FiFa World Cup 2010 | South Africa

Official Logo

2009-10-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Matches

2009-10-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Final draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged in Cape Town, South Africa, on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.^[2]

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

In world football, there are various methods used to separate teams with equal points in a league. For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following system.^[33]

The ranking in each group is determined as follows:

greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;

goal difference in all group matches;

greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:

greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;

goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;

greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;

drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee or play-off depending on time schedule.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


11 June 2010
South Africa	v	A2	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg
A3	v	A4	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
16 June 2010
South Africa	v	A3	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
17 June 2010
A4	v	A2	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
22 June 2010
A2	v	A3	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
A4	v	South Africa	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
B1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
B2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
B3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
B4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


12 June 2010
B1	v	B2	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
B3	v	B4	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
17 June 2010
B1	v	B3	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg
B4	v	B2	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
22 June 2010
B4	v	B1	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
B2	v	B3	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
C1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
C2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
C3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
C4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


12 June 2010
C1	v	C2	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
13 June 2010
C3	v	C4	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
18 June 2010
C1	v	C3	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
C4	v	C2	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
23 June 2010
C2	v	C3	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
C4	v	C1	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
D1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


13 June 2010
D1	v	D2	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
D3	v	D4	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
18 June 2010
D1	v	D3	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
19 June 2010
D4	v	D2	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
23 June 2010
D2	v	D3	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
D4	v	D1	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
E1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
E2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
E3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
E4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


14 June 2010
E1	v	E2	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg
E3	v	E4	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
19 June 2010
E1	v	E3	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
E4	v	E2	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
24 June 2010
E2	v	E3	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
E4	v	E1	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
F1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
F2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
F3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
F4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


14 June 2010
F1	v	F2	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
15 June 2010
F3	v	F4	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
20 June 2010
F1	v	F3	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
F4	v	F2	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
24 June 2010
F2	v	F3	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
F4	v	F1	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg

Group G

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
G1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


15 June 2010
G1	v	G2	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
G3	v	G4	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
20 June 2010
G1	v	G3	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg
21 June 2010
G4	v	G2	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
25 June 2010
G2	v	G3	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
G4	v	G1	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

Group H

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
H1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0


16 June 2010
H1	v	H2	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
H3	v	H4	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
21 June 2010
H1	v	H3	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
H4	v	H2	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
25 June 2010
H2	v	H3	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
H4	v	H1	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

26 June – Port Elizabeth

Winners of Group A

2 July – Port Elizabeth

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 – Johannesburg

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
				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
				Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

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

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

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

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

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

29 June 2010 20:30	Winners of Group H	Match 56	Runners-up of Group G	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
				Green Point 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
				Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

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

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

3 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 55	Match 60	Winners of Match 56	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
				Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg

Semi-finals

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

7 July 2010 20:30	Winners of Match 59	Match 62	Winners of Match 60	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
				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
				Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Final

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

Controversies

2009-10-25T12:05:00.001-07:00

As with many 'hallmark events' throughout the world,^[23] the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been connected to evictions in South Africa^[24] 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.^[25]^[26] They have gained a lot of publicity for their efforts even in the international media.^[27]

The most 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.^[28] 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.^[29]^[30]^[31]

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.^[32]

Relocation rumours

2009-10-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

During 2006 to 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country.^[14]^[15] 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.^[14]^[16] However, FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, and stated that the event will not be moved, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter re-iterating that "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa".^[17]^[18] Blatter stated that there is a contingency plan to hold the World Cup elsewhere but only in the event of a natural catastrophe, and that the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany also had a similar contingency plan.^[18]^[19]^[20]

Despite reassurances by FIFA that the event would only be moved in the case of natural catastrophe, rumours continued to circulate about possible relocation of the event.^[21] These rumours were criticised by South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, saying that some have targeted the event to reflect their persistent negativity towards South Africa and Africa.^[22]

Preparations

2009-10-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Construction strike

70,000 construction workers^[10] who were supposed to be working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs on 8 July 2009. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or $313), but the unions allege that some workers are grossly underpaid – some receiving as little as R40 (£3.11) a week. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike will go on until FIFA assesses penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The World Cup organising committee downplayed the strike and expressed confidence that the stadiums will be ready

Venues

2009-10-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

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^[5] which were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006:

Johannesburg	Durban	Cape Town	Johannesburg	Tshwane/Pretoria
Soccer City	Moses Mabhida Stadium	Green Point Stadium	Coca-Cola Park	Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Capacity: 94,700	Capacity: 70,000	Capacity: 69,070	Capacity: 62,567	Capacity: 51,760

Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Polokwane	Nelspruit	Rustenburg
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	Free State Stadium	Peter Mokaba Stadium	Mbombela Stadium	Royal Bafokeng Stadium
Capacity: 48,000	Capacity: 48,070	Capacity: 46,000	Capacity: 44,000	Capacity: 42,000

Mascot

2009-10-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi, a 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.^[4] The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.

