Now, after another "30 years of hurt" have passed without a major trophy for the men's national team, Three Lions is being re-released again, in time for the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. Latest updates from World Cup 2026 But not everyone is happy about the song being belted out at England games for another tournament. Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit has branded Three Lions "arrogant", saying England does not "own football". Meanwhile, opposition fans have described the track as in "bad taste" and even suggested there is a "mistaken" claim in the lyrics. So how do supporters of arguably England's fiercest rivals – Scotland and Germany – really feel about the song? Michael McEwan, a journalist at Scotland's Tartan Army Magazine, said fans of the song need to "let it lie", arguing the England team – hoping to win their first World Cup since 1966 – are not what they used to be. Harking back to when the song was first released in May 1996 during the Britpop era, McEwan said: "I know why they were doing it, but I think it was done in bad taste. "I just think they were too full of themselves to write that song." On the track's re-release, he said: "If they don't win at this World Cup, will they put it out at the European Championships as well? I think they should just drop it." McEwan said he thinks the track has lost its energy after three decades, and it's time to "give it a rest, guys". 'Mistaken claim' in song Tartan Army spokesperson Hamish Husband said the Three Lions song is tainted by its "mistaken" claim that England is the home of football. Husband argues that it was instead Scotland that taught the world how to play the modern passing game. He referenced the 19th-century "Scotch professors", a set of footballers who have been credited as pioneers of the modern passing game at a time when players ran with the ball until they were tackled, with the revolutionary new tactics taken on by Scotland before spreading across Europe, South America and Asia. "It was the travellers that worked the factories of the UK that took football to the world – not England," Husband added. Read more:Your ultimate guide to the World CupThree Lions writer reflects on songThe football songs you need to know (and some you don't) Uli Hesse, a German football journalist and life-long Borussia Dortmund fan, said Three Lions was popular when it was first released because it was "so English", adding that England is not just the home of football but also the "home of pop culture and pop music". But Hesse says that in Germany the song has now lost its connection with England – and has instead become a general football song, like You'll Never Walk Alone, "which they still play at my club Dortmund, even though I don't like it". Hesse said he can't understand why the song has been called "arrogant" but he can see why it might be considered a burden, after Gullit described it as "England's nemesis" in an interview with The Sun. He added: "It was kind of ironic... and light-hearted to remember people in 1996 where England hadn't won anything in 30 years. But now it's 60 years. Maybe the joke's getting a bit thin." "But you and I, we know it's all going to end this summer," said Hesse, "thanks to a German coach (Thomas Tuchel), who will then, as [former England international] Tony Woodcock tells me, be knighted. "Then we can stop singing it, or maybe with the new lyrics." 'People walk past my window singing it' Three Lions first topped the UK charts in 1996 and again in 1998 when an updated version was released for the World Cup in France. Baddiel, Skinner and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds teamed up again for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, recording a festive version of the song titled Three Lions (It's Coming Home For Christmas). Broudie told Sky News in 2022 that he loves the fact that it is still the defining track for England fans. "People walk past my window late at night singing it; it just makes me smile," he said. Writing in the Standard in 2021, Baddiel said: "We wanted to write a song about the real experience of being a football fan, which is not, with the greatest respect to various previous anthems, that we're going to win it, this time, more than any other time, but more likely that we're going to lose." Speaking about the song, he told the BBC last month: "It doesn't bother me that even though I've done many other things in my career, when I'm dead they'll say 'best known for co-creating the England football anthem Three Lions'. "I think it's a fantastic example of something that wasn't designed to be a really popular thing. "There was no top-down element of it. It was just three blokes trying to write about football, and it caught fire."

Davies said it was "goodbye" from him to Doctor Who but "hello to a big new future for the show", as he shared on social media a drawing of the Tardis - the spaceship from the hit show. The 2026 Christmas special was due to be written by Davies and produced by Bad Wolf, and would follow on from the series finale in May last year, which saw Ncuti Gatwa's incarnation of the Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper. The corporation announced last October there would be a 2026 Christmas special, but confirmed on Wednesday it will no longer happen. Davies, an award-winning screenwriter and TV producer, said on Instagram: "There won't be a Christmas Special - we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there's no need for it. "You'll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who...but you'll be waiting for more Doctor Who than a one-off. So it's worth it!" He also said he was "excited as anyone to see what comes next" and reflected on the possible changes to come, adding: "Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! "It's all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who - exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future." The BBC said that the series, which launched in 1963, will be put out to "competitive tender" this year as part of its Royal Charter agreement. The broadcaster is inviting production companies to put themselves forward to help co-produce the next series, BBC News reported. Cancelling the Christmas special was "not taken lightly", the corporation said, and the BBC admitted the move will be "disappointing for fans". It added that "in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one-off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show". A spokesperson for the BBC added: "Doctor Who remains an important part of the BBC and this tender underpins the BBC's continued commitment to Doctor Who, ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come." In addition, the corporation assured that its previously announced Doctor Who animation series, which will air on CBeebies, is currently in production. Read more from Sky News:Henry Nowak protesters jailedUkraine strikes Russian factory Doctor Who is about an eccentric Time Lord who travels in a spaceship larger on the inside, which disguises itself as a 1960s British police box. Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy and William Hartnell are among the stars who portrayed The Doctor in the original show, which was cancelled in 1989. It was later revived in 2005 by Davies. Actors including Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Jodie Whittaker have played the leading role in the last two decades.

As we sat down to get voters' verdicts on the prime minister in Makerfield, he suffered yet another massive headache – his defence secretary, John Healey, resigned. And a few hours later, two more resignations. How weak is Keir Starmer now? Beth Rigby, Ruth Davidson, and Harriet Harman hear from locals voting next week – do they think Andy Burnham is destined for Number 10? What about the other parties' ambitions for the area, and what do they make of all the attention they've been getting lately? For a full list of candidates standing in Makerfield, visit the Electoral Commission website. Got a question for the burner phone? WhatsApp 07934 200 444 or email electoraldysfunction@sky.uk. Sky News Insider requires a paid subscription and is available to UK listeners aged 18 and over.

After a final training game behind closed doors against Miami FC, and then a couple of days off with family and friends, the squad will fly to Kansas City on Saturday for what will feel like the start of the World Cup proper. So, have England and Thomas Tuchel got everything they wanted from their 12 days in West Palm Beach? Our football correspondent Rob Dorsett has been with the team throughout, and answers the key questions. England 3-0 Costa Rica - Match report | As it happenedEngland player ratings: Did Jude Bellingham do enough?Group L guide | England's routes to World Cup finalWorld Cup 2026 fixture schedule and UK kick-off timesWhy did England choose a training camp in Florida and has it worked? The whole idea was to choose the most extreme environment in the US at this time of year, in an area of the country that American holidaymakers try to avoid, because the temperatures and humidity are so brutal. England's sports scientists wanted to force the players to acclimatise as quickly as possible - to "feel comfortable with the discomfort" - so that the rest of the tournament wasn't such a shock to the system. In truth, they didn't quite get the conditions they had planned. For the first few days after England arrived, temperatures were lower than normal, skies were largely cloudy with long spells of torrential rain, and so training conditions weren't as brutal as they might have been. As the week went on, that changed. The two friendly matches they played in Tampa and Orlando saw temperatures that never dropped below 30 degrees Celsius. Declan Rice also told me after the Costa Rica game that the disruption pre-match with the