England have made it to the second round after just two games - the World Cup is surely ours! Unfortunately the brute stats don’t really reflect England’s form very accurately. We have looked very uninspiring whilst defeating two weak opponents in the tournament’s ‘Group of Dearth’. Things need to improve, but England have shown enough to […]

I know it’s early days, but here’s a team comprised of players that have caught the eye in Germany so far!

Herr Hippo told you so! He informed you back in March that Australia were a decent outside bet for the World Cup, and a 3-1 victory over Japan in their first game proves he was right! He noted that the Socceroos have got some pretty good players and, under the direction of coach Guus Hiddink, could have a […]

I am very happy with the first week of FIFA’s trial of a yellow card being shown every time a foul is committed. There can’t be many fans around the world whose enjoyment of the competition has been anything but increased by this wonderful development. 
The days of one or two yellow cards per game are fortunately long […]

After the Paraguay game, in which he was constantly penalised by a pedantic referee for leaning on defenders, England striker Peter Crouch stated: “It was a worry to pick up a booking, but I’m not going to change my game, although I may have to adapt it a bit.”
This statement has sent a ripple of excitement […]

The USA would struggle to see off American Samoa on this kind of form. How can a team be so badly prepared for a World Cup campaign? No man in the starting XI can possibly be happy with his performance in their opening group game. The Czech Republic looked organised, fit and full of confidence, whereas […]

Countless World Cup songs have been released in England this year - all of which aim to be sing-along terrace/ pub anthems for 2006 and beyond.
Herr Hippo’s current favourite is Pride of Lions. However, we thought it would be a good idea to compose a World Cup song via a truly democratic process. We are therefore delighted […]

The popular reality TV show Big Brother has inspired the BBC to incorporate a new feature into their World Cup coverage.  When Big Brother is beamed out live on E4 there are periods when the sound is muted, and at other times the camera also pans away from the action to focus on a kitchen appliance like the oven. […]

Between composing articles for Herr Hippo, WCH contributor Herr Paul runs a website called ToyTalk. ToyTalk is your online resource for toy news, reviews and features. Next week is World Cup week on the site and it will be focusing on the best football-related toys. Starting on Monday June 12th, there will be a new post every […]