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World Cup 2014: Tom Jenkins with determined Brazilian World Cup squatters - in pictures
Sepp Blatter does U-turn over allowing video challenges in live play
Rik Mayall's World Cup anthem set to move up music charts
Neymar: Brazil ready to fulfil World Cup dream of all Brazilians
Are the Socceroos Australia's No1 national team?
Englands concerns grow over state of pitch for Italy World Cup opener
Wayne Rooney in the mood to enjoy himself as he sets sights on Italy
Danny Welbeck back in England contention for Italy after all-clear
The Sun marks the World Cup by giving away 22m papers to English homes
Brazil 2014 is here: not just any old World Cup but the Copa das Copas
Croatias Ivan Mocinic ruled out of World Cup on eve of Brazil opener
Sepp Blatter clear to stand for fifth term as Fifa president after limits rejected
World Cup 2014: ready or not, it is Brazil's time to show the world
The Gerrard conundrum
The Guardian view: the World Cup should be awarded to continents, not countries
'The World Cup is really just for the people in helicopters'
World Cup 2014: Strikes leave Saõ Paulo frozen rather than at fever pitch
USA cannot expect to win World Cup, says manager Jürgen Klinsmann
Alcides Ghiggia missing from guest list for World Cup opener in São Paulo
Mesut Özil hits back at criticism: Ive earned the trust of Löw and Wenger
Niko Kovac: Croatia wont park the bus against Brazil in World Cup
World Cup diary: Costa Rica are favourites if social justice is your guide
Romelu Lukaku returns to training for Belgiums World Cup opener
Guardian fashion's fantasy World Cup football team
World Cup 2014: Spain hungry for second title in a row, says Koke

World Cup 2014: Tom Jenkins with determined Brazilian World Cup squatters - in pictures

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 03:32 PM PDT

Guardian photographer Tom Jenkins spent some time in the Homeless Workers Movement squatters camp less than a mile from the Itaquerão World Cup Stadium in a district of São Paulo, Brazil. Brazilians are angry at the billions spent to host the World Cup year, with protests clouding the start of the tournament

Sepp Blatter does U-turn over allowing video challenges in live play

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:59 PM PDT

Each manager would have two challenges says Fifa president
Michel Platini is an opponent and prefers extra referees

In a potentially revolutionary move, the Fifa president Sepp Blatter has proposed introducing video technology to allow managers to challenge two decisions per match. We could do something more on the field of play, said Blatter, who had been a longstanding opponent of goal line technology before being converted by Frank Lampards ghost goal at the 2010 World Cup.

Why dont we give team managers the possibility of two challenges for refereeing during a match? If a manager disagrees with a decision, he could ask for an immediate TV review with a referee.

Rik Mayall's World Cup anthem set to move up music charts

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:40 PM PDT

Noble England, originally released for the 2010 World Cup, boosted by social media campaigns following Mayall's death Continue reading...

Neymar: Brazil ready to fulfil World Cup dream of all Brazilians

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:38 PM PDT

This is our World Cup says Luiz Felipe Scolari on eve of game
Coach says 2002 and 2014 squads collectively the same Continue reading...

Are the Socceroos Australia's No1 national team?

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:37 PM PDT

Football is far from being the national sport, yet the Socceroos can unite the country in ways other teams can't

Englands concerns grow over state of pitch for Italy World Cup opener

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:30 PM PDT

Manaus playing surface and stadium still look unfinished
I dont think it will be in good condition says groundsman

England have requested a report from Fifa on the state of the pitch at the Arena da Amazônia, where they kick off their World Cup campaign against Italy on Saturday, amid concerns that the turf is worn and in shoddy condition.

Roy Hodgson will dispatch a member of his backroom staff to the £173m venue in Manaus upon arrival on Thursday to inspect the playing surface. Photographs of the newly constructed stadium have prompted some concern. The ground is apparently fully functional but building work is not completely concluded.