lightning and flooding delaying kick-off by an hour was useful for the players, to know how that would be if it is repeated during the tournament itself. What condition are the players in as they head to their tournament base in Missouri? Until the Arsenal quartet of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze arrived on Saturday, the whole squad had a clean bill of health. Key players like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who were nursing injuries and fatigue during the Euros two summers ago, looked sprightly and full of energy. Then Tuchel told us that both Saka and Rice had been nursing injuries for some time during the back end of Arsenal's season, and that their game time would have to be managed. More so for Saka than Rice, with the winger unable to play a full 90 minutes. Rice said post-Costa Rica he felt fine, which was a positive. Generally speaking the squad looks in great shape - aided by the fact that many of the players holidayed in the US or Caribbean in the build-up to this training camp. How does the battle for the coveted number 10 shirt stand right now? Ten days ago, you'd have to say that Morgan Rogers was ahead of Jude Bellingham in the England pecking order. Proof lay in the fact that he featured in all eight of England's World Cup qualifiers, while Bellingham played in half as many. Even out here in the US, Tuchel said directly that Bellingham had a fight on his hands to win a starting spot. However, over the two friendly matches, the consensus is clear that the Real Madrid man outplayed his close friend from Aston Villa. The fact that Tuchel praised Bellingham's workload off the ball against Costa Rica was significant. As was the fact that he wore the captain's armband in both Florida friendlies. Both are sure to get minutes in this World Cup, but as things stand it seems Bellingham is more likely to be a starter. Are England more - or less - reliant on Harry Kane to get the goals? Well, England scored three against Costa Rica without the captain getting on the score sheet. That happened in November against Wales, too. But it seems Tuchel is quite happy for Kane to shoulder the bulk of the goalscoring burden. The staggering fact is he has got 79 goals for his country - 12 more than the rest of the entire squad put together. But Tuchel says he sees no problem with the lack of goals elsewhere. We have learned in this camp that the head coach has allocated each of his players one of three roles in this squad, and he has told them as much. They are either starters, specialists or finishers, and so he says Ivan Toney is content in being a "finisher" who will be asked to make an impact from the bench. Ollie Watkins' role is less clear to us on the outside. But we now know it is very likely Kane will play less, and be kept for the more vital World Cup moments, with his strike partners shouldering more of the workload. Who has enhanced their playing chances, and has anyone gone backwards? Anthony Gordon was, for me, England's most impressive player in Orlando. He scored a penalty - emphatically - and set Rice up for the opener. His direct running and ability to hit the by-line before crossing gives England a different option, and it is no longer clear that Marcus Rashford is ahead of him on the left wing. John Stones showed again why Tuchel has tried so hard to get him in his squad. His quality on the ball and positional nous set him apart. He played 45 minutes in Tampa and 63 in Orlando. It feels like England's coaches have a deliberate plan to increase his workload ready for the tournament. Whereas before this camp it felt like Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa were first choice centre-backs, now it feels like it's Guehi and Stones. Even though Noni Madueke missed a sitter versus Costa Rica, he did enough good things so as not to damage his stock. And with Saka's fitness an issue, his Arsenal team-mate will be more optimistic than he was a week or so ago. What have we learned about Tuchel's approach to managing his squad? It has struck me just how relaxed the England head coach has been in his first major tournament as an international manager. He has clearly enjoyed spending time with his players, and with the support of his backroom staff, he has plotted a clever preparation camp that has mixed hard work and play. The training sessions - most of which have been in private, away from the cameras - have been taxing. Deliberately so. There have been multiple sessions a day, on the grass, in the gym and in the pool. But in between, there has been plenty of time for relaxation. Guehi told us he'd been out of camp several times to soak up some sun on the beach or grab a coffee with friends. There has been plenty of downtime for the players to enjoy some golf if that's their thing (for Kane and Jordan Pickford in particular), and for communal watching of Love Island and the NBA Finals. Now, the whole squad will be given the best part of two days off to spend time with their family and friends, before the flight to Kansas City on Saturday. Coach and players are united in knowing the real work starts then.

