First stop will be Frankfurt where England take on Paraguay on 10 June in the brand new FIFA World Cup Stadium. Fans without tickets will be able to enjoy all the excitement of the game by heading down to the banks of the River Main that runs through Frankfurt’s city centre. A giant screen will be installed on a barge in the middle of the river and performances on two music stages will accompany the match screenings. They will also be able to celebrate success (or drown their sorrows) with a glass or three of the ‘apple wine’, for which Frankfurt is famous.
Nuremberg, where England play Trinidad & Tobago on 15 June is a quaint, romantic town famed for its Christmas market, sausages – and Bavarian brews. But during the 2006 FIFA World CupTM it will be consumed with football fever. Again, fans unable to get tickets will be able to watch the match on a large screen at the Volksfestplatz.
From Nuremberg it’s on to Cologne, where England come up against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s fellow Swedes on 20 June. In the run up to the game, the city is hosting an exhibition devoted to great German and international players (Sports Museum, 4 March - 5 June). During the tournament itself, there will be music and entertainment in addition to a number of public viewing screens for matches. The people of Cologne are known for their love of partying and the local beer here is ‘Koelsch’. For those seeking divine guidance when it comes to England’s performance on the pitch, where better to ask for it than the magnificent Gothic Cologne Cathedral?
The remaining nine cities hosting the 2006 FIFA World CupTM will similarly all offer public screenings, entertainments and a rich cultural programme. In Leipzig, the exhibition ‘Lord of the Rules: the Football Referee’ will run from 3 March – 30 July 2006; in Munich, ‘Football: one game – many worlds’ will be open from 18 May – 3 September.