Michael Burgess on the five things we learned following the latest action from the World Cup in Brazil.

Fifa can appear to be on the wrong track as we know from the Qatar World Cup hosting controversy, but long may it reign over football if that is what is necessary to produce the amazing contests we are seeing from Brazil.

The Netherlands' 5-1 win against Spain was held in many quarters as a return to classic Dutch values, after the organised thuggery of the 2010 World Cup final.

Italy fans stopped traffic as they celebrated their win over England this morning.

There were bizarre scenes in Manaus, Brazil, as England physio Gary Lewin slipped over on the turf during the celebrations and dislocated his ankle

For all of the pessimistic predictions that have followed them out to Brazil, there is also something refreshingly different about England's Class of 2014.

The scenes leading up to this morning's match between Uruguay and Costa Rica were extraordinary, writes Michael Burgess.

During an Italian national team training camp in Coverciano last month, Mario Balotelli was forced to endure the sickening experience of having racist bile spat at him.

We might not be any good at the game, and those who follow it from here might like its culture in England, but they should not pretend we are part of it, writes John Roughan.

Waving flags, jumping to their feet and cheering, Brazilian fans brought a taste of their home country to New Zealand as they celebrated winning the opening game of the World Cup this morning.

World Cup fever has officially kicked off as the first game of the competition got under way this morning.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup opened in Sao Paulo today with hosts Brazil taking on Croatia. We picked out the best tweets to recap the action.

The first game of the World Cup could set the tone, not just for Brazil but for the tournament. Can the Selecao deal with expectation?