Temperatures are gradually rising. With every minute, with every hour, with every day that passes. Eventually, on June 9, 2006, World Cup fever will have reached epidemic proportions across the globe. The World Cup is coming to Germany – with kick-off in Munich and final in Berlin. What could be better? Four weeks of nonstop soccer, 64 matches, Ronaldinho, Figo, Beckham, Drogba, Ballack and van Nistelrooy – the 32 best teams all coming to Germany with only one goal in mind: holding the 4,970-gram World Cup trophy up towards the Berlin night sky on July 9. Football had already been described as the “most beautiful triviality in the world” when the German national team won the sport’s supreme title for the first time in Bern in 1954. “The most beautiful triviality in the world” – that would be rather good. The demands the 2006 World Cup is making on even the most highly experienced organizers in terms of ability and flexibility of coordination are both herculean and impressive. And because football can no longer simply be reduced to what 22 players do on the pitch, but now reaches out far beyond into society as a whole, the World Cup also represents a unique opportunity for Germany to present itself to the world. “Welcome to the Land of Ideas.”

In this World Cup issue, you will find all you need to know about Germany, the World Cup and everything associated with it. We present facts and figures, information about the Land of Ideas campaign and the large Artistic and Cultural Programme of the Federal Government, which has been leading up to the main event in a sensorial and highly diverse way for many months. We have profiled the 12 World Cup host cities, including their stadiums and what the cities are planning. You will meet the “World Cup helpers” – the people working hard behind the scenes to ensure this mega-event will be a success. On page 38, you can read about the hopes of the young German team of national coach Jürgen Klinsmann as they enter the competition.

“Football – and more” is the heading of our large feature at the back of the magazine. There, you will find the greatest players (in pictures), the eight groups (an overview) and information on the special ties that link Germany with the guests and sports fans from each of the participating countries. Incidentally, the foreword of this World Cup issue comes from someone who is crowning his life’s work with the 2006 World Cup in Germany: Franz Beckenbauer, the president of the Organizing Committee and the man who everyone in Germany knows simply as the Kaiser.

P.S. You also have a chance of experiencing the World Cup live. How? Simply enter our World Cup quiz competition on pages 64-65.