Gross domestic product (GDP) - a measure of everything produced in the economy - contracted 0.1% in April according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the first monthly fall since August. Initially, in the first month of the conflict between the US and Israel and Iran, GDP rose faster than expected, potentially impacted by companies' reaction to the Iran war-related supply disruption. Money blog: What to do if your luggage goes missing On a three-monthly basis, from February to April, the economy grew 0.7%, marking the fifth consecutive period of three-monthly growth. But the April contraction came as diesel prices reached their Iran war peak, according to figures from the RAC. Petrol prices also soared. And by April, some oil and wholesale gas reserves had been depleted, and purchasers were having to pay high prices as the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway was effectively shut. In normal times, a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are transported through the strait, but attacks on tankers have made it largely impassable. War blamed Chancellor Rachel Reeves centred her reaction to the figures on the Iran war impacts. "Before the conflict in the Middle East, growth was higher than expected and inflation was falling. This is not a war we wanted or joined, but one that will have an impact at home," she said. "The choices I have made as chancellor mean our economy is in a stronger position to deal with the costs of the war", she added. A common theme raised by businesses, according to the ONS, was the increase in prices because of the Middle East conflict and an associated impact on turnover. Why? The monthly shrinking came due to a 0.2% fall in the largest part of the economy: services, the ONS said. The contraction was not larger due to a 0.1% rise in construction, while production showed no growth. Across the three months, however, the services sector was expanding as computer programming, marketing and wholesale companies performed particularly well, the ONS's director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said. Construction also showed signs of recovery after what the ONS said was a weak winter for the industry. Worse to come? High fossil fuel costs could dampen economic activity further. "Underlying growth will slow from here, even if there is a deal in Iran", said Thomas Pugh, chief economist at consulting firm RSM UK. "Indeed, higher energy prices and borrowing costs along with a renewed bout of political uncertainty, are likely to conspire to bring growth almost to a standstill for the rest of the year," he said.

Now, after another "30 years of hurt" have passed without a major trophy for the men's national team, Three Lions is being re-released again, in time for the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. Latest updates from World Cup 2026 But not everyone is happy about the song being belted out at England games for another tournament. Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit has branded Three Lions "arrogant", saying England does not "own football". Meanwhile, opposition fans have described the track as in "bad taste" and even suggested there is a "mistaken" claim in the lyrics. So how do supporters of arguably England's fiercest rivals – Scotland and Germany – really feel about the song? Michael McEwan, a journalist at Scotland's Tartan Army Magazine, said fans of the song need to "let it lie", arguing the England team – hoping to win their first World Cup since 1966 – are not what they used to be. Harking back to when the song was first released in May 1996 during the Britpop era, McEwan said: "I know why they were doing it, but I think it was done in bad taste. "I just think they were too full of themselves to write that song." On the track's re-release, he said: "If they don't win at this World Cup, will they put it out at the European Championships as well? I think they should just drop it." McEwan said he thinks the track has lost its energy after three decades, and it's time to "give it a rest, guys". 'Mistaken claim' in song Tartan Army spokesperson Hamish Husband said the Three Lions song is tainted by its "mistaken" claim that England is the home of football. Husband argues that it was instead Scotland that taught the world how to play the modern passing game. He referenced the 19th-century "Scotch professors", a set of footballers who have been credited as pioneers of the modern passing game at a time when players ran with the ball until they were tackled, with the revolutionary new tactics taken on by Scotland before spreading across Europe, South America and Asia. "It was the travellers that worked the factories of the UK that took football to the world – not England," Husband added. Read more:Your ultimate guide to the World CupThree Lions writer reflects on songThe football songs you need to know (and some you don't) Uli Hesse, a German football journalist and life-long Borussia Dortmund fan, said Three Lions was popular when it was first released because it was "so English", adding that England is not just the home of football but also the "home of pop culture and pop music". But Hesse says that in Germany the song has now lost its connection with England – and has instead become a general football song, like You'll Never Walk Alone, "which they still play at my club Dortmund, even though I don't like it". Hesse said he can't understand why the song has been called "arrogant" but he can see why it might be considered a burden, after Gullit described it as "England's nemesis" in an interview with The Sun. He added: "It was kind of ironic... and light-hearted to remember people in 1996 where England hadn't won anything in 30 years. But now it's 60 years. Maybe the joke's getting a bit thin." "But you and I, we know it's all going to end this summer," said Hesse, "thanks to a German coach (Thomas Tuchel), who will then, as [former England international] Tony Woodcock tells me, be knighted. "Then we can stop singing it, or maybe with the new lyrics." 'People walk past my window singing it' Three Lions first topped the UK charts in 1996 and again in 1998 when an updated version was released for the World Cup in France. Baddiel, Skinner and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds teamed up again for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, recording a festive version of the song titled Three Lions (It's Coming Home For Christmas). Broudie told Sky News in 2022 that he loves the fact that it is still the defining track for England fans. "People walk past my window late at night singing it; it just makes me smile," he said. Writing in the Standard in 2021, Baddiel said: "We wanted to write a song about the real experience of being a football fan, which is not, with the greatest respect to various previous anthems, that we're going to win it, this time, more than any other time, but more likely that we're going to lose." Speaking about the song, he told the BBC last month: "It doesn't bother me that even though I've done many other things in my career, when I'm dead they'll say 'best known for co-creating the England football anthem Three Lions'. "I think it's a fantastic example of something that wasn't designed to be a really popular thing. "There was no top-down element of it. It was just three blokes trying to write about football, and it caught fire."

