It's a rhetorical question: is this the best World Cup of all time?

The romantics talk misty-eyed about 1970, when Brazil and their brilliant yellow shirts lit up living rooms the length and breadth of Britain.

It's perhaps a sad indictment on the standards of finals since those hazy, lazy days of flower power that not one has surpassed that World Cup.

But at last, in 2002, we have a tournament that can lay claim to the title - albeit by default.

The football cannot hold a candle to that served up by Pele, Jairzinho and their magical colleagues more than three decades ago.

But for entertainment value, for seeing giants slain and the game returning to its basic, heart-warming roots, this World Cup has no peers.

There is no one outstanding team; no one outstanding player.

But if you like thrill-a-minute, blink-and-you'll-miss-it football, this World Cup has been manna from heaven.

For every dull encounter, such as England versus Nigeria, there has been the United States against Portugal.

Did you suffer through a turgid game like the one between Belgium and Tunisia?

Well surely South Korea versus Italy more than made up for it. And England-Argentina. And countless other memorable matches.

It's like the global version of the Premiership. The football might not have been too good, but boy has it been enthralling.

Most of us admit, at least secretly, that Spain's La Liga for one is superior to our own league. But for goals, incident and value for money, English football can't be bettered.

So it is with this World Cup. As much as the finals need a strong Brazil or - dare I say it - Germany, so the upsets have enriched this football fiesta.

We all know that neither Senegal nor Turkey are among the best four footballing nations on earth.

But come tomorrow afternoon, the semi-final line-up will say otherwise.

And who's to say they won't be joined there by the United States? The draw has opened up for no country as it has for Germany, but any team that can beat Portugal and Mexico need not fear Rudi Voller's men.

Of course England's continued presence in the Far East has cranked up the interest over here. Even if every game was a drab 1-0 affair, as long as Sven and the boys were still in there fighting then the national love affair with football would carry on unchecked.

But for the game's purists, it's been a World Cup to savour. The standard of refereeing, save for the games involving the Italians, has reminded us just how bad our officials are.

Some reputations have been enhanced; others have been stripped bare, and far from demeaning the tournament, the sight of fallen superpowers France and Argentina waving a tearful farewell after the first round injected a crucial surprise element to proceedings.

So, is it the best World Cup? Well a lot depends on the events this morning, of course, but even the nostalgia fans among us might have to concede defeat on that one.

Or they may just claim it's a rhetorical question.