will be conducted in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg.

Keep updated with all the very latest news in the remaining days as we build up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

Our new World Cup correspondent Artus brings us a great story out of the Brazilian camp.

That Ronaldinho still feels safe on a football field is maybe a bit of a miracle following last Friday's visit from an unexpected fan.

The Brazilian team were at their training camp in Switzerland and they were surrounded by around 5,000 fans every day. Suddenly Ronaldinho found himself in the arms of an overenthusiastic woman looking out for some kisses and hugs. As she jumped on him they started to roll on the grass, Robinho came quickly to cover them up.

Ronaldinho seemed to have enjoyed what he considered to be a good joke and didn’t hesitate to wave goodbye when she was taken away from the field.

Follow all the friendly matches of all 32 finalists live and interactive by clicking here.

Also keep updated with all the very latest news in the remaining days as we build up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

As 9th June fast approaches, do you want to know who is playing who? When? Where? At what time? Find out the answers to all these questions by downloading your very own Official Match Schedule by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

This excellent program for your game of 2006 FIFA World Cup by Monkey Dragon from over at our partners at FIFA Polonia allows you to:

• Create home/away/goalkeeper 1GK/2GK kits
• Import/Export kits
• Ball or kit preview
• Export kits to .BMP or .FSH files

Check out the screenshot by clicking on the image on the right and then download this excellent Utility direct from our Download Boutique.

"Curses cannot touch me because I wear my underwear inside out."

Who else but a footballer could make a statement like this? In most cultures, and most sports, such belief in the protective power of one's underwear - voiced here by Adrian Mutu of Juventus and Romania - would be considered ridiculous, insane even.

Not in football. The beautiful game may have advanced massively, but its participants remain as rooted in superstition as ever and, whether it is ritual, religion, astrology or witchcraft to which fans, players and coaches turn, none of the 32 teams travelling to Germany will arrive without some kind of superstitious baggage.

Learn all about some of the strange superstitions at this year's World Cup by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

As England wait nervously for the verdict on Wayne Rooney's broken foot, Michael Owen says he is ready to bear the striking burden at the FIFA World Cup™.

Owen has played only once since suffering a similar injury on 31 December and he can expect even more responsibility if Rooney misses all or part of the tournament starting on 9 June.

The 20-year-old Manchester United forward will have a scan today to assess progress since he was injured against Chelsea on 29 April.

"I've always been ready," said Owen, scorer of 35 goals in 75 England appearances.

Read the rest of this interview with Michael Owen by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

Courtesy of the official site of the FIFA World Cup you can now follow all the friendly matches of all 32 finalists live and interactive by clicking here.

Latest results include:

• USA 0 v 0 Morocco
• Norway 2 v 2 Paraguay

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

England star mid-fielder Frank Lampard took a little time out to answer a couple of questions for EA Sports to coincide with the recent launch of the PSP edition of 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.

See what Frank has to say in answer to the following questions:

• Can England win the World Cup?
• Do you prefer playing against teams you've never played before (i.e. Trinidad & Tobago) or teams you know well such as Sweden?
• Who are the top players (any nation) we should look out for in the World Cup and why?
• Do you have any pre match rituals?
• Who has the weirdest superstitions in the team?
• Who is England's biggest practical joker?
• Everyone remembers Gazza's tears in Italia '90. How emotional would it be for you and the players to actually win the tournament?
• Who is the best videogame player amongst the squad? And does it get competitive between the lads?
• Did you feel any pride when England won the 2003 rugby World Cup, or last year's cricket Ashes?

by clicking here.

If you have a PSP and would love to get a copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany on it then click here now.

GOLEO VI the loveable lion is the Official Mascot of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. He is alive, talks and thinks. And naturally, he has his own opinions and point of view, as no-one is born just to be a mascot.

Learn all about GOLEO VI's World Cup priorities and his constant companion, Pille by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

Few players in football history can boast such a successful career as the evergreen AC Milan defender Cafu, and the flying full-back is set to break even more records this summer in Germany.

