The New Republic

With the group stages over, the sextodecimal matches played, and the quarterfinals about to begin, what kind of a World Cup has it been so far? It has been good for South Africa, with large, happy crowds and none of the violence that pessimists predicted, altogether nothing worse than the horrible vuvuzela. The home nation were eliminated, but not before a glorious victory over France, who scuttled home in disgrace, as did the Italians, and then the English. READ MORE >>

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Tim Vickery: "when the Dutch led the way" The disturbing trend of World Cup homogeneity Zonal Marking: clean sheets the key to Cup success Top 20 World Cup hats READ MORE >>

To anticipate Argentina versus Germany or Brazil versus Holland is to again hear World Cup history whisper ever more urgently as the tournament approaches its conclusion. The coaches and players will insist that such talk is nonsense; a distraction. The game must be won on the pitch in South Africa. Eleven against eleven. The future scripts are yet to be written. What's past is irrelevant. So said the English, to a man, on the eve of being knocked out by Germany yet again. READ MORE >>

Jonathan Wilson: the glorious past of Ghanaian football Steve Davis: final USA player ratings Sean Ingle: "South America boosted by travel, hard work…and luck" READ MORE >>

Nike's Cup-conquering culture For Lionel Messi, is context all that matters? FIFA's disgraceful "code of ethics" READ MORE >>

Whining about the World Cup ball is almost as old as the tournament itself. During the last Cup in Germany, scientists postulated that it might “unsettle goalkeepers.” In Korea and Japan, the ball was universally deemed too light and bouncy. READ MORE >>

How will Spain manage to crack Paraguay? They have struggled against teams that have packed players into the final third and dared them to elegantly kick the ball about the midfield, with Spain looking so refined and yet so lacking in goals. Paraguay are, of course, the supreme example of this genre in the tournament. (I’m very moved by Sasha’s paeans to their lyrical dullness.) Spain should be able to pick that lock. But the lameness of Fernando Torres has been a major liability. READ MORE >>

A good question! Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski suggest not. Their argument, summarised by Tim Harford, runs more or less like this: - England do about as well as you’d expect, given their size, economic power, proximity to football’s “core” in Western Europe, and footballing history. That is, you’d expect them to usually make the last 16, sometimes make the last 8, occasionally make the last 4 and make the final very rarely. And they do. READ MORE >>

Why FIFA's official match reports can't be trusted Sid Lowe: Spain discovers its old self US-Ghana and Mexico-Argentina TV ratings leave the networks hungry for more READ MORE >>