By Andy Cole in Johannesburg 11 June 2010 The World Cup is probably going to be won by Brazil, with Spain and Argentina absolutely capable of lifting the trophy too. I expect the final to feature Brazil and one of the others. I think England, with a fair wind, could get as far as the […]

By Pete Wilson 11 June 2010 With the World Cup kicking off in South Africa today, fans around the globe are nailing their colours to the mast, highlighting again the animosity between England and their northern neighbours, Scotland. Or to be more precise, the animosity apparently felt by Scottish football fans towards England at major […]

By Nick Harris 10 June 2010 Australia have withdrawn from the race to stage the 2018 World Cup to focus their attentions of the 2022 event. Fifa and Australia’s football federation (FFA) have released a joint statement to that effect after it became obvious that the 2018 race is going to be a Europe-only affair. […]

By Nick Harris 10 June 2010 The World Cup final on 11 July will vie with the 2002 World Cup final for the record of being the second most-watched live televised event in human history – behind the 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony – according to Kevin Alavy, a leading authority on global TV viewing […]

By Jonnie Baker 10 June 2010 So then, where were we? The World Cup is where we were, second only to Christmas in the things I look forward to with an almost preternatural enthusiasm. And following my laser-like forecasting of the race for fourth I am prepared, in my position as a football expert, to […]

By Keira Daley 8 June 2010 This isn’t quite the first World Cup of the digital or even social networking ages, but it is the first of the Twit-era, as in the first when Twitter will be used, not just as a medium for exchange of views by fans during games, but by players. Some […]

By Nick Harris 8 June 2010 England will reach the World Cup final and beat Spain to lift the trophy, according to predictions based on the ages of the 32 squads and five other key “indicators” identified as being influential at previous events. The predictions have been made by the Professional Football Players’ Observatory (PFPO) […]

By Nick Harris 8 June 2010 Along with the many 2010 World Cup articles about the first match in Group C – between England and the USA on Saturday – there have been, and will be, plenty of references to the famous, fabulous occasion when the USA beat England 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup. No […]

By Pete Wilson 7 June 2010 Whether David James actually gets to play a game at the World Cup remains to be seen – he was unused in today’s 3-0 friendly win over the Platinum Stars – but England’s goalkeeper is the oldest player involved in any squad at the tournament. Sportingintelligence‘s resident statistician Brian […]

By Nick Harris 7 June 2010 The World Cup, which starts on Friday and will have a huge economic impact in countries far outside the host nation South Africa, will be the biggest event in British sports betting history, bookmakers said yesterday. “The World Cup will smash all gambling records, becoming the first sporting event […]