Our unofficial guide to the World Cup
In the morning rush before England's first match of the tournament Asda needed to order an extra 20 million cans of beer to cope with the increased demand - double the number sold on an average Saturday. Tesco sold 4 million barbeque sets and 105,000 bottles of champagne. Sainsbury's cashed in too, selling 455,000 chicken pieces and almost 1 million bottles and cans of cola.

According to research by Mintel, 29 per cent of UK adults have pledged their support for the national team by purchasing an England flag. 18 per cent have bought or are planning to buy an England football shirt and almost the same number (17 per cent) want clothes with the England colours on. However, 23 per cent of the adult population say they are uncomfortable with these bold displays of patriotism.

Retail research group SPSL believes shopper numbers this World Cup suggest more people believe England can win this time. According to the SPSL Retail Traffic Index, significantly more people stayed away from the shops during the England-Paraguay game than at the start of the previous World Cup in 2002. The research group had forecast an 8.9 per cent week-on-week decline, but instead shopper numbers fell 13.7 per cent compared with the previous Saturday.

However, the latest research from Mintel suggests that football fever may not be gripping the nation as we first thought. It revealed that as many as one in three of us would prefer to work or shop than watch England's next match. The findings also show that 1 per cent of men will be shopping during the Trinidad and Tobago game this Thursday.

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