Read all about Cafu's footballing dreams, the competition he faces for Brazil's right-back spot, his plans for the future, and the recipe for success in Germany by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson says he is confident that injured striker Wayne Rooney will recover in time for the FIFA World Cup™.

Eriksson, who said the 20-year-old Manchester United forward also believes he will be fit for the finals, is waiting for the results of a scan on Rooney's broken foot on Thursday.

"On Friday, we will know much better how the situation is, but I've always been very positive - maybe more with my heart than my head. I'm quite sure that at some stage during the World Cup Wayne Rooney will be ready, I strongly believe that."

Read the rest of this interview with Sven by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

On this very exciting day of the UEFA Champions League Final, we are delighted to bring you some more fantastic FIFA news regarding our new exclusive home of the FIFA Master, i.e. Rinaldo.

Yes, that's right folks, the excellent Rinaldo, who has created his own excellent brand of FIFA utilities called FIFA Master, has set up his own home with us here so we can exclusively bring you all the latest and greatest add-ons from the FIFA Master himself.

Check out the new home of the FIFA Master where we bring you a single location to easily download all his great utilities.

To celebrate this launch we also bring you new versions of:

• DB Master 06
  Has very basic functionality but has been released early because it is the only program that works with the FIFA 2006 World Cup files
• Kit Master 526 v1.3
  Adds support for World Cup 2006 kit formats
• Sound Master 06 v1.3
  Allows you to edit many of the sounds available in FIFA 06

Rinaldo will also soon be launching his FIFA Master University concept so check back soon for more news on that.

In the meantime check out our brand new home of the FIFA Master and enjoy the start of the future of FIFA utilities.

What a difference a year makes. Little over 12 months ago, a disillusioned Dwight Yorke seemed to be drifting towards retirement after swapping the English Premier League for the Australian A-League, following an unhappy spell at Birmingham City.

Fast forward to the present and Yorke, at 34, is preparing for arguably the greatest adventure of a career which once brought European glory with Manchester United. Having helped Sydney FC become Australian champions, Yorke will shortly spearhead the Trinidad and Tobago attack at the FIFA World Cup™ in Germany. Here the Soca Warriors captain tells FIFAworldcup.com how he has fallen back in love with the game.

Read how the Soca Warriors captain has fallen back in love with the game by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

Our partners at Fifamania.it have released a great exclusive file for you. Their team have brought to life the World Cup 06 Installer! Alex Bernardi has collaborated with Ago_, Masiero, Mauri and Rinaldo to create this version of the installer which is completely compatible with WC 2006!

This file is a must as you will be able to install all your updates with a few simple mouse clicks.

Download this excellent Installer direct from our Download Boutique.

Togo became the first FIFA World Cup team to arrive in Germany when they landed on Monday in the southwestern city of Stuttgart for four weeks of training before their first Group G match.

Read the full story by clicking here.

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

The guessing is over and by the close of yesterday all 32 squads for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ will be known.

Some national coaches had already named their definitive 23-man lists prior to the deadlines, while others, like England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, were due to confirm the provisional squads they had announced previously.

Although each national association must announce its squad for Germany by yesterday, the official lists will be confirmed by FIFA on Thursday at 12.00CET.

You can read about the confirmed teams already available by clicking on the team names below.

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro, Netherlands
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: France, Switzerland, Korea Republic, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

Copyright © 2006 FIFA

The England squad numbers for this summer's World Cup have been confirmed after Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson submitted his final squad to FIFA on Monday.

There is a familiar feel with David Beckham wearing the infamous number seven shirt, while Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen will be number nine and ten respectively.

Spurs winger Aaron Lennon will wear number 19 - the same number Gazza wore in Italia 90, the tournament where he made his name, while fellow new boy Theo Walcott is number 23.

