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Who'd have thought that neither Argentina or Brazil would make it through - yet France and Germany have combined to knock out arguably the most favoured teams in the tournament. So what now? A German victory, spurred on by massive home advantage, or will plucky Portugal, fresh from knocking out England, win the day? Have your say.

Emerging markets representatives to the World Cup haven’t had much luck – in the markets or on the pitch – this  week, says Reuters' Mario Andrada. Cups hosted in Europe have never given much ground to the visitors. A non-European squad has made it through just once, in 1958, when Brazil won its first World Cup title. After a week, the favourites remain the same, despite a poor show by Brazil in its match against Croatia and the tough game Germany faced against Poland.

Ins and outs, ups and downs, news and olds.
Old: Players lock their arms around each other’s neck when the national anthems are played before each match. It’s the custom, shows team spirit and commitment.
New: Dancing in the streets after your team won its first match. The old tradition dictated you celebrate after the second round.
In: Brazil is in, Ronaldo is out.
Out: Hooligans are a definite out. Singing and dancing with people from different countries in the streets is happily in.
On the way out? “Olas” – that is, fans waving their arms and standing up and down in the stands (known as a Mexican Wave in the UK). Painted faces remain very popular. Beer has been winning over wine, this hot weather could explain that.
In: Trains are very much in, especially for those who can afford first class. And by the way, as far as good-looking players go, Italy is in a class of its own. Well, so say the local girls.
Out: Don’t use your mobile phone to tell your parents you’re in the stadium. This is so old hat. Want to check in with the family? Use drums or smoke-signal equipment. Pins also seem to be something from the past, unless they can download and play MP3 material.

Send us your questions!
Can’t get to Germany? Send us your questions and we’ll take you there. It will be a virtual trip to the backstage of the World’s greatest events. We’re going with the classic “Everything you always wanted to know about the World Cup and were ashamed to ask.”  As you send us our questions, we’ll post the answers and together we’ll add to the coverage of this magnificent event. To send the questions just drop us a quick note below. As soon as we get it, we’ll post the answers.

(Editor’s note: Mario Andrada is covering the Brazilian squad for Reuters)

 

Is football racist? This is a question that has come to the fore in recent years as the sport wrestles with unpleasant chanting from the terraces, players alleging racist abuse and controversy surrounding comments by commentators. Just in the past few days a television pundit was heard to describe a player from Trinidad & Tobago as looking like he'd "tripped on his flip-flops", prompting some viewers to question what exactly this implied. So, is football doing enough to tackle racism or could it do more? What do you think - have your say.