For every football fan the World Cup Finals are the most extraordinary celebration of the game. As we lookforward to South Africa hosting the 2010 tournament, this outstanding collection of photographs byAlistair Berg captures fan culture around the world at its most vibrant and characterful.The book is a unique chronicle of a 20 year period that has seen enormous changes in football and amassive surge in support for the game. It covers not only the last five World Cup Finals but also grassrootsfootball, from pub teams and Sunday league to children playing barefoot in the streets of Brazil or in thetownships of South Africa. Images are drawn from every continent and a chapter is devoted to each WorldCup from 1990 to 2006. To celebrate the Finals in South Africa there is a special extended section on thegame in Africa.Alistair Berg has worked as a freelance photographer for over twenty years, visiting more than fiftycountries for some of the world¿s most prominent publications and advertising agencies. He was a memberof the French press agency, Gamma, before joining the prestigious reportage agency IPG. In 2004 he movedto Cape Town, where he is now based.Despite the variety of assignments he has undertaken, Alistair has always photographed football culture.He views the World Cup Finals from the perspective of the fans as they make their pilgrimage to the meccaof the world game. 2010 will mark twenty years of Alistair¿s photographic coverage of football culture.Rogan Taylor is an academic, writer, broadcaster and football activist. He is author of several books onfootball including The Day of the Hillsborough Disaster and Kicking and Screaming. An Oral History ofFootball in England. He is also founder member and chairman of the Football Supporters¿ Association,launched in Liverpool after the Heysel disaster