• Goalkeepers
  • 1 Paul Robinson (Tottenham)
  • 13 David James (Manchester City)
  • 22 Robert Green (Norwich)
• Defenders
• 2 Gary Neville (Manchester United)
• 3 Ashley Cole (Arsenal)
• 5 John Terry (Chelsea)
• 6 Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
• 12 Sol Campbell (Arsenal)
• 14 Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
• 15 Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
• Midfielders
• 4 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
• 7 David Beckham (Real Madrid)
• 8 Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
• 11 Joe Cole (Chelsea)
• 16 Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich)
• 17 Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)
• 18 Michael Carrick (Tottenham)
• 19 Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)
• 20 Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)
• Strikers
• 9 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
• 10 Michael Owen (Newcastle)
• 21 Peter Crouch (Liverpool)
• 23 Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

After 5 successful days of our FIFA World Cup 2006 competition, we are delighted to announce all of the winners:

1. Wednesday 10th May 2006
   Q: Which Argentine player received a red card in the 2002 FIFA World Cup despite not having played a single minute?
   A: Claudio Caniggia
   Winner = Ashok Simon George from India who wins a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC;
   
2. Thursday 11th May 2006
   Q: Who scored the last minute equaliser against Greece that sent England through to Korea/Japan 2002?
   A: David Beckham
   Winner = Dave Marshall from UK who wins a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PS2;
   
3. Friday 12th May 2006
   Q: What was the name of the mascot for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain?
   A: Naranjito
   Winner = Artus Verhaegen from Belgium who wins a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC;
   
4. Saturday 13th May 2006
   Q: What was the name of the mascot for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain?
   A: Naranjito
   Winner = Mario Ortiz from USA who wins a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC; and
   
5. Sunday 14th May 2006
   Q: What was the score before penalties in the semi-finals between France and West Germany at the 1982 FIFA World Cup?
   A: 3 - 3
   Winner = Paul Angerilli from Canada who wins a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the Xbox.

Well done to these 5 guys and thank you to everyone who entered this competition and provided us such brilliant feedback. More competitions coming soon.

FifaX have recently released their WC 2006 Music Exporter.

Using this small program you can export all audio tracks from FIFa World Cup 2006 into .wav format. Once you run this program you will find all audio tracks in .wav format in your \FIFA World Cup 2006\data\audio.

Download this excellent Music Exporter direct from our Download Boutique.

After 4 successful days of our World Cup competition, we are delighted to announce our day 3 and 4 answer as:

• Q: What was the name of the mascot for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain?
• A: Naranjito

We will annouce the winners as soon as we have processed all the 100's of entries.

Today we bring you your 5th and last chance to win a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC, PS2 or Xbox. All you have to do is complete the Entry Form answering 1 trivia question regarding the World Cup plus complete the Tie-Breaker question.

Closing dates for the competition will be daily at midnight GMT on Sunday 14th May 2006 (tonight).

Enter this great competition by filling in the entry form and we wish you the very best of luck.

After the second successful day of our World Cup competition, we are delighted to announce our day 2 answer as:

• Q: Who scored the last minute equaliser against Greece that sent England through to Korea/Japan 2002?
• A: David Beckham

We will annouce the winner as soon as I have processed all the 100's of entries.

Also, the answer for day 1 was:

• Q: Which Argentine player received a red card in the 2002 FIFA World Cup despite not having played a single minute?
• A: Claudio Caniggia

Today we bring you your 3rd chance to win a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC, PS2 or Xbox. All you have to do is complete the Entry Form answering 1 trivia question regarding the World Cup plus complete the Tie-Breaker question.

Closing dates for the competition will be daily at midnight GMT on:

• Friday 12th May 2006;
• Saturday 13th May 2006; and
• Sunday 14th May 2006

Enter this great competition by filling in the entry form and we wish you the very best of luck.

After the first successful day of our latest competition, we are delighted to announce our day 1 winner as:

• Ashok Simon George from India who wins a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC

Today we bring you another chance to win a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC, PS2 or Xbox. All you have to do is complete the Entry Form answering 1 trivia question regarding the World Cup plus complete the Tie-Breaker question.

