Fans mass to urge an England win

Hundreds of supporters tried to buy spare tickets

Up to 70,000 England fans have massed in Germany for the team's World Cup quarter-final match against Portugal.

Some 30,000 have tickets for the match in Gelsenkirchen, while 40,000 are watching on giant screens and in bars around the German city.

The winning team will face Brazil or France in the semi-final on Wednesday. The final is the following Sunday.

Up to 26 million people in the UK were expected to watch the quarter-final on BBC One.

Optimism

Before the game, thousands of supporters swarmed outside the Gelsenkirchen ground in the hope of getting tickets, selling for about 600 euros (£415) each.

Meanwhile, temperatures surged past over 30C.

Steve Wareham and a group of friends from Chelmsford, Essex, drove through the night just to be in the city.

If we really turn it on it will be more than one-nil to England Pete Ford, England fan

Mr Wareham said: "The Germans have been such great hosts and it's so well organised we had to come."

Another fan, Chelsea supporter Stuart Law, from Hawkwell, Essex, said: "Frank Lampard needs to find the form he's been in for Chelsea for England to do well."

Peter Ford, a policeman from the West Country, arrived dressed as a football - a costume he picked up in a TV auction.

He said: "England have got this far without actually playing any proper football.

"We will be fine. If we really turn it on it will be more than one-nil to England, but I'm prepared to settle for that."

Fan arrests

On Friday night, 13 England and 29 Germany fans were arrested following scuffles, said to be far smaller than those last weekend in Stuttgart.

We have a good team and we have the quality to go all the way Sven-Goran Eriksson Build-up to England match Send us your comments

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Thomas, of Greater Manchester Police, the senior British officer advising the Germans, said fans were "spread out" across the area.

He added: "That's a good thing because it will avoid the scenes we saw in Stuttgart, with that very focal point on the steps outside the main fan park."

Mr Thomas revealed 593 England fans had been arrested since the start of the tournament

Police in Thetford, Norfolk - which has a large Portuguese population - are on alert following trouble there after England lost to Portugal in the European championships two years ago.

Faye Trefry of Bodmin, Cornwall, married a Portuguese man in a ceremony shortly before the kick-off.

Fans across England are holding barbecues and parties to mark the quarter final.

Supermarket giant Tesco says it has sold a record-breaking five million cases of beer, 7.5 million disposable barbecues, 20 million bottles of wine, 45 million sausages, 25.5 million lollies and 5.8 million burgers since the World Cup started.

The match is expected to coincide with Andy Murray's third-round clash with Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, dividing loyalties in thousands of households.