The content of the letter from Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton is not known, but the fact he felt the need to put his thoughts in writing signals the seriousness of the challenge faced by Sir Keir Starmer as he attempts to finalise the long-delayed defence investment plan. The highly unusual move came after the Treasury is understood to have offered the Ministry of Defence (MoD) around an additional £13bn over four years to help fund the purchase of new jets, submarines, ships, drones and missiles. This is at the lower end of a range of between £12bn and £18bn that had been under consideration – and far short of the actual sum of extra money that the military believes it needs to rebuild its hollowed-out ranks at a time of escalating threats. One source said Sir Richard met with fellow military chiefs to discuss the proposed settlement on Monday. The source said there is thought to have been dissatisfaction expressed by at least one of the service chiefs who were present about the inadequacy of the amount. That has not been confirmed, however. The wait goes on... Whatever went on behind closed doors, an earlier anticipation that the defence investment plan would finally be published this week subsequently evaporated. By Wednesday evening, discussions between the MoD, Treasury and Number 10 were still said to be "live" even though the prime minister had been expected to speak about defence and offer some headline figures on his push to rearm this Friday. That appears designed to coincide with an anticipated announcement on the opening of a new, vast drone testing centre – as reported by Sky News earlier in the week – in Swindon. It is not clear, though, whether the event will still go ahead even though invitations are thought to have been issued to a number of start-up drone companies to attend. The extraordinary display of confusion and paralysis at the heart of government over what is meant to be a strategic priority – the defence of the nation – has left officials inside the MoD, the military and defence industry slack-jawed. John Healey, the defence secretary, was asked whether he would accept anything less than an £18bn uplift. Speaking at a joint press conference with the foreign secretary and their respective Australian counterparts, he declined to talk about specific numbers but indicated that Sir Keir was listening. "The prime minister knows what defence and the nation need," Mr Healey said. "He is set to make his announcement soon." UK under mounting pressure A gap in funding to rebuild the Royal Navy, army and Royal Air Force was already thought to be at least £28bn before new expectations were added following the publication of a sweeping view of defence last June. Upping the pressure is wider war in the Middle East and increased demands by Donald Trump for the UK and other European NATO allies to take up a much greater level of responsibility for their own defences. The UK presents itself as a leading member of the alliance. Yet it does not plan to hit a new NATO target to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP from the UK's current level of around 2.3% until 2035 – the furthest possible date that allies set to achieve the new funding baseline. Some other countries are moving a lot faster. More from Deborah Haynes:Could a drone cause UK blackouts?'Almost 500,000' Russians killed in UkraineWhy is public being kept in dark about threat of war? Last year's Strategic Defence Review was meant to be the defining document on the armed forces of the Starmer government, outlining the prime minister's stated desire to rearm. It should have been followed last autumn by the defence investment plan, which would explain how the vision would be funded. But disagreement on the size of the uplift meant the publication date has been repeatedly pushed back. The prime minister has promised to release it before a NATO summit on 7 and 8 July. Asked previously about the defence investment plan, a MoD spokesperson has said: "The defence investment plan will deliver the best kit into the hands of our armed forces. We are working hard to finalise it, and it will be published as soon as possible."

