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.[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
During 2006 and 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
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.
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This is the first World Cup that does not include any teams that are qualifying for the first time, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have previously appeared only as parts of former competing nations. Slovakia was previously part of Czechoslovakia, and Serbia has competed as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro. 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.
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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 spurred 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
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:
Preparations
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.
Construction strike
70,000 construction workers[19] 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. 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.[20][21][22]
Transport
Major road networks have been improved to cater for the expected influx of people coming to the country who will be travelling 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
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 were 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/Central America and Caribbean & Oceania) | Pot 3 (Africa & South America) | Pot 4 (Europe) |
|---|---|---|---|
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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]
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa |  Argentina |  England |  Germany |
 Mexico |  Nigeria |  United States |  Australia |
 Uruguay |  Korea Republic |  Algeria |  Serbia |
 France |  Greece |  Slovenia |  Ghana |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
|---|---|---|---|
 Netherlands |  Italy |  Brazil |  Spain |
 Denmark |  Paraguay |  Korea DPR |  Switzerland |
 Japan |  New Zealand |  Côte d'Ivoire |  Honduras |
 Cameroon |  Slovakia |  Portugal |  Chile |
Referees
FIFA selected the following referees to officiate at the World Cup:[27]
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
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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 (teams receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss)
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]
- greatest number of points in all group matches;
- goal difference in all group matches;
- greatest number of goals scored in all group matches;
- greatest number of points in matches between tied teams;
- goal difference in matches between tied teams;
- greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams;
- drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
Group A
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| 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
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Group C
|
| 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
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| 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
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Group F
|
| 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
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