You can’t get away from soccer (or football, depending upon what part of the world you’re in) these days. The World Cup is just around the corner, and fans from across the globe are stocked to see their favorite teams compete.

And you can’t expect people like the news team from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart not to put their two cents in. Senior foreign sports correspondent John Oliver will be hosting a multi-part special called World Cup 2010: Into Africa. The special premieres Thursday, June 10, at 11:00 p.m. EST and promises to be filled with insight and laughs.

Oliver says, “As a little boy, my only dream was to one day play for England in the World Cup. It seems that the closest I will ever get to that dream is to go to the World Cup and make fun of it.” Hey, there could be worse things to do with your time—or career. “If these pieces result in anything less than soccer becoming the number one sport in America,” Oliver promises, “I will deem them a total failure.”

Pretty high goals for the special, aren’t they, John? I guess I’ll have to watch and let you know if you convert me from an “I-hate-sports” person to an “I-love-soccer” person.