History Of Football, FIFA World Cup and South Africa 2010

The History of Football

The contemporary history of the world's favorite game spans more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's first governing body.

Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree. A search down the centuries reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying to different degrees, and to which the historical development of football has been traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the hands.

On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the art of controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small measure of skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China.

This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted.

Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari, which began some 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground.

The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get the ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves, trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular for 700-800 years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely be of consequence.

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup or Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven nations have won the title. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Italy, the current champions, have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each.

The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, where an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.^[1] The next World Cup will be held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.

History

Main article: History of the FIFA World Cup

[edit] Previous international competitions

The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England,^[2] with the first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, taking place in 1884.^[3] At this stage the sport was rarely played outside the United Kingdom. As football began to increase in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.

After FIFA was founded in 1904, there was an attempt made by FIFA to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.^[4]

At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm, where the tournament was organised by the Swedish Football Association.

With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup,^[5] and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, and were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event.^[6] This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and thirteen European teams, and won by Belgium.^[7] Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928.

First World Cup

Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay

Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship organised by FIFA.^[8] With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.

The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total thirteen nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.^[9] In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in doing so became the first nation to win the World Cup

World Cups before World War II

After the creation of the World Cup, the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.^[11] Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup.

The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.

World Cups after World War II

The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football,^[12] but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation.^[13] The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again by defeating the host nation Brazil in one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, which was later called the "Maracanazo" (Portuguese: Maracanaço).

Map of countries' best results

In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tournament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams.^[14] Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.

[edit] Expansion to 32 teams

The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,^[15] and then to 32 in 1998,^[16] allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. In recent years, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, and those who have reached the quarter-finals include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002; and Senegal and USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002. European and South American teams have remained the stronger forces; for example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.

198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[17]

[edit] Other FIFA tournaments

An equivalent tournament for women's football, the FIFA Women's World Cup, was first held in 1991 in the People's Republic of China.^[18] The women's tournament is smaller in scale and profile than the men's, but is growing; the number of entrants for the 2007 tournament was 120, more than double that of 1991.

Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games except 1896 and 1932. Unlike many other sports, the men's football tournament at the Olympics is not a top-level tournament, and since 1992, an under-23 tournament with each team allowed three over-age players.^[19] Women's football made its Olympic debut in 1996, and is contested between full national sides with no age restrictions.

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament held one year before the World Cup at the World Cup host nation(s) as a dress-rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships, along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country.^[20]

FIFA also organizes international tournaments for youth football (FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup), club football (FIFA Club World Cup), and football variants such as futsal (FIFA Futsal World Cup) and beach soccer (FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup).

[edit] Trophy

Main article: FIFA World Cup Trophy

The FIFA World Cup Trophy on a German stamp

From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently. However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered, apparently melted down by the thieves.^[21]

After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven different countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory."^[22]

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold original.

Format

[edit] Qualification

Main article: FIFA World Cup qualification

Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament.^[24] They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams.

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup.^[25] From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations have received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, thus became the first defending champions to play in a qualifying match.^[26]

[edit] Final tournament

For the various formats used in previous tournaments, see History of the FIFA World Cup#Format of each final tournament.

The current final tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage.^[27]

In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups.^[28] The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.^[29]

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams.^[30] The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners received two points rather than three). If two or more teams end up with the same number of points, tiebreakers are used: first is goal difference, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots (i.e., determining team positions at random).^[31]

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the "round of 16" (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.^[27]

[edit] Selection of hosts

Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts

Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location gave rise to controversies, a consequence of the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centres of strength in football. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing.^[32] The next two World Cups were both held in Europe. The decision to hold the second of these, the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in France was controversial, as the American countries had been led to understand that the World Cup would rotate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the tournament.^[33]

Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts.^[34] In 2010, South Africa will become the first African nation to host the World Cup. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since 1978,^[35] and will be the first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe.

Wikinews has related news: FIFA receives eleven bids for 2018 and 2022 World Cups

The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Executive Committee. This is done under a single transferable vote system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a "Hosting Agreement" from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid. The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FIFA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as will be the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018.^[36] This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder.