Closing dates for the competition will be daily at midnight GMT on:

• Thursday 11th May 2006;
• Friday 12th May 2006;
• Saturday 13th May 2006; and
• Sunday 14th May 2006

Enter this great competition by filling in the entry form and we wish you the very best of luck.

We are delighted to bring you the chance to win a copy of FIFA World Cup 2006 for the PC, PS2 or Xbox every day for the next 5 days.

To have the chance to win one of these great prizes all you have to do is complete the Entry Form answering 1 trivia question regarding the World Cup plus complete the Tie-Breaker question.

Closing dates for the competition will be daily at midnight GMT on:

• Wednesday 10th May 2006;
• Thursday 11th May 2006;
• Friday 12th May 2006;
• Saturday 13th May 2006; and
• Sunday 14th May 2006

Enter this great competition by filling in the entry form and we wish you the very best of luck.

We are very excited to be able to offer you the chance to win yourself upto 5 copies of 2006 FIFA World Cup™ for the PC, PS2 or Xbox here this week.

From tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be offering you the chance to win 1 copy of the game every day for the next 5 days! Check back tomorrow when we launch this great competition.

Not bought the game yet and can't wait for this competition? Order yourself a copy today at excellent low prices from our Sweetpatch 2006 FIFA World Cup Shop.

We bring you the incredible Squad announced by Sven as he named his 23 players for the World Cup.

• Goalkeepers
  • Robinson (Tottenham)
  • James (Manchester City)
  • Green (Norwich)
• Defenders
• G Neville (Manchester United)
• Ferdinand (Manchester United)
• Terry (Chelsea)
• Cole (Arsenal)
• Campbell (Arsenal)
• Carragher (Liverpool)
• Bridge (Chelsea)
• Midfielders
• Beckham (Real Madrid)
• Carrick (Tottenham)
• Lampard (Chelsea)
• Gerrard (Liverpool)
• Hargreaves (Bayern Munich)
• Jenas (Tottenham)
• Downing (Middlesbrough)
• J Cole (Chelsea)
• Lennon (Tottenham)
• Strikers
• Rooney (Manchester United)
• Owen (Newcastle)
• Crouch (Liverpool)
• Walcott (Arsenal)
• Standby
• Carson (Liverpool)
• Young (Charlton)
• Reo-Coker (West Ham)
• Defoe (Tottenham)
• Johnson (Crystal Palace)

The 2006 FIFA World Cup game has been released and have you got your copy of it yet?

I've got to say after playing it for a few days now, "it is a great play and definitely one you should not be missing out on".

Get on over to our Sweetpatch 2006 FIFA World Cup Shop and make BIG savings when you order your copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup.

You can buy the game from us at the following excellent prices:

	PC DVD	=	£16.99	or	$29.99
	PS2	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	PSP	=	£29.99	or	$39.99
	Xbox	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	Xbox360	=	£39.99	or	$59.99
	GBA	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	NDS	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	GameCube	=	£29.99	or	$29.99

Now the game has been released, we are very excited this week to be able to offer you the chance to win yourself 1 of 5 copies of 2006 FIFA World Cup™ for the PC, PS2 or Xbox.

Check back over the next few days for details of how to win yourself a copy of this awesome game.

Not bought the game yet and can't wait for this competiton? Order yourself a copy today at excellent low prices from our Sweetpatch 2006 FIFA World Cup Shop.

EA have marked the release of their 2006 FIFA World Cup™ game today and at the same time announced the extension of their long-term partnership with FIFA, making EA the worldwide and exclusive FIFA Licensee for soccer action simulation, manager and arcade-style games across all console platforms, PC, handheld platforms, mobile phones and online formats.

The on-going partnership will allow EA to continue to bring the most genuine soccer gaming experiences to consumers with the authenticity of the FIFA soccer world, and includes games for the future FIFA World Cups in 2010 and 2014. Working together, EA and FIFA will continue to bring their combined passion for interactive sports entertainment to millions of sports fans around the world for years to come.

The chance to play with your heroes for soccer's most important trophy became a reality this week as Electronic Arts started to ship the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ game to stores around the world.

The event's only officially licensed videogame has developed enhanced gameplay attributes and stunning graphics that bring to life close to 100 superstars, and captures all of the spirit and pageantry of the real-world tournament. It is the closest fans can come to experiencing 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ without playing in it.

The game is released today and have you got your copy yet? If not get on over to our Sweetpatch 2006 FIFA World Cup Shop and make BIG savings when you order your copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup.

You can buy the game from us at the following excellent prices:

	PC DVD	=	£16.99	or	$29.99
	PS2	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	PSP	=	£29.99	or	$39.99
	Xbox	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	Xbox360	=	£39.99	or	$59.99
	GBA	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	NDS	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	GameCube	=	£29.99	or	$29.99

Today is the last day you can pre-order your copy of the only official 2006 FIFA World Cup game from our Sweetpatch Shop so it arrives with you on its launch date this Friday whilst making BIG savings (PC version only £16.99)!

So get on over to our Sweetpatch 2006 FIFA World Cup Shop and make BIG savings when you pre-order your copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup.

You can buy the game at the following prices:

	PC DVD	=	£16.99	or	$29.99
	PS2	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	PSP	=	£29.99	or	$39.99
	Xbox	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	Xbox360	=	£39.99	or	$59.99
	GBA	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	NDS	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	GameCube	=	£29.99	or	$29.99

For the official game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, EA SPORTS have pulled out all the stops to make sure it is as authentic as possible, and that includes the football used in the final.

This year, the World Cup Final will be played with a special golden ball, the Adidas "+Teamgeist Berlin", and that same ball will feature in every 2006 World Cup Final you play in the game.

Visit the official EA Sports 2006 FIFA World Cup site and take a look at the ball in play in their screenshots from the Xbox 360 version.

You can even buy this official ball from our Sweetpatch Shop below:

• adidas Official World Cup Match Ball @ £74.99 - click here to buy; or
• adidas Official World Cup Replica Football @ £14.99 - click here to buy.

As we enter the last week before the game of 2006 FIFA World Cup is released the news surrounding the game has gone quiet for a few days. Therefore we have searched around the net to bring you some news and a file to download.

Monkey Dragon has released his 06 WC Popups Manager program over at our partners FIFA Polonia. This program allows you to add your favourite popups to game and there are also 3 popups included with this version.

Download this excellent Popups Manager direct from our Download Boutique and add even more enjoyment to your playing of your 2006 FIFA World Cup Demo.

That's right folks, this is the last weekend you can pre-order your copy of the only official 2006 FIFA World Cup game from our Sweetpatch Shop and make BIG savings (PC version only £16.99!).

To celebrate the imminent launch of the game we have opened up our new 2006 FIFA World Cup section which is dedicated to bringing you all the latest and greatest news and information for the 2006 FIFA World Cup event and game including:

• FIFA World Cup Fixtures and Results
• FIFA World Cup Tables
• Official FIFA World Cup News
• All our latest World Cup and Fifa news

So get on over this weekend to our Sweetpatch 2006 FIFA World Cup Shop and make BIG savings when you pre-order your copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup plus check out our brand new 2006 FIFA World Cup section.

You can buy the game at the following prices:

	PC DVD	=	£16.99	or	$29.99
	PS2	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	PSP	=	£29.99	or	$39.99
	Xbox	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	Xbox360	=	£39.99	or	$59.99
	GBA	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	NDS	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	GameCube	=	£29.99	or	$29.99

IGN have posted the first review of 2006 FIFA World Cup for the PS2. In their words:

"2006 FIFA World Cup is a delightful celebration of the Super Bowl of soccer with the official German stadiums, all the teams you could want and a variety of game modes. It's chock-full of World Cup atmosphere, from the roar of the crowd to a rainstorm of confetti to actual video-tours of each German stadium to 127 national anthems. Of course, the lack of a true manager mode hurts the longevity of a title that should hold value until 2008, or even beyond. But EA put together its most solid soccer gameplay experience yet and the deepest World Cup title of all time. Still, it's hard to argue that the gameplay, an obvious imitation of Winning Eleven, is better, but with star players and a nifty new shooting mechanism, it would be hard to argue it's worse. Priced at a frugal £29.99/$29.99, this soccer title is a great value and a nice end to this console generation."

