That said, this could turn out to be only the second tournament won by a country from the opposite hemisphere. Brazil, the favourites, took the first of their four titles in Sweden in 1958. Argentina, many people's favourite alternatives, are the only other South Americans to reach a final in Europe, losing to West Germany on penalties in Rome in 1990.

Italy, Germany, Holland and France are expected to lead the European challenge, with England, Spain, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Norway, Romania and Bulgaria hoping to force their way up the pecking order. Nigeria look the best of the Africans, South Korea the pick of the remainder and, if there were a prize for happiness,Jamaica would surely win it.

Whatever happens, this tournament has some ground to make up after the disappointing denouement four years ago. The 1994 final between Brazil and Italy promised the perfect climax to one of the more enjoyable competitions. Instead a sun-bleached Pasadena Rose Bowl sweated through two scoreless hours before Roberto Baggio put the moribund spectacle out of its misery by wafting the ball over the bar in the penalty shoot-out.

At least the introduction of sudden-death overtime, the "golden goal", will give matches in the knock-out stage a better chance of being settled in open play. This is the biggest World Cup so far. With 32 finalists it is double the size of the tournaments which, from 1954 in Switzerland to 1978 in Argentina, produced some of the best matches featuring many of the outstanding players. Since then the increase in numbers has not been matched by a greater depth of quality, and from 1982 onwards the finals have generally been disappointing.

Whether a 64-matchcompetition can hold fickle French interest for five weeks is debatable and will depend heavily on the hosts at least reaching the semi-finals. Since the bulk of the tickets have been sold locally it is essential that French enthusiasm is maintained. Some of the opening games are bound to be thinly attended.

There is little danger, for example of the gates being rushed at the Stade de la Beaujoire when Japan play Croatia in Nantes. But, if there are vast areas of empty seats during the knock-out stage, it will seem that France has shrugged the World Cup aside.

To avoid this the tournament needs to retain a sense of style. In French eyes, success is not enough if it is achieved through mere functionalism. Aime Jacquet's team could win the World Cup and receive only two cheers if the triumph were unaccompanied by the sort of touches to bring back memories of Michel Platini and Jean Tigana.

Much, therefore, rests not only with the leading teams and the outstanding individuals - Ronaldo of Brazil,Alessandro Del Piero of Italy, Argentina's Ariel Ortega, France's Zinedine Zidane, England's Alan Shearer, Holland's Marc Overmars and Dennis Bergkamp, if he is fit, plus numerous others - but on the ability of the referees to strike the right balance between curbing foul play and ensuring that matches flow smoothly.

Although strict standards of discipline have to be established at the start and consistently maintained, it should be possible to achieve this without resorting to a nonsensical flood of cards. A first-time winner would be welcome, and France triumphed when they previously hosted a major tournament, winning the 1984 European Championship with play which satisfied the nation's aesthetic criteria.

Holland, beaten in the finals of 1974 and 1978 by West Germany and Argentina, are overdue a success, Spain too, and England have only once progressed beyond the last eight abroad.

So far every final has involved at least one of four countries - Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany - and there islittle reason to suppose this will change. World Cups, however, are never that neat and the larger the entry the more chance there is of an upset.