1. A woman poses to show her nails with the designs and colors of Brazilian flag in Rio de Janeiro
Picture: PILAR OLIVEIRA/REUTERS

2. Street vendors sell Brazilian paraphernalia for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

3. A local boy shows off his beach football skills on Magna Praia beach
Picture: MICHAEL STEELE/GETTY

4. This handout photo by Sportsbet.com.au shows a giant hot air balloon in the shape of Brazils Christ The Redeemer statue in an Australian football jersey flying over the Sydney
skyline in support of the Australian team. (DAVID CALLOW/AFP/Getty Images)

6. A dog draped in the Brazilian flag at Copacabana beach
Picture: MATTHIAS HANGST/GETTY

7. indian boys with faces painted in colors resembling those of the Brazil’s flag pose for photographers, during a game (Associated Press/Aijaz Rahi)

8. A woman pose for a picture under street decorations on the public square where the fan zone for soccer matches will be held at Pelourinho neighborhood in Salvador
Picture: MARCOS BRINDICCI/REUTERS

9. Fans wearing espadrilles decorated with the British (R) and Colombian flags. (JUAN
MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images)

10. Not entirely sure what's going on here and what the message is, but here's some dancers performing at the opening ceremony of the 64th FIFA Congress at the Expocenter
Transamerica in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Picture: ALEXANDRE SCHNEIDER/GETTY IMAGES

11. Squirrels leap to catch a football filled with titbits set up by England fan Jane Roberts in her garden
Picture: MIKE WALKER

12. Dutch national team player Jonathan de Guzman (sunglasses) poses with fans in front of the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Picture: KOEN VAN WEEL/EPA

13. Brazillian fans can show their support for their team with a yellow and green mohawk wig, Dame Edna-esque sunglasses or a more traditional football shirt - just some of the
goods on sale in a street market in Sao Paulo
Picture: DIEGO AZUBEL/EPA

14. A South Korean diver clads in soccer uniform swims with sardines for South Korean team's success
Picture: CHUNG SUNG-JUN/GETTY

15. Thai mahouts paint elephants in honour of the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup at an elephant camp in Ayutthaya province
Picture: PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP

16. A Brazilian fan plays a drum as he shouts to support his team outside the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

17. Japan's national football team arrives in Campinas at the Viracopos Airport
Picture: ALEXANDRE SCHNEIDER/GETTY

18. A man takes a photo of the Christ
the Redeemer statue as it is lit
with the colours of all 32 national
teams
Picture: LEO CORREA/AP

20. Edin Dzeko of Bosnia and Herzegovina looks like he is standing against a gorgeous flag but we think it's actually the rafters in the ceiling
Picture: CLIVE MASON/FIFA/GETTY

21. Gentoo penguins at Birmingham's National Sea Life centre have been busy predicting the winner to the opening match of the World Cup 2014. By the looks of it, Croatia will
p-p-p-pick up an early win
Picture: APEX

22. Public transportation users invade subway tracks in the Corinthians Itaquera station, near Arena Corinthians stadium where the opening of the FIFA Soccer World Cup will
take place. Metro workers went on strike earlier in the day,
Picture: VICTOR MORIYAMA/GETTY

23. He's thinks its all over before its begun. Jaraquii, a witch doctor who wears a bone through his nose and the tooth of a jaguar around his neck, is taking a keen interest in
Saturday's' England v Italy match in Manaus, in the middle of the Amazon. He believes that the 'magic' of Mario Balotelli will ensure victory for the 'Azzurri'
Picture: ANSA

24. A parishioner launches a firework from the roof during Festa Junina celebrations at the Paroquia Divino Espirito Santo church located near Itaquerao stadium, site of the
opening World Cup match between Brazil and Croatia
Picture: MARIO TAMA/GETTY

25. A Brazilian supporter draws Fuleco, the official mascot of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in the Mangueira community, or 'favela', which overlooks famed Maracana Stadium
Picture: MARIO TAMA/GETTY

26. A Yorkshire Terrier named Lula wears an Argentine soccer jersey at a pet clothing store in Buenos Aires
Picture: MARCOS BRINDICCI/REUTERS

27. A fake novelty soccer ball looks like it's breaking the windshield of a car in Sao Paulo
Picture: VICTOR MORIYAMA/GETTY

28. A boy flies a kite in the Mangueira community overlooking the Maracana stadium
Picture: MARIO TAMA/REUTERS

29. Tourists from Britain kneel down in front of a statue of Argentina's soccer player Messi that was unveiled today in a public square in Buenos Aires
Picture: MARCOS BRINDICCI/REUTERS

30. A wreath comemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings from the FA is put beside the pitch as the players train during an England training session at the Barry
University Campus in Miami, Florida
Picture: RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY

31. People sit in one of many video dens where crowds of residents will throng in to watch Live World Cup football matches streaming from Brazil, in Kibera slums in Kenya's
capital Nairobi

32. Mario Augusto Grajeda sticks the words 'FIFA World Cup' onto a World Cup soccer trophy pinata at his workshop in the Mercado Colon, Guatemala City
Picture: JORGE DAN LOPEZ/REUTERS

33. Italian photographer Guiseppe Bizzarri has been documenting the brutal prisons in Sao Paulo where it is likely that British fans will be sent if arrested for hooliganism
Picture: GUISEPPE BIZZARRI/MERCURY PRESS & MEDIA

34. A Mexico soccer fan poses for a picture outside Arena Corinthians stadium in Sao
Paulo, Brazil. (Associated Press/Rodrigo Abd)

35. Welcome to our World Cup picture blog, updated daily
There's not mushroom in the gallery for this picture, but we managed to squeeze it in. Italian photographer Claudio Pia spotted this ex-cep-tional World Cup-shaped
toadstool while strolling near his home in Liguria. Bet he's a fun guy (ok, we'll stop it with the mushroom puns now. We do have some morels)...
Picture: JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY

36. The Brazilian Military stand guard as the England national team arrive at their hotel
in Brazil
Picture: MATT DUNHAM/AP

37. Women wearing wedding dresses and vampire make up pose for a picture while holding a sign that reads in Portuguese, 'FIFA Gang' during the final round of the 2014
People's Soccer Cup in Santo Cristo slum in Rio de Janeiro
Picture: HASSAN AMMAR/AP

38. a referee uses vanishing spray during a referee's training session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Referees will use vanishing spray during 2014 World Cup to stop defensive walls
creeping forward at free-kicks
Picture: HASSAN AMAR/AP

39. People exchange their Panini soccer World Cup collection stickers in front of the MASP museum of arts in central Sao Paulo
Picture: DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS

40. Clever chefs in China have carved images of football stars and Fuleco the Armadillo (centre), the official mascot of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, into watermelons. Whilst we
admire the skill it takes to do these intricate carvings, we can't help thinking Lionel Messi (right) looks more like Freddie Kruger...
Picture: AFP

41. Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gives final touches on his sand sculpture ahead of the first football match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 between Brazil and Croatia, at Puri
beach. (ASIT KUMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

42. Fuleco’ the World Cup mascot is seen on goods at a merchandise store. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
END12-JUNIO-2014