Their scores for each feature were as follows:

Click here to check out the full review and see if you like/agree with what they are saying.

Impressed, visit the Sweetpatch Shop today to pre-order your copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup™ so it arrives with you on its release date next week.

Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music at EA, describes the music selection for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ soundtrack:

Q: What is special about the 2006 FIFA World Cup in-game soundtrack?
A: Every year, our FIFA soundtrack becomes one of our most anticipated challenges. How can we top previous editions’ music choices and still connect with the game’s international fans? For this new WC edition, we’ve spent nearly 12 months putting together an unprecedented collection of tracks from more than 20 countries around the world. It is truly a groundbreaking selection of energy-fueled songs that we think is the greatest international soundtrack ever.

Q: How is the 2006 FIFA World Cup soundtrack different from other game soundtracks?
A: The soundtrack of every game – in essence, its audio personality – is as distinctive as the games themselves. As any player can tell you, the sounds of, for example, FIFA vs SSX vs Burnout are all different.

At EA, the music we choose must drive the game while enhancing the gaming experience. It’s that simple…and that strategic. All EA Game music is specifically designed to maximize the emotional lift needed to create even greater gameplay. The music we choose must have the ability to make you want to run faster, board better, charge the goal harder. This year, our FIFA WC soundtrack leans heavily towards uniquely up-tempo international pop. Our sole purpose is to have gamers discover their next favorite band through the experience of FIFA World Cup.

Q: How do you pick the songs? Please describe the selection process.
A: When it comes to new music, our objective is to act locally but think globally. My staff and I all come from similar A&R and music marketing backgrounds. We all listen to a lot of music. We see a lot of bands. We track online communities and independent scenes all over the world. Most importantly, we seek input from EA’s global offices to ensure that their country’s most exciting new acts will be represented and will be appreciated by music fans in other nations. In other words, the music must ‘travel’. We then work with record labels, publishers and artists often more than a year in advance to ensure that the music in our games will always matter.

Q: Who are the break-out artists in the soundtrack?
A: This year, we’re tremendously excited about Mattafix from the UK, Ivy Queen from Puerto Rico, Lady Sovereign from the UK, KES from Trinidad and especially a track by Brazil’s legendary Sergio Mendes featuring The Black Eyed Peas.

Q: Who have been the big breakout artists on FIFA games in the past?
A: We’re enormously proud of the role FIFA has had in breaking many major artists around the world. Avril Lavigne was first introduced to European audiences via FIFA 2003. The Ceasars, Tribalistas, Wir Sind Heldend and Kasabian were first heard in FIFA 2004. Our 2005 soundtrack featured the earliest appearances of Franz Ferdinand, Marcelo D2 and Scissor Sisters. Last year, we introduced Bloc Party, Damian Marley and Nine Black Alps. And our hopes for big breakout artists from this year’s game are equally exciting.

Q: How can we buy the soundtrack?
A: Our 2006 FIFA World Cup soundtrack exists not as an album to be sold, but as a fully interactive event for new artists to reach new audiences of music fans and gamers alike!

Q: How can we buy the game in advance of the release date?
A: I would seriously recommend the Sweetpatch Shop where you can buy the game at the following prices:

	PC DVD	=	£16.99	or	$29.99
	PS2	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	PSP	=	£29.99	or	$39.99
	Xbox	=	£29.99	or	$29.99
	Xbox360	=	£39.99	or	$59.99
	GBA	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	NDS	=	£24.99	or	$29.99
	GameCube	=	£29.99	or	$29.99

Visit the Sweetpatch Shop today to pre-order your copy of 2006 FIFA World Cup™ so it arrives with you on its release date next week.