France is widely predicted to be this year's victor

Tim, a middle-aged Dutchman, and two of his friends are trying to figure out which beer could be the world’s best, when a World Cup news report comes on the television.

Tim cannot hide his disappointment over Holland’s failure to qualify for the event.

“I tell you what, it's hardly imaginable to talk of the World Cup without Holland,” he says.

“I think it is disappointing for football fans world-over that the Dutch were booted out of the running because…”

But before he can finish, James, a cheerful and die-hard Republic of Ireland supporter, interrupts.

To everyone’s amusement, he teasingly adds: “Let’s not talk about Holland. Let's avoid history and talk about teams that qualified”.

The banter goes on with Tim concluding that if he can’t watch the matches wearing his orange jersey, he'll be cheering for England.

He attracts opposition from James and Brad, two Californians, who insist the US will walk away the victors of this summer’s World Cup tournament.

“Miracles do happen,” Brad says grabbing a glass of Heineken.

Wanna make a bet?

Its been hard to avoid World Cup conversation this week, as the expatriate community prepares to revel in the football extravaganza that begins on Friday.

Several expats, including Italian Francesco Maiolo, a political scientist at the University College of Utrecht, will not only be watching their country's progress, but will put money on their team's victory.

“I will certainly be watching the World Cup. I intend to watch all matches involving Italy,” he says, adding that he prefers viewing the matches while hanging out with friends in his “home city” of Leiden.

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