Just before supper time in Europe on Friday - mid-morning to lunchtime in the Americas, the small hours of Saturday morning in south-east Asia - the planet will hush a little and come as close as it ever does to a single shared experience. The World Cup will be under way.

After about half an hour or so, the babble and bustle will doubtless return: people might realise fairly quickly that what they are watching is a not especially enticing football match between Germany and Costa Rica. The opening game is usually nervy - and sometimes dire.