[edit] Organisation and media coverage

See also: List of FIFA World Cup broadcasters

The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is estimated to be 26.29 billion.^[1] 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers.^[37]

Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot.^[38] Recent World Cups have also featured official match balls specially designed for each World Cup.

Results

[edit] Summaries of previous tournaments

Year	Host		Final				Third Place Match
			Winners	Score	Runners-up		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
1930 Details	Uruguay		Uruguay	4–2	Argentina		United States	[note 1]	Yugoslavia
1934 Details	Italy		Italy	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Czechoslovakia		Germany	3–2	Austria
1938 Details	France		Italy	4–2	Hungary		Brazil	4–2	Sweden
1950 Details	Brazil		Uruguay	[note 2]	Brazil		Sweden	[note 2]	Spain
1954 Details	Switzerland		West Germany	3–2	Hungary		Austria	3–1	Uruguay
1958 Details	Sweden		Brazil	5–2	Sweden		France	6–3	West Germany
1962 Details	Chile		Brazil	3–1	Czechoslovakia		Chile	1–0	Yugoslavia
1966 Details	England		England	4–2 (a.e.t.)	West Germany		Portugal	2–1	Soviet Union
1970 Details	Mexico		Brazil	4–1	Italy		West Germany	1–0	Uruguay
1974 Details	West Germany		West Germany	2–1	Netherlands		Poland	1–0	Brazil
1978 Details	Argentina		Argentina	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Netherlands		Brazil	2–1	Italy
1982 Details	Spain		Italy	3–1	West Germany		Poland	3–2	France
1986 Details	Mexico		Argentina	3–2	West Germany		France	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Belgium
1990 Details	Italy		West Germany	1–0	Argentina		Italy	2–1	England
1994 Details	United States		Brazil	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pens.)	Italy		Sweden	4–0	Bulgaria
1998 Details	France		France	3–0	Brazil		Croatia	2–1	Netherlands
2002 Details	Korea Republic & Japan		Brazil	2–0	Germany		Turkey	3–2	Korea Republic
2006 Details	Germany		Italy	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 pens.)	France		Germany	3–1	Portugal

Notes

1. ^ There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. FIFA now recognizes the United States as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the tournament.^[39]
2. ^ ^{a b} There was no official World Cup final match in 1950.^[40] The tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). However, Uruguay's 2–1 victory over Brazil was the decisive match (and also coincidentally one of the last two matches of the tournament) which put them ahead on points and ensured that they finished top of the group as world champions. Therefore, this match is often considered the final of the 1950 World Cup.^[41] Likewise, Sweden's 3–1 victory over Spain (played at the same time as Uruguay vs Brazil) ensured that they finished third.

Map of winning countries

In all, 76 nations have played in at least one World Cup.^[42] Of these, seven national teams have won the World Cup, and they have added stars to their crests, with each star representing a World Cup victory. (However, Uruguay are an exception to this unwritten rule; They choose to display four stars on their crest, representing their two gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics and their two World Cup titles in 1930 and 1950). With five titles, Brazil are the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have played in every World Cup to date.^[43] Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Brazil and Germany have both made the most appearances in the final, with seven, while Germany have made the most appearances in the top four, with eleven.

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place
Brazil	5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)	2 (1950*, 1998)	2 (1938, 1978)	1 (1974)
Italy	4 (1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006)	2 (1970, 1994)	1 (1990*)	1 (1978)
Germany^	3 (1954, 1974*, 1990)	4 (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002)	3 (1934, 1970, 2006*)	1 (1958)
Argentina	2 (1978*, 1986)	2 (1930, 1990)	—	—
Uruguay	2 (1930*, 1950)	—	—	2 (1954, 1970)
France	1 (1998*)	1 (2006)	2 (1958, 1986)	1 (1982)
England	1 (1966*)	—	—	1 (1990)
Netherlands	—	2 (1974, 1978)	—	1 (1998)
Czechoslovakia#	—	2 (1934, 1962)	—	—
Hungary	—	2 (1938, 1954)	—	—
Sweden	—	1 (1958*)	2 (1950, 1994)	1 (1938)
Poland	—	—	2 (1974, 1982)	—
Austria	—	—	1 (1954)	1 (1934)
Portugal	—	—	1 (1966)	1 (2006)
Chile	—	—	1 (1962*)	—
Croatia	—	—	1 (1998)	—
Turkey	—	—	1 (2002)	—
United States	—	—	1 (1930)	—
Yugoslavia#	—	—	—	2 (1930, 1962)
Belgium	—	—	—	1 (1986)
Bulgaria	—	—	—	1 (1994)
Korea Republic	—	—	—	1 (2002*)
Soviet Union#	—	—	—	1 (1966)
Spain	—	—	—	1 (1950)