The second game in Group A was even better, a clash of styles as South Korea came from behind to beat the Czech Republic to the delight of their own vocal support in Guadalajara. The tournament is under way. Finally, the football can take centre-stage. We had to clear it of Shakira and her pals first. Allow FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who managed to show his face at both of the opening matches, his latest glimpse of the limelight coming with Salma Hayek. But this game has always had a way of outshining the stars. In-Beom Hwang and Kang-In Lee were sensational for South Korea. Julian Quinones delivered a player-of-the-match display for Mexico that not only highlighted the World Cup's power to elevate reputations but sparked a debate about passing out from the back. World Cup 2026 fixture schedule and UK kick-off timesWorld Cup group guides in fullWorld Cup kits revealed! | Transfer Centre LIVE!World Cup key info - format, venues, prize money "It is a shocking touch from the midfielder. He should knock it to his centre-back, then to his wing-back and they are away," said Gary Neville. But Roy Keane disagreed. "For me, it is all on the goalkeeper. He has better options. Nine minutes into a World Cup!" Granular, perhaps, but this is what it can do to you. The pair had begun the broadcast on macro matters, debating the implications of United States foreign policy when hosting the world. Here they were scrutinising the minutiae of Ronwen Williams' distribution. That dichotomy is likely to be a feature of the summer because the World Cup itself is an event of contrasts and contradictions. This is football at its most pure - stripped as it is of its transfer fees and its billionaire owners, the game being played for the glory of it. The Champions League has long since superseded this tournament when it comes to objective quality but every football fan knows that if their passion for this sport hinged on their team emulating Paris Saint-Germain then they would have given it up long ago. For players, World Cups stir emotions like nothing else. Raul Jimenez cried. "That is likely to be the greatest moment of his footballing life," said Neville. "For (Yaya) Sithole, World Cups can make dreams come true but they can also shatter dreams." Right on both counts. But this is also football at its most grubby. Ticket prices obscene, travel costs absurd, the familiar boasts from Infantino about this being the biggest World Cup ever cannot mask its status as one of the most controversial too. Perhaps the most political in memory. And yet, it was ever thus. Comparisons with the controversies surrounding Qatar and Russia before that are inevitable. But as long ago as 1934, Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist leader, had latched onto the World Cup's potential for propaganda and grandstanding. Separating football and politics has forever been a forlorn hope and rarely more so than when one of the World Cup hosts are engaged in direct military conflict with a visiting nation. Iran have already had to move their training base over the border into Tijuana. There was the uncomfortable spectacle of Senegal and Uzbekistan players having to navigate the security checks, a glimpse of what freedom looks like to those expected to provide the entertainment let alone those who are just hoping to watch some of it. There was the sound of Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force, making noises about the safety of Americans being his priority. An unremarkable sentiment until you remembered he was discussing Switzerland striker Breel Embolo. Perhaps most astonishingly, there was Somali referee Omar Artan being denied entry to the States. "We are not going to allow a soccer tournament to be the opportunity for terrorists to potentially get in the country," said Giuliani when quizzed on his absence. That will be news to the residents of Salzburg given that UEFA has since appointed Artan to referee the Super Cup there in August. An amusing but revealing insight into the sort of tit-for-tat games that the sport's main powerbrokers appear to prefer playing. If you are among the view to have seen the self-aggrandising and self-commissioned FIFA movie, you will know that these men in suits - and they are almost always men - seem to believe that they made this game. The truth is that the game made them. It retains that power, that magic. It is why there is hope, even expectation, that the football can be as dynamic as the pricing and succeed this summer despite all the distractions and detractions. Football, if you can forgive the pun, really does trump all. Expect all the emotions over the next six weeks. And if the quality is a little diluted then the stories should make up for it. Haiti take on Brazil, Cape Verde face Spain, Curacao are up against Germany - and that is just in the first round of these group games. Twelve groups in all, each with representatives from at least three different continents, a truly global affair. There will be upsets, scenes of joy and despair. All of it played out not just on the football pitch and in the stands but in squares and streets around the world. It will all end at the Meadowlands in New Jersey next month but starting in Mexico City was a masterstroke, the Azteca an arena as evocative as they come, conjuring as it does images of Pele in 1970 and Diego Maradona in 1986. A place where people fall in love. These opening fixtures weren't quite that. But even the sight of a modest Mexico side starting with a win and South Korea's later joy was enough to remind us what all the fuss is about. Two down, 102 to go. The World Cup is here. And there is just nothing like it.