2010 FIFA World Cup

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"2010 World Cup" redirects here. For other competitions with the name "2010 World Cup", see 2010 World
Cup (disambiguation).
2010 FIFA World Cup
South Africa 2010

2010 FIFA World Cup official logo

Tournament details
Host country  South Africa
Dates 11 June – 11 July
Teams 32 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s) 10 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  Spain (1st title)
Runner-up  Netherlands
Third place  Germany
Fourth place  Uruguay
Tournament statistics
Matches played 64
Goals scored 145 (2.27 per match)
Attendance 3,178,856 (49,670 per match)
Top scorer(s)  Thomas Müller
 Wesley Sneijder
 David Villa
 Diego Forlán
(5 goals)
Best player  Diego Forlán
← 2006
2014 →
v • d • e
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's
national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding
process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations; in 2004, the international football
federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the
finals.
The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at
the Soccer City stadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for
participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the
tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams
in each group proceeding. These sixteen teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play
decided which teams would participate in the final match.
In the final match, Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands1–0 after extra
time, with Andrés Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a
European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, along with
2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up Francewere eliminated in the first round of the tournament.
Host selection
Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts#2010 FIFA World Cup

People watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a short-lived policy, abandoned in 2007,[1] to
rotate the event among football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World
Cup: Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and a joint bid from Libya and Tunisia.
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.
The winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004
in Zürich; in the first round of voting South Africa received 14 votes, Morocco received 10 votes and Egypt no
votes. South Africa, which had narrowly failed to win the right to host the 2006 event, was thus awarded the
right to host the tournament.[2]
During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved
to another country.[3][4] Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives,
expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's preparations.[3][5] 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.[6]
Qualification
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. As the host
nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament. As happened in the previous tournament, the
defending champions were not given an automatic berth, andItaly had to participate in qualification. With a pool
of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, the 2010 World Cup shares with
the 2008 Summer Olympics the record for most competing nations in a sporting event.
Some controversies took place during the qualifications. In the second leg of the play-off between France and
the Republic of Ireland, French captain Thierry Henry, unseen by the referee, handled the ball in the lead up to
a late goal, which enabled France to qualify ahead of Ireland, sparking widespread controversy and debate.
FIFA rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to replay the match,[7] and Ireland later
withdrew a request to be included as an unprecedented 33rd World Cup entrant.[8][9] As a result, FIFA
announced a review into the use of technology or extra officials at the highest level, but decided against the
widely expected fast-tracking of goal-line referee's assistants for the South African tournament.[10]
Costa Rica complained over Uruguay's winning goal in the CONMEBOL–CONCACAF playoff,[11] while Egypt
and Algeria's November 2009 matches were surrounded by reports of crowd trouble. 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.[12]
List of qualified teams
The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings,[13] qualified for the final tournament.
AFC (4) CONCACAF (3) UEFA (13)
  Australia (20)   Honduras (38)   Denmark (36)
  Japan (45)   Mexico (17)   England (8)
  Korea DPR (105)   United States (14)   France (9)
  Korea Republic (47) CONMEBOL (5)   Germany (6)
CAF (6)   Argentina (7)   Greece (13)
  Algeria (30)   Brazil (1)   Italy (5)
  Cameroon (19)   Chile (18)   Netherlands (4)
  Côte d'Ivoire (27)   Paraguay (31)   Portugal (3)
  Ghana (32)   Uruguay (16)   Serbia (15)
  Nigeria (21) OFC (1)   Slovakia (34)
  South Africa (83) (hosts)   New Zealand (78)   Slovenia (25)
  Spain (2)
  Switzerland (24)
Prize money
The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million (including payments
of $40m to domestic clubs), a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament.[25] Before the tournament, each of
the 32 entrants receive $1 million for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, the prize money would be
distributed as follows:[25]
 $8 million – To each team exiting after the group stage (16 teams)
 $9 million – To each team exiting after the round of 16 (8 teams)
 $14 million – To each team exiting after the quarter-finals (4 teams)
 $18 million – Fourth placed team
 $20 million – Third placed team
 $24 million – Runner up
 $30 million – Winner
In a first for the World Cup, FIFA made payments to the domestic clubs of the players representing their
national teams at the tournament. This saw a total of $40 million paid to domestic clubs. This was the result of
an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 group 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 Morocco'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.[26][27][28]
History
Main article: History of the FIFA World Cup
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.[citation needed] As football grew 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.[4]
After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations
outside 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.[5]
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.[citation needed]
With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised
the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophytournament 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,[6] 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. They were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules
of the competition.[citation needed]
In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs",
and took responsibility for managing the event.[7] 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.[8] Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928.

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.[9] 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, andYugoslavia 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
byFrance and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup
history was scored by Lucien Laurentof France.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12] 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.
Qualification
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
The host nation, Brazil qualifies automatically. As with the 2006 and 2010 finals, the defending champions
(Spain) will still need to qualify for the tournament.
[edit]Qualified teams
Curren
Consecutiv
Order of Method of Date of Finals Last t
Tea e Previous best
qualificatio qualificatio qualificatio appearanc appearanc FIFA
m World performance
n n n e e Rankin
Cups
g
Winner
  30 Oct
1st Host 20th 20 2010 (1958,1962, 1970,1994, 200 3
Brazil 2007
2)