FIFA World Cup™ 2010

Overview

World Cup 2010 Dates

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will start on June 11th and will end on July 11th.

World Cup Qualification Process

Currently, only the host team(s) automatically qualifies for the final tournament. Until 2002, the title holder also qualified, but as of the 2006 World Cup, the title holders must also qualify.

For the 2010 edition, the 31 qualified teams will include: 13 from Europe, 5 from Africa, 4 (or 5) from South America, 4 (or 5) from Asia, 3 (or 4) from North-Central America, 0 (or 1) from Oceania, depending on playoffs. South Africa are qualified as hosts. Each confederation, depending on the number of spots, decides the format:

UEFA (Europe): 8 groups of 6 teams and 1 group of 5. Winners are qualified, the eight best second-placed determine the other 4 spots with a home and away play-off.

CAF (Africa): A preliminary round to reduce teams to 48, followed by 12 groups of 4. 12 winners and 8 best runners-up will be divided into 5 groups of 4, the winners of these groups will qualify.

CONMEBOL (South America): 10 teams in a single group (round robin), teams from 1st to 4th position are qualified, the 5th placed will go to a two legged play-off with the 4th placed team from CONCACAF.

AFC (Asia): Two preliminary rounds will narrow the teams down from 42 to 20, which are then split into 5 groups of 4. Winners and runners-up will move on, and these 10 teams are then put into 2 groups of 5. The winner and runner-up of each group qualifies, with the two 3rd placed teams playing a playoff against each other. The winner of this game then goes into a playoff with the 1st placed OFC team.

CONCACAF (North & Central America / Caribbean): Two preliminary rounds to narrow the number of teams from 35 to 12. There are then 3 groups of 4. Winners and runners-up then go to the final group of six, where the top 3 teams qualify. The 4th placed team will enter into a playoff with the 5th placed team from CONMEBOL.

OFC (Oceania): The top 3 of the South Pacific Games (Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia) join New Zealand for the OFC Nations Cup. The winner of this will go to a play-off with the 5th placed from AFC.

Qualification Requirements

All FIFA federations are involved with World Cup qualification. Over 2 years, teams play qualification matches to determine who will be selected for the Group stages.

The winners and runners-up of each group will then qualify to the Round of 16. The placings in the groups are dependant on points. If two (or more) teams are tied on points, then their head-to-head record comes into play, failing which head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, overall goal difference, and overall goals scored come into play (in order of priority). If none of these factors manage to separate the teams, then a play-off will be held

In the last 16, each group winner will face a runner-up. In these knockout games, a tie after normal time will result in two halves of extra-time of 15 minutes each, and then a penalty shootout. In the shootout, each team gets 5 kicks. If neither team misses, then they enter into a sudden-death shootout, where the first team to miss loses.

Competition Format

Once the qualifications have finished, there will be a draw, and the 32 teams will be put in 4 pots, according to FIFA ranking, with the exception of the host team (always seeded in Pot 1, along with the 7 best teams). Groups are then created with each group featuring one team randomly selected from each pot. Also, the groups (and thus the venues) for the host team are usually not drawn, but chosen. The host team also usually plays their group matches in the capital city

World Cup Venues in South Africa

Rustenburg: Royal Bafokeng Stadium
Originally this was a rugby stadium. The current capacity is 38,000, but will be increased to 42,000 in time for the World Cup. The Royal Bakofeng Stadium will also have electronic boards and a new light system. This stadium has been host to many South African Premier Soccer League games, despite Rustenburg not having a PSL team.

Polokwane: Peter Mokaba Stadium
The stadium is one of five new stadiums that is being built for the World Cup 2010. It will host 4 matches. The initial plan was to upgrade the old city stadium, but then the government and FIFA decided to build a new one. Peter Mokaba Stadium will be 5km away from the city’s downtown. The stadium was named after Peter Mokaba, a political activist during apartheid.

Nelspruit: Mbombela Stadium
The Mbombela Stadium is a new 46,000 seat stadium and is currently under construction as one of the ten venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010. It will be a multi-purpose stadium, and is expected to host soccer and rugby matches. Mbombela is siSwati and means 'many people together in a small space'. The stadium will be seven kilometres from the city centre and close to game parks, giving spectators the opportunity of seeing wildlife during the tournament.

Bloemfontein: Free State Stadium
Free State stadium hosted group and quarter-final matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and the Rugby World Cup in 1995. It is also the home of Premier Soccer League team, Bloemfontein Celtics. The stadium is being upgraded, and once completed it will have a seating capacity of 48,000. Free State stadium will be one of the venues for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be high-tech and modern. It will host the first and second round matches of the 2010 World Cup. The city didn’t have a football-specific stadium, and all international matches player here were at the Eastern Province rugby team's ground. The locals here are exceptionally passionate about football, despite now having a PSL team (or perhaps because of that). This stadium will also host matches for the 2009 Confederations Cup, and will be the only new stadium included as a venue for that competition.

Johannesburg Stadium: Soccer City
This venue is also known as the First National Bank Stadium (FNB Stadium or Soccer City). The stadium has the third largest capacity in Africa. The stadium is being renovated for World Cup 2010 with a new design inspired by traditional African pottery. The stadium will hold the opening match, four more first-round matches, one second-round match, one quarter-final and the final.

Ellis Park Stadium
Ellis Park stadium is the home of Orlando Pirates FC, a club in the Premier Soccer League. In 1995, they were the first South African team to win the CAF African Club Championship. It was constructed in 1928, and until the late 80s it was just for rugby. Then professional clubs began to play there. Teams like Brazil, Arsenal and Manchester United have all played friendlies here.

Cape Town: Green Point Stadium
This is a new stadium for the World Cup 2010. It is located at Green Point, at the juncture between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. The stadium will be used by South African giants Ajax Cape Town. Ajax Cape Town is a feeder club for European and Dutch giants, Ajax Amsterdam. In the World Cup, it will host five first round matches, one second round match, one quarterfinal and one semi-final.

Durban: Moses Mabhida Stadium
The new stadium will be part of Durban's King Park sporting precinct. The sporting precinct will also include a variety of different sporting disciplines. When completed it will play host to the Confederations Cup in 2009. It will be have a seating capacity of 70,000, and the design of the stadium will be characterized by two large archways above the stadium roof.

Pretoria: Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Through the years the stadium has undergone various name changes as sponsors came and went, but locals have always referred as Loftus Versfeld. Minimal upgrading will be required for the World Cup, where it will host first and second round matches. It is also a venue for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. This was the site of South Africa’s historic 1-0 win over Sweden, the first time they had achieved victory over an European team.

Ticket Availability

OleOle will have ticket and travel package available for the 2010 World Cup.

Official Sponsors

The World Cup 2010 will be the most profitable ever for FIFA. The contracts FIFA has signed for 2010 are higher than the contracts for 2006 in Germany by about 25%.

Agreements with five strategic partners for 2010 are valued at more than 750 million Euros. This dwarfs the 500 million Euros revenue brought in for the 2006 World Cup.

Companies will pay $125m USD to be one of the six official worldwide sponsors for the 2010 World Cup. In addition there will also be eight World Cup sponsors and four to six national sponsors. Entry level sponsorship is reported to be about $40 million USD.

Important Links

References