* = hosts

^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990

^# = states that have since split into two or more independent nations

Performances by host nations

See also: National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup#Results of host nations

Six of the seven champions have won one of their titles while playing in their own homeland, the exception being Brazil, who finished as runners-up after losing the deciding match on home soil in 1950. England (1966) and France (1998) won their only titles while playing as host nations. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934) and Argentina (1978) won their first titles as host nations but have gone on to win again, while Germany (1974) won their second title on home soil.

Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986), and Japan (second round in 2002) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, all host nations have progressed beyond the first round.

[edit] Best performances by continental zones

See also: National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup#Results by confederation

To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by European and South American teams. The two continents have won nine titles apiece. Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: USA (North, Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and Korea Republic (Asia) in 2002. The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002. Only one Oceanian qualifier, Australia in 2006, advanced to the second round.

All World Cups won by European teams have taken place in Europe and the only teams to have won outside Europe come from South America. The only non-European team to win a tournament in Europe is Brazil in 1958. Only twice have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent – when Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively.

[edit] Awards

Main article: FIFA World Cup awards

At the end of each World Cup, awards are presented to the players and teams for accomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament. There are currently six awards:^[44]

• The Golden Ball for the best player, determined by a vote of media members (first awarded in 1982); the Silver Ball and the Bronze Ball are awarded to the players finishing second and third in the voting respectively;^[45]
• The Golden Shoe (sometimes called the Golden Boot) for the top goalscorer (first awarded in 1982, but retrospectively applied to all tournaments from 1930); most recently, the Silver Shoe and the Bronze Shoe have been awarded to the second and third top goalscorers respectively;^[46]
• The Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper, decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group (first awarded in 1994);^[47]
• The Best Young Player Award for the best player aged 21 or younger at the start of the calendar year, decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group (first awarded in 2006).^[48]
• The FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the team with the best record of fair play, according to the points system and criteria established by the FIFA Fair Play Committee (first awarded in 1978);^[48]
• The Most Entertaining Team for the team that has entertained the public the most during the World Cup, determined by a poll of the general public (first awarded in 1994);^[48]

An All-Star Team consisting of the best players of the tournament is also announced for each tournament since 1998.

[edit] Records and statistics

Main article: FIFA World Cup records

Two players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal and Germany's Lothar Matthäus both played in five tournaments.^[49] Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances.^[50] Brazil's Pelé is the only player to have won three World Cup winners' medals,^[51] with 20 other players who have won two World Cup medals.^[52]

The overall top goalscorer in World Cups is Brazil's Ronaldo, scorer of 15 goals in three tournaments. West Germany's Gerd Müller is second, with 14 goals in two tournaments.^[53] The third placed goalscorer, France's Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup. All his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament.^[54]

Brazil's Mário Zagallo and West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Zagallo won in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as head coach.^[55] Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach.^[56] Italy's Vittorio Pozzo is the only head coach to ever win two World Cups.^[57] All World Cup winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory.

As of the end of the 2006 tournament, Brazil and Germany have both played 92 matches, the most by any nation, with Brazil scoring the most goals, 201.^[58] The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup, in the 2002 final.

2010 FIFA World Cup

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 beat 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. The draw for the finals took place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town.

Host selection

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.

Voting Results
Country	Votes
South Africa	14
Morocco	10
Egypt	0

• Tunisia withdrew on 8 May 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed
• Libya bid was rejected: bid did not meet the list of requirements and joint bidding was not allowed

During 2006 to 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

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup 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.