Wayne Rooney in the mood to enjoy himself as he sets sights on Italy

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:30 PM PDT

Englands No10 says he feels better than he has for years and believes if he plays his best football then it will help the team raise their game for the World Cup

At some point last summer, David Moyes, in his new position as Manchester United manager, invited Wayne Rooney to his house and told him matter-of-factly he had gone soft. It was, as Rooney now recounts, a frank conversation full of home truths, and one of them cut to the bone. Do you think youre a top player? Moyes asked. Rooney replied that he did. Then Moyes hit him with the killer line. Then why have Chelsea offered only £25m for you?

One of the good things about Rooney is that he can respond well to the short-sharp-shock treatment sometimes. At United, he went for extra training, including spells in the boxing gym with his old mates back in Liverpool. Until Christmas, he was the best player at Old Trafford. Different players have different mentalities, he says now. Ive always responded well if Im not doing well. If someone is shouting at me, I have no problem with that. You see some players and it really affects them. Its not something I get concerned about.

Danny Welbeck back in England contention for Italy after all-clear

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:30 PM PDT

Forward plans to train on Friday after limping off on Tuesday
England training geared to inflicting damage on Italy Continue reading...

The Sun marks the World Cup by giving away 22m papers to English homes

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:01 PM PDT

Brazil 2014 is here: not just any old World Cup but the Copa das Copas

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT

After seven years of wrangling and worrying the World Cup is upon us - and all eyes are on the hosts in the São Paulo opener

Here it comes, then. After the storm: the storm. Brazil 2014 is finally upon us, a drama of ranged tectonic interests and high-end chicanery now dissolved into the relatively simple matter of the worlds greatest sporting event. This has been the peculiar trajectory of this World Cup, which already feels like a tale told in reverse, a seven-year, continental-scale wrangle that has dwindled away now to this, a series of football matches over four weeks in summer, starting with the hosts opening fixture against Croatia in São Paulo on Thursday night.

Brazil, naturally, expects. Although it must be said this has from the start been the most disobedient of global extravaganzas, chafing relentlessly against its own outsized margins. In the Brazilian governments ludicrously optimistic recent TV advert campaign described by federal prosecutors as absurdly divorced from reality Brazil 2014 was styled not just a World Cup but as the World Cup: a Copa das Copas and this, at least, rings true. There are World Cups and there are World Cups. And then there are Brazilian World Cups. For all the broader themes of vanished infrastructure projects and social unrest, Brazil 2014 is at heart a genuinely thrilling prospect, a pure sporting treasure to make even the most jaded observer drool a little.

Croatias Ivan Mocinic ruled out of World Cup on eve of Brazil opener

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 01:44 PM PDT

Uncapped midfielder failed to recover from ankle injury
Niko Kovac asks Fifa if Milan Badelj can be added to squad
Kovac: Croatia wont park the bus against Brazil

The Croatia midfielder Ivan Mocinic has been ruled out of the World Cup on the eve of his countrys opening game against Brazil after failing to recover from a recurring ankle injury.

Mocinic had been a surprise inclusion in the squad at the expense of Milan Badelj, who the Croatia coach, Niko Kovac, hopes will now join the squad after the uncapped 21-year-old was sent home. Badelj himself has been nursing a groin strain.

Sepp Blatter clear to stand for fifth term as Fifa president after limits rejected

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 01:34 PM PDT

Proposals to consider age and term limits thrown out
Michael Garcia to give World Cup corruption findings in July

Fifa has voted down attempts to consider age and term limits for its executives, in a move that could allow Sepp Blatter to continue as president indefinitely. The referendum required a simple majority to take the proposals forward to next years Fifa congress, where they would have needed the backing of 75% of members to be adopted.

Both were rejected out of hand, meaning the 78-year-old preparing to stand in 2015 for another term despite earlier promising this would be his last could theoretically carry on forever. The introduction of age or term limits was one of seven outstanding reforms listed by the former chairman of Fifas independent governance committee, Mark Pieth, when it was disbanded.

