BBC World Cup coverage

Whether you watch on TV and via your red button at home or on big screens, listen to the radio, log on to the internet, or catch up through your mobile phone, we'll be the place to do it when it comes to the World Cup.

With star pundits, technological innovation and other exciting features and programmes, BBC Sport will bring you the very best coverage.

World Cup winners Leonardo (victorious with Brazil in 1994) and Marcel Desailly (France in 1998) join our team of pundits, as does Celtic manager Gordon Strachan.

Match of the Day presenter and former England captain Gary Lineker will host coverage live from Germany.

He will be accompanied in the studio by Alan Hansen and former England internationals Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Lee Dixon.

Match commentators are John Motson, Jonathan Pearce, Steve Wilson, Simon Brotherton and Guy Mowbray, with co-commentary from Mark Lawrenson, Mick McCarthy, Gavin Peacock and Mark Bright.

Ray Stubbs will be the BBC's other main presenter while Adrian Chiles will front the highlights shows.

On Saturdays, Manish Bhasin will present Football Focus. Manish will also host some of our interactive forums, along with Adrian and Gary.

Garth Crooks will be our man inside the England camp while Celina Hinchcliffe reports from the host cities outside of Berlin. Our three roving reporters will be Ivan Gaskell, Damian Johnson and Rebecca Lowe.

Tournament soundtrack

The BBC's theme tune for the 2006 World Cup is 'Sports Prepare' by celebrated composer Carl Davis.

Adapted from George Handel's "See the Conquering Hero Comes", Davis conducted this modern rendition with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers.

The original was written by Handel, the 18th century German composer who lived most of his adult life in Great Britain.

In the early 20th century, the piece was often used as victorious football teams returned home - local bands and choirs would perform it as a salute to their team.

Innovation

This World Cup will also be the the first football tournament to be broadcast in the UK on High Definition (HD).

HD is a new kind of television which delivers more detailed pictures and sharper shots of fast-moving action than conventional 'standard definition'.

Meanwhile, viewers with digital TV will have access to a number of extra interactive options.

Available on all digital TV platforms around the clock, pressing your red button will offer two main services - Live Match and Replay.

Viewers will have the audio choice of BBC match commentary, Five Live's commentary, the real-time noise from the stadium - or the fascinating option of listening to commentary from foreign broadcasters.

And live match coverage on interactive will be extended beyond BBC ONE transmission to allow for extra post-match analysis.

Viewers will also be able to replay in full earlier matches via the red button.

And between BBC match broadcasts, there will be 15-minute match edits; an England channel, with interviews and news conferences; and a round-up of the best goals.

BBC Radio Five Live and its digital sister station Five Live Sports Extra will have live match commentaries and analysis.

Programmes across the daily schedule, including Breakfast, Derbyshire, Mayo and Drive, will come from Germany.

Mark Pougatch and Mark Saggers will present coverage of the games with Five Live's award-winning commentators guiding listeners through each match.

A top team of analysts includes Paul Jewell, Martin Jol and Graham Taylor - look out for their video diaries on the station's website.

The Five Live and BBC Sport websites team up for the online quiz Goalfinger, which will give fans a chance to test their World Cup knowledge and win tickets to every round of next season's FA Cup.

And supporters can play the scores prediction game, World Cup Lawro, competing against Mark Lawrenson and other pundits.

There will be several new exciting features on our dedicated website for the tournament, as well as comprehensive news and live coverage and enhanced statistics.

Website and mobile phone users along with TV viewers will be able to give their own Player ratings for each match, while the very popular Mini Motty, the desktop news pop-up of John Motson, returns.

Also returning, but improved for 2006, is Virtual Replay, the 3D-style recreations of key moments from every match.

Users will be able to watch animations of all shots and goals from each of the World Cup matches after they happen, as well as different camera angles and an 'as live' experience while the match is being played.

Public participation also extends to a World Cup blog which will invite you to experience the tournament through the eyes of our BBC reporters at the tournament, two of whom will be driving around Germany in a camper van.

Fans will also be able to send in their World Cup-related photos from around the world.

You can win a top prize by taking part in World Cup Daq, the virtual shares market based on the tournament's stars.

And many other features and services will also be added to the site in the coming weeks, so bookmark it now!

There will also be a dedicated site on our WAP service for mobile phone users, and up-to-the-minute news and information on Ceefax and digital TV text.

The BBC will show the games it is covering at big screens across the United Kingdom, with venues including Birmingham, Hull, Leeds and Manchester.

Radio Five Live will also operate a number of mobile, truck-mounted screens travelling to a wide range of locations and communities.

Programmes with special World Cup features include Blue Peter, which is running a competition for a new Fair Play slogan for England in association with the FA; plus a guide to refereeing with Graham Poll.

Other shows include: