The buying spree is expanding to DVD recorders. The time difference with Germany is prodding soccer fans to buy gear to record games that air late at night.

Japan's soccer team is threatening to make a first-round exit after losing to Australia and tying Croatia. But the country's electronics makers will continue to win regardless.

In Brazil, retailer Casas Bahia gave plasma TV buyers a chance to win another one for the equivalent of 40 U.S. cents _ but only if Brazil wins the tournament.

"It was a success," said sales director Michael Klein. "In just seven days, we sold what would have normally taken seventh months to sell."

British retail sales grew 4 percent in May on year, the strongest annual rate of increase since December 2005. Most of that is attributable to a surge in sales of electronics goods ahead of the World Cup, according to the Office for National Statistics.

John Lewis, a department store in Great Britain, reported that sales of flat panel TVs were up 118 percent from the beginning of February to the end of April compared to the same period the previous year.

"We get two opportunities this year to sell TVs," says Sony Corp. spokeswoman Mina Naito, referring to the World Cup and Christmas.

One reason the World Cup works as an incentive for gadget shopping: Companies time the release of new models to such events.

In case consumers miss out on the World Cup blitz, companies are looking to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to drive sales.

"We believe that even after the World Cup is over, the solid demand for bigger and flatter screens won't change," Panasonic spokesman Akira Kadota said.