World Cup 2014: ready or not, it is Brazil's time to show the world

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 01:02 PM PDT

Tournament in football-obsessed nation has potential to be both the greatest and the worst in the history of the sport Continue reading...

The Gerrard conundrum

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 12:25 PM PDT

The Guardian view: the World Cup should be awarded to continents, not countries

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 12:17 PM PDT

From the way it's awarded to the way it's staged, football's festival needs a complete overhaul Continue reading...

'The World Cup is really just for the people in helicopters'

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 11:41 AM PDT

View from streets of Brazil's largest city confirms what many fear: tournament simply illuminates gulf between rich and poor Continue reading...

World Cup 2014: Strikes leave Saõ Paulo frozen rather than at fever pitch

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 11:33 AM PDT

Traffic woes have sparked predictions the tournament may start with the most chaotic opening to a Football World Cup ever Continue reading...

USA cannot expect to win World Cup, says manager Jürgen Klinsmann

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 11:31 AM PDT

To say we should win the World Cup is just not realistic
Reality-check goes against can-do US marketing Continue reading...

Alcides Ghiggia missing from guest list for World Cup opener in São Paulo

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 11:23 AM PDT

Uruguayan who scored 1950 winner does not have a ticket
It must be a Fifa employee who doesnt know what hes doing

Mesut Özil hits back at criticism: Ive earned the trust of Löw and Wenger

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 11:06 AM PDT

Özil points to fact that he has now won three finals
I am an experienced player who takes responsibility

Mesut Özil has responded to recent criticism by saying that he is an experienced player who takes responsibility and that he has earned the trust of his national coach, Joachim Löw, and his club manager, Arsène Wenger. The Arsenal midfielder was singled out, and even booed, by a section of Germany fans during the recent Cameroon friendly but was in confident mood before their World Cup opener against Portugal on Monday.

I am no longer a talent but an experienced player who has played in three countries. I take responsibility. The FA Cup win means that I have won three finals, he told Sport Bild. I was voted Germany player of the year three times running and in the team of the year in England always by the fans. And that is also important to me.

Niko Kovac: Croatia wont park the bus against Brazil in World Cup

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:59 AM PDT

Coach talks about his plans to combat Brazil in World Cup opener and says: I dont need players who dont track back

Im a firm believer in science, says the Croatia manager, Niko Kovac. If research can help us discover cures for diseases, it surely can improve a football team. Whether its data analysis or biomechanics, it can give you an edge and Id be a fool if I didnt want that edge.

Kovac is sitting in the new Croatian Football Federation headquarters, on the 11th floor of Zagrebs DoubleTree by Hilton luxury hotel, a few weeks before Croatia take on the hosts, Brazil, in the opening match of the World Cup. The complex is located in the emerging business quarter the City, as some local media like to call it. In reality, it is just a few shiny, glass and steel buildings erected in the place of ramshackle former factory warehouses and housing projects.

World Cup diary: Costa Rica are favourites if social justice is your guide

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:47 AM PDT

Britons prepare to change working patterns, Argentinian fan is targeted by Brazilians and all aboard the high-speed World Cup train that doesnt exist

Costa Rica for the Cup! Thats the socially responsible, environmentally friendly suggestion for ethical supporters from the World Development Movement, which has just launched a website to measure the 32 participating nations attitudes to social justice. Based on assessments of carbon emissions, human development, military spending, women in government and financial secrecy, Costa Rica comes top. Spain, Mexico and Argentina are runners-up and Iran comes bottom. England finishes a lowly 20th and the US 29th. Maybe not too far away from the reality after all?

Romelu Lukaku returns to training for Belgiums World Cup opener

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:41 AM PDT

Striker shows no ill effects after ankle scare
Warm-up game with USA cancelled amid traffic concerns

Romelu Lukaku resumed training with Belgiums World Cup squad on Wednesday, showing no apparent effects from a right ankle strain he sustained last weekend.

The striker jogged with his team-mates to remove the jet lag from Tuesdays flight from his system before performing balancing exercises that put specific pressure on the tender ankle.