Opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, have sung together as The Three Tenors for the final time.

The singers serenaded 10,000 football fans and music lovers at a concert in Yokohama, Japan, celebrating the World Cup.

Pavarotti greets a South Korean singer on stage

The trio performed popular pieces from opera classics, such as Puccini's Tosca, as well as traditional songs from World Cup co-hosts Japan and South Korea at the concert on Thursday.

Fans paid between 10,000 yen to 120,000 yen (�54 to �658) for the concert.

The stars performed for three hours, and were joined on stage by six Japanese and South Korean sopranos.

Retirement

It was the fourth World Cup concert held by the trio and the last.

Pavarotti recently announced he plans to retire in 2005, a year before the next tournament is played in Germany.

The tenors also sang before crowds in Italy in 1990, in the United States in 1994 and in France in 1998.

The first Three Tenors concert became a cultural phenomenon, greatly increasing the popularity of classical music and the album from the concert because a world-wide bestseller.

The World Cup concludes on Sunday when Germany take on Brazil in the final match in Yokohama.

It is the first time the two countries - both giants in world football - have ever met in the World Cup.