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. Italy are the defending champions. The draw for the finals will take place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town.
In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup: Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, Tshwane/Pretoria (two venues), and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues which were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006:

Preparations:
Five new stadiums are to be built for the tournament (three new match venues and two new practice grounds), and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.
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. 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.
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.

Qualification:
As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament. However, South Africa did participate in World Cup qualifiers because the CAF qualifiers also serve 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.

This is the first World Cup with no debutant associations, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have only previously appeared as parts of former competing nations. In both cases FIFA considers these teams to have retained the earlier nations' records.
FIFA threatened Chile with disqualification from the World Cup on 26 November 2009. Domestic club Rangers attempted to get the Chilean courts to annul their relegation from the Primera División de Chile because they fielded an ineligible player. FIFA disapproves of government interference in football and ordered the Chilean Football Federation to resolve the dispute within 72 hours or face "appropriate sanctions", including suspension. The following day, Rangers dropped the case and accepted relegation, meaning Chile's place in the World Cup is likely to be safe. The FIFA Executive Committee will rule on the issue on 3 December 2009.

Mascot:

The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi, 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. The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.

2010 FIFA World Cup's venues

Venues:
In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup: Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, Tshwane/Pretoria (two venues), and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues which were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006:

Soccer City, sometimes referred to as the FNB Stadium, is a stadium located in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located next to the South African Football Association headquarters (SAFA House) where both the FIFA offices and the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is housed.
A football-specific stadium, the FNB Stadium currently has a capacity of 94,700, the largest in Africa. Most of the largest football events in South Africa are played at the FNB and the venue is better suited to these events than nearby Coca-Cola Park, where the final for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was held. Soweto and the National Exhibition Centre in Nasrec are nearby.

Matches:
June 11 - South Africa v Mexico; June 14 - Holland v Denmark; June 17 - Argentina v South Korea; June 20 - Brazil v Ivory Coast; June 23 - Ghana v Germany; June 27 - last 16 match; July 2 - quarter-final; July 11 - final.

The Moses Mabhida Stadium is a stadium under construction in Durban, South Africa, named after Moses Mabhida, a former General Secretary of the SACP. It is intended to be a world-class multi-use stadium.
It will be one of the host stadiums for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium has a planned capacity of 70,000 during the World Cup and 54,000 afterwards. The stadium is adjacent to the ABSA Stadium, in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct, and the Durban street circuit used for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
It includes an adjoining indoor arena, football museum, sports institute, and a transmodal transport station.

Matches:

June 13 - Germany v Australia; June 16 - Spain v Switzerland; June 19 - Holland v Japan; June 22 - Nigeria v South Korea; June 25 - Portugal v Brazil; June 28 - last 16; July 7 - semi-final.

The Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa is a stadium under construction for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During the planning stage it was referred to by some as the African Renaissance Stadium and was originally known before as Green Point Stadium.
The stadium is located in Green Point, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Cape Town city centre and to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a popular tourist and shopping venue. The stadium will have a capacity of 68,000. The stadium will be connected to the waterfront by a new road connection, Granger Bay Boulevard, and will be surrounded by a 60 hectare urban park.
In the World Cup, it will host five first round matches, one second round, one quarter-final and one semi-final.

Matches:

June 11 - Uruguay v France; June 14 - Italy v Paraguay; June 18 - England v Algeria; June 21 - Portugal v North Korea; June 24 - Cameroon v Holland; June 29 - last 16 match; July 3 - quarter-final; July 6 - semi-final.

Coca-Cola Park, formerly and better known as Ellis Park Stadium, is a rugby union and association football stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the Rugby World Cup final in 1995, which was won by the country's national team, the Springboks. The large stadium was the country's most modern when it was upgraded in 1982 to accommodate almost 60,000 people. Today, the stadium hosts both football and rugby, and is also used as a venue for other large events, such as open-air concerts. It has become synonymous with rugby as the only time when rugby was not played at Ellis Park was during 1980 and 1981 when the stadium was under construction during an upgrade.
The stadium was formerly named after Mr J.D. Ellis who made the area for the stadium available. Following a ZAR 450 million (USD 58 million/£30 million) naming rights deal with the Coca-Cola Company in 2008, the name of the stadium was changed to Coca-Cola Park.
League, provincial, and international games have all been played at the stadium, and it has seen such teams as Brazil, Manchester United and Arsenal play. Ellis Park Stadium is the centerpiece of a sporting sector in the south-east of Johannesburg, where it neighbours Johannesburg Stadium (athletics), Standard Bank Arena (tennis), and an Olympic-class swimming pool.
Matches:

June 12 - Argentina v Nigeria; June 15 - Brazil v North Korea; June 18 - Slovenia v USA; June 21 - Spain v Honduras; June 24 - Slovakia v Italy; June 28 - last 16 match; July 3 - quarter-final.

Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Pretoria, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,762 and is an all seater venue. Recently hosted the 2009 Currie Cup final.
Matches:

June 13 - Serbia v Ghana; June 16 - South Africa v Uruguay; June 19 - Cameroon v Denmark; June 23 - USA v Algeria; June 25 - Chile v Spain; June 29 - last 16 match.

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a 46,500 seat stadium (44,000 after the 2010 FIFA World Cup) in Port Elizabeth.
The five-tier, 1.1 billion Rand (approximately $150m USD) Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was built overlooking the North End Lake, at the heart of the city. It is one of three coastal stadiums built in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Matches:

June 12 - South Korea v Greece; June 15 - Ivory Coast v Portugal; June 18 - Germany v Serbia; June 21 - Chile v Switzerland; June 23 - Slovenia v England; June 26 - last 16 match; July 2 - quarter-final; July 10 - third-place play-off.

The Free State Stadium, also known as Vodacom Park, is a stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, used for rugby union, as well as football (soccer).
In advance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a second tier was added to the main grandstand on the western side of the ground, increasing the net capacity from 36,538 to 45,000. Additionally, new turnstiles were be erected, the floodlights upgraded, electronic scoreboards installed, the sound system revamped to the required standards, CCTV (Closed Circuit TV) and the media facilities improved.
Bloemfontein received R221 million to upgrade the stadium. Though cost estimates were at R245 million, the city decided to stand in for the R24m shortfall. Tenders were advertised in February & March 2007. Upgrade work started in July 2007.
Matches:

June 14 - Japan v Cameroon; June 17 - Greece v Nigeria; June 20 - Slovakia v Paraguay; June 22 - France v South Africa; June 25 - Switzerland v Honduras; June 27 - last 16 match.

The Peter Mokaba Stadium is a soccer stadium in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), South Africa, that will be used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. When completed in 2010 it will have a capacity of 46,000. It was named for Peter Mokaba, a former leader of the ANC Youth League. It is located 5 kilometers from the city centre and is located just east of the existing Pietersburg Stadium
The stadium is one of five new stadiums that will be built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Initial plans to upgrade the current Peter Mokaba Stadium were abandoned in favour of the estimated R1,100,000,000 (ZAR) (US $154,000,000) new Peter Mokaba stadium.

Matches:

June 13 - Algeria v Slovenia; June 17 - France v Mexico; June 22 - Greece v Argentina; June 24 - Paraguay v New Zealand.

Mbombela Stadium is a new 43,500-seat stadium currently under construction as one of the ten venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010. It will be located on open land six kilometers west of Nelspruit, South Africa, with the stadium as the centrepiece of a proposed sports precinct with athletics and cricket as well as other sporting codes. Construction commenced in February 2007 with a completion date of Oct 2009. The Construction contract has been awarded to a South African–French consortium. It is proposed that most of the seats will be covered by a cantilever roof. The signature feature of the stadium are the 18 roof supports that resemble giraffes. The stadium is close to the Kruger National Park so it is apt that the stadium reflect this inter-relation. Visitors to this World Cup venue will be able to couple this with a visit to the game reserve.
The Mbombela Local Municipality and the Mpumalanga Province has led the way for the Beautiful Game in SA making the world class Mbombela Stadium the envy of SA's sports-mad nation.
The R1,050-million sports facility set to be ready for use by late 2009 well ahead of the June 2010 World Cup kickoff and has been made possible through national government funding.
The multi-purpose stadium, which is expected to host key soccer and rugby matches, will also be equipped with conference facilities.
The Mpumalanga Premier, Thabang Makwetla, said that the Mbombela Stadium will become one of the finest sports and entertainment assets in the Mpumalanga Province.

Matches:

June 12 - South Korea v Greece; June 15 - Ivory Coast v Portugal; June 18 - Germany v Serbia; June 21 - Chile v Switzerland; June 23 - Slovenia v England; June 26 - last 16 match; July 2 - quarter-final; July 10 - third-place play-off.

The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace is a rugby union, football (soccer) and athletics stadium in Phokeng near Rustenburg, South Africa.
The capacity of the stadium was increased from 38,000 to 42,000 to be able to host four first and two second round matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
For 2010, the main west stand was substantially upgraded and enlarged and given a new cantilever roof at a cost of US$45million. Other improvements include the installation of new electronic scoreboards, new seats, and the upgrading of the floodlights and public address system.
The Stadium upgrade was completed in March 2009 for hosting 4 matches of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Matches:
June 12 - England v USA; June 15 - New Zealand v Slovakia; June 19 - Ghana v Australia; June 22 - Mexico v Uruguay; June 24 - Denmark v Japan; June 26 - last 16 match.

See more:

World Cup 2010 team guide & schedule: