In a big week of World Cup qualifiers, England are one team who need not worry having secured their place in next years finals in South Africa. But what has been holding England back? Kevin McCarra of the Guardian examines why the Three Lions have only won the World Cup on home soil and how their chances in 2010 stand up, with the effects of playing at altitude expected to be significant.

"The national team have only ever been in one final at the major tournaments and the World Cup of 1966 was, of course, grasped at Wembley. Fabio Capello has already achieved a great deal, but there is work ahead to cure the travel sickness that can steal over the squad at competitions when boots are planted on foreign soil.

A radical transition is often gruelling. In the heat and altitude of Guadalajara in 1970, for instance, Alan Mullery was reported to have lost almost a stone in weight while trying to nullify Pelé in the 1-0 defeat by Brazil at the World Cup. England have another great transition to plan when the competition is held in South Africa next year.

Places such as Johannesburg will present difficulties. It has two grounds. Ellis Park will be in use and eight games are to be staged at the Soccer City stadium, including the opening match and the final. At 1,750 metres, conditions will be gruelling for many sides. To a slightly lesser effect, similar factors will be at work in Pretoria, Rustenburg and Bloemfontein. England's headquarters may be in the last of those cities, at an altitude of 1,395 metres."

Elsewhere in the Guardian, it is revealed that their could be a "Live 8-style" event on the eve of the 2010 World Cup - a music spectacular that would surely trump any previous opening ceremonies. The event would help reach out to youngsters (apparently football is not enough!) and also raise money for FIFA's "20 centres for 2010" campaign, writes Owen Gibson.

"As part of an attempt to banish memories of Diana Ross fluffing a penalty and flag- waving parades, Fifa has contracted Kevin Wall, the man behind live music spectaculars for Madonna, Jay-Z and Michael Jackson, to produce a Live 8-style event on the eve of the next World Cup.

It will be the first time that a Fifa-sanctioned event has taken place on the eve of the World Cup finals and is being seen as part of a bid to stir up excitement among fans, sponsors and broadcasters in the countdown to the opening game.

Governing bodies and sports rights agencies are increasingly looking to plough the fertile common ground between celebrities from the worlds of music and sport. An F1 Rocks event, featuring Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams, at the recent Singapore grand prix is expected to be the first of several such events designed to widen the sport's appeal and offer new opportunities for sponsors. Although the line-up of artists has yet to be finalised and will not be revealed until tickets go on sale, record labels are likely to want their biggest names involved given the likely global television audience."