AFC (4) Australia Japan Korea DPR Korea Republic CAF (6) Algeria Cameroon Côte d'Ivoire Ghana Nigeria South Africa (hosts)

CONCACAF (3) Honduras Mexico United States CONMEBOL (5) Argentina Brazil Chile Paraguay Uruguay OFC (1) New Zealand

UEFA (13) Denmark England France Germany Greece Italy Netherlands Portugal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Switzerland

Qualified countries in green. For Key to the other areas, see here.

This is the first World Cup with no debutant associations, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have previously appeared only as parts of former competing nations. In both cases FIFA considers these teams to have retained the earlier nations' records.

Controversy surrounded final qualification matches played between France and the Republic of Ireland, Costa Rica and Uruguay and Egypt and Algeria in November 2009.

Wikinews has related news: Ireland requests replay of FIFA World Cup play-off with France

Wikinews has related news: FIFA to make changes after Thierry Henry handball

In the second leg of the play-off between France and the Republic of Ireland, French captain Thierry Henry, unseen by the referee, illegally handled the ball in the lead up to the winning goal, which saw France make the final 32 teams ahead of Ireland. The incident caused widespread debate on how matches should be refereed at the highest level. FIFA rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to replay the match, ^[6] whilst a widely reported later request by Ireland to be included as an unprecedented 33rd World Cup entrant was later withdrawn.^[7][8] Costa Rica complained over Uruguay's winning goal in the CONMEBOL–CONCACAF playoff, ^[9] whilst Egypt and Algeria's final match was surrounded by reports of crowd trouble.

In response to the incidents during qualification, and to a match fixing controversy, on 2 December 2009 FIFA called for an extraordinary general meeting of their Executive Committee. After the meeting, FIFA announced that they would be setting up an inquiry into technology and extra officials in the game, but they did not announce the widely-expected move of fast-tracking the introduction of goal-line referee's assistants, already being trialled in the Europa League, and instead restated that the competition in South Africa would be officiated as before, with just one referee, two assistants, and a fourth official.^[10] On the subject of fair play, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said:

I appeal to all the players and coaches to observe this fair play. In 2010 we want to prove that football is more than just kicking a ball but has social and cultural value...So we ask the players 'please observe fair play' so they will be an example to the rest of the world.

—FIFA President Sepp Blatter, ^[11]

Venues

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In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of twelve venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues^[12] which were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006:

Johannesburg	Durban	Cape Town	Johannesburg	Pretoria
Soccer City	Moses Mabhida Stadium[3]	Cape Town Stadium[4]	Ellis Park Stadium	Loftus Versfeld Stadium
26°14′5.27″S 27°58′56.47″E / 26.2347972°S 27.9823528°E / -26.2347972; 27.9823528 (Soccer City)	29°49′46″S 31°01′49″E / 29.82944°S 31.03028°E / -29.82944; 31.03028 (Moses Mabhida Stadium)	33°54′12.46″S 18°24′40.15″E / 33.9034611°S 18.4111528°E / -33.9034611; 18.4111528 (Cape Town Stadium)	26°11′51.07″S 28°3′38.76″E / 26.1975194°S 28.0607667°E / -26.1975194; 28.0607667 (Ellis Park Stadium)	25°45′12″S 28°13′22″E / 25.75333°S 28.22278°E / -25.75333; 28.22278 (Loftus Versfeld Stadium)
Capacity: 94,700	Capacity: 70,000	Capacity: 69,070	Capacity: 62,567	Capacity: 51,760
Port Elizabeth	Bloemfontein	Polokwane	Rustenburg	Nelspruit
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	Free State Stadium	Peter Mokaba Stadium	Royal Bafokeng Stadium	Mbombela Stadium
33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E / 33.93778°S 25.59889°E / -33.93778; 25.59889 (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium)	29°07′02.25″S 26°12′31.85″E / 29.1172917°S 26.2088472°E / -29.1172917; 26.2088472 (Free State Stadium)	23°55′29″S 29°28′08″E / 23.924689°S 29.468765°E / -23.924689; 29.468765 (Peter Mokaba Stadium)	25°34′43″S 27°09′39″E / 25.5786°S 27.1607°E / -25.5786; 27.1607 (Royal Bafokeng Stadium)	25°27′42″S 30°55′47″E / 25.46172°S 30.929689°E / -25.46172; 30.929689 (Mbombela Stadium)
Capacity: 48,000	Capacity: 48,000	Capacity: 46,000	Capacity: 44,530	Capacity: 43,589

Durban

Port Elizabeth

Nelspruit

Rustenburg

Pretoria

Bloemfontein

Johannesburg

Cape Town

Polokwane

• ^1 As Durban Stadium
• ^2 As Green Point Stadium

  Preparations

  

  

  The Lukasrand Tower in Pretoria sporting a football in anticipation of the world cup

  Five new stadiums have been built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.^[13]

  In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with projects such as the Gautrain and the new Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) titled Rea Vaya.^[14] Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, has said that he expects all stadiums for the tournament to be completed by October 2009.^[15]

  The country is also going to implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements,^[16] including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums.^[17]

  The readiness of this African nation to host one of the biggest events in a sports that is worshiped by millions has received positive response from FIFA. FIFA has rated the readiness of South Africa at eight on a scale of 10 ^[18] with the hope that they would be completely ready before the matches actually start.

  Transportation

  Major road networks have been improved to cater for the expected influx of people coming to the country who will be traveling to and from the match stadiums. The Gautrain(underground rail network) will be complete in time for the opening game, but only limited lengths of the route.

  Major metros have also updated their current public bus systems to cater for visitors. Websites such as Vaya Nathi have been created for host city visitors to view bus route information in host cities.

  Final Draw

  See also: 2010 FIFA World Cup seeding

  The FIFA Organising Committee approved the procedure for the Final Draw on 2 December 2009. The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA World Ranking and seven squads joined hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the Final Draw. The committee also approved the composition of the other pots as well as the procedure for the final draw. Pot 2 was composed of teams from Asia, Oceania, and North and Central America and the Caribbean. Pot 3 included teams from Africa and South America. Pot 4 had the remaining European teams.

  Hosts South Africa was automatically positioned as A1; the other seeded teams were drawn into the other groups B–H, but were always in position 1 of their group. Groups were drawn from A to H and the positions in the group were drawn for Pots 2 to 4. Geographical criteria also were respected, meaning that no two teams from the same confederation were drawn in the same group (except European teams, where a maximum of two will be in a group); i.e., South Africa cannot play the African teams from Pot 3 and Argentina and Brazil cannot be drawn against the three remaining South American teams. The first two African teams drawn from Pot 3 are placed with Argentina and Brazil. Similarly, hosts South Africa may not be paired with any of the other African nations (also placed in Pot 3).^[23]

  Pot 1 (Host & Top seven)	Pot 2 (Asia, North America & Oceania)	Pot 3 (Africa & South America)	Pot 4 (Europe)
  South Africa Brazil Spain Netherlands Italy Germany Argentina England	Australia Japan Korea DPR Korea Republic Honduras Mexico United States New Zealand	Algeria Cameroon Côte d'Ivoire Ghana Nigeria Chile Paraguay Uruguay	Denmark France Greece Portugal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Switzerland

  The group draw was staged in Cape Town, South Africa, at 19:00 (UTC+2) on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.^[24] The ceremony was presented by South African actress Charlize Theron, assisted by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.^[25] The balls were drawn by English football star David Beckham and African sporting figures Haile Gebreselassie, John Smit, Makhaya Ntini, Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu.^[26]

  Referees

  FIFA selected the following referees to officiate at the World Cup:^[27]

  AFC Khalil Al Ghamdi Ravshan Irmatov Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh Yuichi Nishimura CAF Mohamed Benouza Koman Coulibaly Jerome Damon Eddy Maillet CONCACAF Joel Aguilar Benito Archundia Carlos Batres Marco Antonio Rodríguez

  CONMEBOL Carlos Amarilla Héctor Baldassi Jorge Larrionda Pablo Pozo Óscar Ruiz Carlos Simon OFC Michael Hester Peter O'Leary UEFA Olegário Benquerença Massimo Busacca Frank De Bleeckere Martin Hansson Viktor Kassai Stephane Lannoy Roberto Rosetti Wolfgang Stark Alberto Undiano Mallenco Howard Webb

Squads

For more details on this topic, see 2010 FIFA World Cup squads.

