German and British authorities expect little trouble from English fans at the World Cup after months of planning by police, they said on Thursday.

"Everything that can be done has been done and will be done," Vernon Coaker, under-secretary for policing, security and community at the British interior ministry, told a news conference in Frankfurt's city hall.

People sign their autograph on a hugh flag placed by English soccer fans at Roemerberg main square in downtown Frankfurt June 8, 2006. England will face Paraguay in their first group match in Frankfurt on Saturday, 10 June.[Reuters]

England start their World Cup campaign in Germany's financial capital, the country's fifth largest city, with a Group B match against Paraguay on Saturday.

Frankfurt, home to 650,000 people representing 180 nationalities, is bracing itself for up to 250,000 visitors on each of the five days it hosts a World Cup match, starting with 30,000 English fans arriving for Saturday's game.

In the picturesque square outside city hall, scores of England fans enjoyed beer in the sunshine, loudly chanting slogans with German police keeping watch.

"We are football fans, not hooligans," said Martin Swift, a 49-year-old export documentation supervisor from Liverpool, who arrived in Germany on Wednesday and plans to stay until Monday.

"The police have been very low key, which is good. Many of the lads are here with their girlfriends or their wives, that makes it all less rowdy," said Swift.

He does not have a ticket for the Paraguay match but plans to watch it on a giant video screen on a barge in the middle of Frankfurt's river Main.

Frankfurt police chief Achim Thiel said officers patrolling the streets were under orders not to intervene as long as people were only having fun, even if they were loud.

"But we will be there in time if there is any other trouble," he said.

HOOLIGANS BANNED

Coaker said England fans behaved well during the last World Cup in South Korea and Japan in 2002 and again at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.

The vast majority of England supporters coming to Germany would also be well-behaved, he said, adding that German police have pledged that "they will be treated on the basis of their behaviour, not on the basis of their reputation".

British police believe they have prevented almost all known English hooligans from travelling to Germany.

Assistant chief constable Stephen Thomas, head of the British police mission to the World Cup in Germany, said 95 percent of the hooligans banned from travelling had already surrendered their passports.

That leaves about 180 people who police are looking for, he said.

"There can be no guarantees... but 3,500 known troublemakers (from Britain) will not be in Germany this June," Coaker said.

Thiel said the city also does not expect any trouble from the estimated 50,000 Dutch supporters expected in Frankfurt for the June 21 Group C match between Netherlands and Argentina.

"We are pretty sure that there will be no hooligans from the Netherlands," he said.

Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth said police were also prepared for potential politically-motivated protests and demonstrations when Iran play their Group D match against Portugal on June 17.

Coaker said counter-terrorism organisations across Europe and the German police had considered the possibility of terrorist threats aimed at disrupting the World Cup.

"They have no specific knowledge of any threat, as far as I am aware," he said.