Described as the company's homage to the beautiful game, the special edition Paceman GoalCooper will either draw overwhelming support from legions of soccer fans or score a massive own goal.

Based on the Mini John Cooper Works Paceman, the car differs massively from the stock model. The standard car doesn't have bright green Astroturf floor mats for example. Nor does it have an exterior paint finish designed to evoke memories of the Brazilian flag or of its players' past world cup glories.

Then there are the interior flood lights, the smartphone and tablet docks for watching live sports streaming and the inclusion of a mini table football set built into the car's center rail.

Last but by no means least is the car's ability to convert into a moving goalpost. Drop the back seats, open the trunk and let shooting practice commence.

However, as providing someone small enough to fit comfortably between its moving posts is a biological impossibility, Mini claims that it has programmed the car's parking sensors to detect the motion of the included soccer ball and automatically adjust the trunk lid in order to deflect a goal-bound shot.

The World Cup is just two months away, but April 1 or April Fools Day is on Tuesday and one suspects that when the car's full specifications and pricing are officially published on midday Tuesday, it will all be revealed as nothing more than a soccer-themed joke.