Guests of Honour from all corners

England's Prince William will be supporting his national team at their opening match against Paraguay.

Trinidad fulfills dream with 1st appearance

The prime minister declared a national holiday and tens of thousands of fans danced to steel drums and soca music when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for its first World Cup.

German weather may spring surprises

The weather in Germany could be as full of surprises as the soccer during the World Cup, with cold fronts, heatwaves, heavy rain, bright blue skies or severe thunderstorms among the myriad of possibilities.

German doctors to resume strikes in wage dispute

Doctors at state-run clinics in much of Germany plan to resume strike action next week, stepping up pressure in a wage dispute and raising the prospect of disruption dragging on into the soccer World Cup.

Silver fox Lippi hoping for a long hot summer

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once compared Italy coach Marcello Lippi to American actor Paul Newman and the former Juventus boss will be hoping he is in for a "Long Hot Summer" for the right reasons at the World Cup finals in Germany.

UK pubs and bookmakers await lucrative World Cup

Success for England in this summer's soccer World Cup could lift sales at some UK pubs by 10 percent, but for bookmakers it could mean payouts totalling nearly 10 million pounds.

Costa Ricans complained being overcharged for tickets

Costa Ricans have complained to World Cup organizers that they were overcharged for their game tickets by travel agencies, and in some cases given cheaper seats.

50,000 fans jam to cheer Argentina on World Cup

Rodrigo Palacio scored three goals and Javier Saviola added a fourth to help Argentina beat an under-20 team 4-0 Wednesday night in a raucous World Cup send-off celebration.

World Cup vibrators withdrawn

Berlin - A German sex shop chain has bowed to threats of legal action and withdrawn from sale vibrators named after two of the country's leading football stars.

U.S.coach Arena likes his low profile

Bruce Arena is the most successful coach in the history of the United States soccer team, having led them to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals and lifted them to an all-time best fourth place in FIFA's world rankings.

Orange fever goes to Dutch fans' heads

"It's war," laughs entrepreneur Florian van Laar when asked about his battle with a rival for the heads of Dutch World Cup fans.

50,000 applicants for 'Ready, willing and able'team