As with the 2006 tournament, each team's squad for the 2010 World Cup consists of 23 players. Each participating national association must confirm their final 23-player squad by 1 June 2010. Teams are permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game.^[28]

Matches

See also: 2010 FIFA World Cup schedule

All times are South African Standard Time (UTC+2)

Group stage

In the following tables:

• Pld = total games played
• W = total games won
• D = total games drawn (tied)
• L = total games lost
• GF = total goals scored (goals for)
• GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
• GD = goal difference (GF−GA)
• Pts = total points accumulated

The teams placed first and second (shaded in green) qualified to the round of 16.

Tie-breaking criteria

For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following criteria to rank teams in the Group Stage.^[29]

1. greatest number of points in all group matches;
2. goal difference in all group matches;
3. greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
4. greatest number of points in matches between tied teams;
5. goal difference in matches between tied teams;
6. greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams;
7. drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

Group A

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group A

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Uruguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

11 June 2010
South Africa	Match 1	Mexico	Soccer City, Johannesburg
Uruguay	Match 2	France	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
16 June 2010
South Africa	Match 17	Uruguay	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
17 June 2010
France	Match 20	Mexico	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
22 June 2010
Mexico	Match 33	Uruguay	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
France	Match 34	South Africa	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

Group B

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group B

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Argentina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nigeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Korea Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

12 June 2010
Korea Republic	Match 3	Greece	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Argentina	Match 4	Nigeria	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
17 June 2010
Argentina	Match 18	Korea Republic	Soccer City, Johannesburg
Greece	Match 19	Nigeria	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
22 June 2010
Nigeria	Match 35	Korea Republic	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Greece	Match 36	Argentina	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane

Group C

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group C

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Algeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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
Korea DPR	Match 45	Côte d'Ivoire	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Portugal	Match 46	Brazil	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

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

Knockout stage

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

At the knockout stage (including the final), if a match is level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time of two periods (15 minutes each) will be played. If the score is still level after extra time, the match will be decided on penalty kicks.^[30]

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

26 June – Port Elizabeth

Winners of Group A

2 July – Johannesburg

Runners-up of Group B

Winners of Match 49

26 June – Rustenburg

Winners of Match 50

Winners of Group C

6 July – Cape Town

Runners-up of Group D

Winners of Match 58

28 June – Durban

Winners of Match 57

Winners of Group E

2 July – Port Elizabeth

Runners-up of Group F

Winners of Match 53

28 June – Johannesburg

Winners of Match 54

Winners of Group G

11 July – Johannesburg

Runners-up of Group H

Winners of Match 61

27 June – Johannesburg

Winners of Match 62

Winners of Group B

3 July – Cape Town

Runners-up of Group A

Winners of Match 52

27 June – Bloemfontein

Winners of Match 51

Winners of Group D

7 July – Durban

Runners-up of Group C

Winners of Match 59

29 June – Pretoria

Winners of Match 60

Third place

Winners of Group F

3 July – Johannesburg

10 July – Port Elizabeth

Runners-up of Group E

Winners of Match 55

Losers of Match 61

29 June – Cape Town

Winners of Match 56

Losers of Match 62

Winners of Group H

Runners-up of Group G

Round of 16

26 June 2010 16:00	Winners of Group A	Match 49	Runners-up of Group B	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

---

26 June 2010 20:30	Winners of Group C	Match 50	Runners-up of Group D	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

---

27 June 2010 16:00	Winners of Group D	Match 51	Runners-up of Group C	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

---

27 June 2010 20:30	Winners of Group B	Match 52	Runners-up of Group A	Soccer City, Johannesburg

---

28 June 2010 16:00	Winners of Group E	Match 53	Runners-up of Group F	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

---

28 June 2010 20:30	Winners of Group G	Match 54	Runners-up of Group H	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

---

29 June 2010 16:00	Winners of Group F	Match 55	Runners-up of Group E	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria

---

29 June 2010 20:30	Winners of Group H	Match 56	Runners-up of Group G	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

Quarter-finals

2 July 2010 16:00	Winners of Match 53	Match 57	Winners of Match 54	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

---

2 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 49	Match 58	Winners of Match 50	Soccer City, Johannesburg

---

3 July 2010 16:00	Winners of Match 52	Match 59	Winners of Match 51	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

---

3 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 55	Match 60	Winners of Match 56	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

Semi-finals

6 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 58	Match 61	Winners of Match 57	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

---

7 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 59	Match 62	Winners of Match 60	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

Third place play-off

10 July 2010 20:30	Losers of Match 61	Match 63	Losers of Match 62	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Final

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Final

11 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 61	Match 64	Winners of Match 62	Soccer City, Johannesburg

Prize money and club payments

The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million, a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament.^[31] Before the tournament, each participating team would receive $1 million, for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage would receive $8 million. Thereafter, the prize money would be distributed as follows:^[31]

• $9 million - Round of 16
• $18 million - Quarter-finals
• $20 million - Semi-finals
• $24 million - Runners up
• $30 million - Winners

In a first for the World Cup, there would also be payments made by FIFA to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament. This would see a total of €26 million being paid to domestic clubs, amounting to just over €1,000 per player per day. ^[32]

This was the result of an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 and drop their claims for compensation dating back to 2005 over the financial cost of injuries sustained to their players while on international duty, such as that from Belgian club Charleroi S.C. for injury to Morroco's Abdelmajid Oulmers in a friendly game in 2004, and from English club Newcastle United for an injury to England's Michael Owen in the 2006 World Cup.^[33][34][35]

Mascot

Zakumi, the mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi (born 16 June 1994 (1994-06-16) (age 15)), an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair. His name comes from "ZA", the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages.^[36] The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.

Zakumi's birthdate coincides with a day known and celebrated as Youth Day in South Africa and their second group match. The year 1994 marks the first non-racial nationwide elections in South Africa. He will turn 16 in 2010.^[37]

The Zakumi's official motto is: "Zakumi's game is Fair Play." The motto was seen in the digital advertisement boards during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and it will also appear at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[37]

Match ball

Main article: Adidas Jabulani

Jabulani, the official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be named the "Jabulani", made by Adidas, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in isiZulu. The number eleven plays a prominent role in the new technologically advanced ball: it is the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it features eleven colours, one for each player on the pitch; and there are eleven official languages of South Africa. Also, the event will start on the eleventh day of June and end on the eleventh day of July.^[38]

There have already been critics of the ball. FC Barcelona's goalkeeper, Víctor Valdés, said: "I'm scared about the ball, it's unpredictable".^[39]

Controversies

Evictions

As with many 'hallmark events' throughout the world,^[45] the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been connected to evictions^[46][47][48] which many claim are meant to 'beautify the city', impress visiting tourists, and hide shackdwellers. On 14 May 2009, Durban-based shack-dwellers took the KwaZulu-Natal government to court over their controversial Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, meant to eliminate slums in South Africa and put homeless shackdwellers in transit camps in time for the 2010 World Cup.^[49][50] They have gained a lot of publicity for their efforts even in the international media.^[51][52][53]

Another prominent controversy surrounding preparations for the World Cup is the N2 Gateway housing project in Cape Town, which plans to remove over 20,000 residents from Joe Slovo Informal Settlement along the busy N2 Freeway and build rental flats and bond houses in its place in time for the 2010 World Cup.^[54] The residents would be moved to the poverty stricken Delft township on the outskirts of the city and out of sight from the N2 Freeway.^[55][56][57] There has been particular concern about forced removals to the Blikkiesdorp camp in Delft and that, in Durban, children are being forcibly removed from the city centre.^[58]

In July 2009, South Africa was hit with rolling protests by poor communities who demanded access to basic services, jobs, adequate housing and the democratisation of service delivery. These protests have been linked to the World Cup as protesters complain that public funds are being diverted away from social issues to build stadiums and upgrade airports.^{[59] [60]} Fears have been expressed that the growing protests by shack dwellers could result in the tournament being disrupted.^[61][62] Some grassroots social movements have called for a boycott of the event.^[63]

Human rights

In April 2010, the Swiss Labour Assistance SLA launched a petition to FIFA's President Joseph Blatter.^[64] The petition asks FIFA to actively engage against exploitation and against the violation of human rights in the context of FIFA World Cups. The petition will be handed over in June 2010.

