Industry groups say they are on track to meet their sales goals for the month-long tournament and German economic indicators already seem to be reflecting the buoyant mood.

"Everything to do with soccer is selling like hot cakes at the moment. People are buying everything from hats to condoms with World Cup labels on them," said Rolf Pangels, managing director of Germany's BAG retailers' association.

"Statistically speaking, three fan articles have been sold per capita of Germany's 82 million population," he added.

Pangels said the hope was that spending on niche sectors would spread to other areas of the economy as the tournament headed into its final week with fewer matches played.

"We hope people will use the time off in between games now to spend more money on other things," he said.

Until now, many fans have probably been too busy drinking to shop. Beer maker Radeberger said earlier this week it had resorted to 24-hour bottle filling to keep up with demand.

"What we're hearing from the breweries is really, really good," said Birte Kleppien, a spokeswoman for the German beer brewers' association. "It seems to be really massive."

She said the group hoped the World Cup could help spur a rise in German beer sales -- currently worth around 8.4 billion euros annually -- for the first time in several years.

BAG's Pangels said the near constant sunshine since the tournament began had been an important factor in boosting sales of outdoor clothing and goods -- but had probably hit demand for televisions.

"People are fighting to get outside, have fun and watch games on a big screen with others -- not sit at home," he said.