The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.
This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa defeated Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. This decision left the Oceania Football Confederation as the only confederation yet to host the FIFA World Cup. Italy are the defending champions, after winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The draw for the finals took place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town.
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a policy to rotate the event among football confederations (which was later abandoned in October 2007). Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:
Egypt
Libya /
Tunisia (co-hosting)
Morocco
South Africa
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.[1]
| Voting Results | |
|---|---|
| Country | Votes |
| South Africa | 14 |
| Morocco | 10 |
| Egypt | 0 |
During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country.[2][3] Some people, including Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's preparations.[2][4] However, FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, stating that a contingency plan existed only to cover natural catastrophes, as had been in place at previous FIFA World Cups.[5]
Qualification
As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament. Nonetheless South Africa participated in World Cup qualifiers because the CAF qualifiers also served as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. They were the first host since 1934 to participate in preliminary qualifying. As happened in the previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification.
The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007.
List of qualified teams
The following 32 teams qualified for the final tournament.
|
|
|
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa |  Argentina |  England |  Germany |
 Mexico |  Nigeria |  United States |  Australia |
 Uruguay |  Korea Republic |  Algeria |  Serbia |
 France |  Greece |  Slovenia |  Ghana |
12 June 2010
England Match 5 United States Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
13 June 2010
Algeria Match 6 Slovenia Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
18 June 2010
Slovenia Match 22 United States Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
England Match 23 Algeria Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
23 June 2010
Slovenia Match 37 England Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
United States Match 38 Algeria Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Group D
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group D
Team
v • d • e
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Serbia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ghana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 June 2010
Serbia Match 7 Ghana Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Germany Match 8 Australia Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
18 June 2010
Germany Match 21 Serbia Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
19 June 2010
Ghana Match 25 Australia Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
23 June 2010
Ghana Match 39 Germany Soccer City, Johannesburg
Australia Match 40 Serbia Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Group E
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group E
Team
v • d • e
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cameroon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 June 2010
Netherlands Match 9 Denmark Soccer City, Johannesburg
Japan Match 10 Cameroon Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
19 June 2010
Netherlands Match 24 Japan Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Cameroon Match 26 Denmark Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
24 June 2010
Denmark Match 43 Japan Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Cameroon Match 44 Netherlands Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Group F
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group F
Team
v • d • e
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paraguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
New Zealand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 June 2010
Italy Match 11 Paraguay Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
15 June 2010
New Zealand Match 12 Slovakia Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
20 June 2010
Slovakia Match 27 Paraguay Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Italy Match 28 New Zealand Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
24 June 2010
Slovakia Match 41 Italy Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Paraguay Match 42 New Zealand Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
Group G
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group G
Team
v • d • e
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Brazil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Korea DPR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Côte d'Ivoire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 June 2010
Côte d'Ivoire Match 13 Portugal Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Brazil Match 14 Korea DPR Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
20 June 2010
Brazil Match 29 Côte d'Ivoire Soccer City, Johannesburg
21 June 2010
Portugal Match 30 Korea DPR Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
25 June 2010
Portugal Match 45 Brazil Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Korea DPR Match 46 Côte d'Ivoire Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Group H
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group H
Team
v • d • e
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Honduras 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chile 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 June 2010
Honduras Match 15 Chile Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Spain Match 16 Switzerland Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
21 June 2010
Chile Match 31 Switzerland Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Spain Match 32 Honduras Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
25 June 2010
Chile Match 47 Spain Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Switzerland Match 48 Honduras Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein