"At the fan areas, people of all creeds, colours and religions have met each other and exchanged addresses and telephone numbers.

"That will be the lasting legacy of this World Cup," Beckenbauer said at a press conference to assess the progress of the tournament's organisation.

The German organisers and FIFA say more than 11 million people have gone to the fan zones to watch matches on big screens so far, and millions more will follow suit in the build-up to the final in Berlin on July 9.

Horst R. Schmidt, the senior vice-president of the organising committee, told the same press conference that the 24 teams which had already been eliminated and had left Germany had praised the enthusiastic response from the residents of towns and cities where they were based.

"They have told us they found outstanding conditions here and said what a warm welcome they found," Schmidt said.

"This was, perhaps, not what everyone was expecting."

The World Cup is on track to make a profit of around 20 million euros (25 million dollars), said Theo Zwanziger, the head of the German Football Federation who is responsible for the financial organisation of the World Cup.

He said the target of 200 million euros from ticket sales had been met because all 64 matches were sold out and total receipts were set to be around 450 million euros compared to the target of 430 million euros.

"This excess will be used for non-profit activities, such as football and grassroots activities," Zwanziger said.

The World Cup resumes on Friday with the quarterfinal between Germany and Argentina in Berlin before Italy and Ukraine meet in Hamburg.