Blikkiesdorp

See also: Blikkiesdorp

Blikkiesdorp has become well-known for its high crime rate, its substandard living conditions, and its extremely hot or cold, windy and sandy living environment.^{[65][66] [67][68]} NGOs, international human rights organisations, and the Anti-Eviction Campaign have publicly criticised the conditions in Blikkiesdorp and how they say it is used to reinforce the eviction of poor families especially to make way for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[69][70][71] Residents have also threatened to burn down Blikkiesdorp before the World Cup begins because of the bad conditions in the settlement.^[72]

Crime and security

Tournament organiser Danny Jordaan dismissed concerns that the terrorist attack on the Togo national team which took place in Angola in January 2010, had any relevance to the security arrangements for the World Cup.^[73]

South Africa and others have expressed concerns that the World Cup will stimulate and be a boon to the illicit sex trade.^[74][75]

Non-FIFA events

In November 2009 it was reported that a rugby Test match between the Springboks and France scheduled to take place in Cape Town on the 12th June 2010 would be moved to Europe due to FIFA regulations banning other sport events in host cities during the time of the World Cup.^[76] After negotiations between the South African Rugby Union and members of the local organising committee, it was announced that the Test will be allowed to take place in Cape Town on the originally scheduled date because no World Cup match is to be played in Cape Town on that day, and the Test will be played at Newlands, which is not a World Cup venue.^[77][78]

FIFA Trademarks

Kulula.com were ordered by FIFA it to withdraw an advertisement that it claimed infringed on their trademarks.^[79] The advert, titled "The unofficial carrier of the you-know-what", features soccer balls, vuvuzelas and the National Flag of South Africa which FIFA claims when used in conjunction with each other constitutes a infringement of its trademarks.^[80] Kulula.com disputed FIFA's claim,^[79] but later announced that they would withdraw the specific advert whilst continuing with the advertisement campaign.^[81]

Filming

Sony technology will be used to film the games. According to FIFA up to 25 of the games will be captured using 3D cameras.^[82] Footage will be captured in 3D through Sony's proprietary multi-image MPE-200 processors, which will be housed in the specially designed 3D outside broadcast trucks.^[83] It will be supplying its flagship HDC-1500 cameras as well as its new HDC-P1 unit, a compact, point-of-view (POV)-type camera with a 2/3-inch lens. The 3D games will be produced for FIFA by Host Broadcast Services.^[84]

In video games

In PlayStation Home, Sony has released a virtual space based on the FIFA 2010 World Cup in the Japanese version of Home on December 3, 2009. This virtual space is called the "FevaArena Lounge" and features an area for events, and area for presentations, a shop, a cafe-like area on the second floor and a quiz of FIFA.^[85]

On 26 January 2010, EA Sports announced that they were making the official 2010 World Cup video game.

References

1. ^ "Host nation of 2010 FIFA World Cup - South Africa". FIFA. 15 May 2004. http://www.fifa.com/en/media/index/0,1369,101476,00.html. Retrieved 8 January 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b} Luke Harding (12 June 2006). "Doubt over South Africa 2010". London: The Guardian. http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1818166,00.html. Retrieved 29 August 2006.
3. ^ Jermaine Craig (3 July 2006). "Fifa denies SA may lose 2010 World Cup". The Star. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=19&art_id=vn20060703014312923C258638&set_id=. Retrieved 30 August 2006.
4. ^ "Beckenbauer issues 2010 warning". BBC Sport. 20 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/5362504.stm. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
5. ^ Sean Yoong (8 May 2007). "FIFA says South Africa 'definitely' will host 2010 World Cup". Associated Press. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=Ah.1PkVLAGTpuoi3rG.VSMgmw7YF?slug=ap-fifa-wcup2010&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved 15 May 2007.
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