Qualification

2009-10-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup 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. Like the previous tournament, the defending champions Italy do not qualify automatically.

The preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007. The Final draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged in Cape Town, South Africa, on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.^[2]

List of qualified teams

The following 23 teams have qualified as of 14 October 2009.

Team	Qualified as	Qualification date	Appearance in finals	Consecutive Streak	Previous best performance	Current¹ FIFA Ranking ^[3]
South Africa	Host	0015 May 2004	03 3rd	012002 1 (first since 2002)	15 Group Stage (1998, 2002)	85
Japan	AFC Fourth Round Group A Runners-Up	016 June 2009	04 4th	042006 4	14 Round of 16 (2002)	40
Australia	AFC Fourth Round Group A Winners	026 June 2009	03 3rd	022006 2	14 Round of 16 (2006)	24
Korea Republic	AFC Fourth Round Group B Winners	036 June 2009	08 8th	072006 7	09 Fourth Place (2002)	48
Netherlands	UEFA Group 9 Winners	046 June 2009	09 9th	022006 2	06 Runners-Up (1974, 1978)	3
Korea DPR	AFC Fourth Round Group B Runners-Up	0517 June 2009	02 2nd	011966 1 (first since 1966)	12 Quarter-finals (1966)	91
Brazil	CONMEBOL Winners	065 September 2009	19 19th	192006 19	01 Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)	1
Ghana	CAF Third Round Group D Winners	076 September 2009	02 2nd	022006 2	14 Round of 16 (2006)	38
England	UEFA Group 6 Winners	089 September 2009	13 13th	042006 4	05 Winners (1966)	7
Spain	UEFA Group 5 Winners	099 September 2009	13 13th	092006 9	09 Fourth Place (1950)	2
Paraguay	CONMEBOL Third Place	109 September 2009	08 8th	042006 4	13 Round of 16 (1986, 1998, 2002)	21
Côte d'Ivoire	CAF Third Round Group E Winners	1110 October 2009	02 2nd	022006 2	16 Group Stage (2006)	19
Germany	UEFA Group 4 Winners	1210 October 2009	17 17th²	152006 15	03 Winners (1954, 1974, 1990)	5
Denmark	UEFA Group 1 Winners	1310 October 2009	04 4th	012002 1 (first since 2002)	12 Quarter-finals (1998)	27
Serbia	UEFA Group 7 Winners	1410 October 2009	11 11th³	022006 2	08 Fourth Place (1930⁵, 1962)	20
Italy	UEFA Group 8 Winners	1510 October 2009	17 17th	132006 13	02 Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)	4
Chile	CONMEBOL Runner-Up	1610 October 2009	08 8th	011998 1 (first since 1998)	07 Third Place (1962)	17
Mexico	CONCACAF Fourth Round Runners-Up	1710 October 2009	14 14th	052006 5	11 Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)	18
United States	CONCACAF Fourth Round Winners	1810 October 2009	09 9th	061990 6	07 Third Place (1930⁵)	11
Switzerland	UEFA Group 2 Winners	1914 October 2009	09 9th	022006 2	10 Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)	13
Slovakia	UEFA Group 3 Winners	2014 October 2009	09 9th⁴	011990 1 (first since 1990)	06 Runners-Up (1934, 1962)	33
Argentina	CONMEBOL Fourth Place	2114 October 2009	15 15th	101974 10	04 Winners (1978, 1986)	6
Honduras	CONCACAF Fourth Round Third Place	2214 October 2009	02 2nd	011982 1 (first since 1982)	16 Group Stage (1982)	35

1.^ Standings are current as of 16 October 2009.

2.^ Competed as West Germany from 1954 to 1990; 6th appearance as Germany.

3.^ Competed as Yugoslavia from 1930 to 1998 and Serbia and Montenegro for 2006; 1st appearance as Serbia.

4.^ Competed as Czechoslovakia from 1934 to 1990; 1st appearance as Slovakia.

5.^ No official third place match took place in 1930 and no official third place was awarded at the time; both United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. However, FIFA lists the teams as third and fourth respectively. 1930 FIFA World Cup Uruguay ™

Host selection

2009-10-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts

Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a new policy to rotate the event between 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

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

Latest Photos

2009-10-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Previous Worldcups

2009-10-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Select Any Country

Official match schedule

2009-10-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

With anticipation growing ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, the official Match Schedule has been released. To find out where the games will be played in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Rustenburg, Tshwane/Pretoria between 11 June and 11 July 2010.