2010 FIFA World Cup


Africa was selected as the hosts for the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament. This was done under a short lived rotation policy to rotate the FIFA World Cup among the football confederations which was abandoned in 2007. Five African nations, namely Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, and a joint bid from Libya and Tunisia, submitted their bids to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. FIFA decided not to let countries co-host the Wrodl Cup, which made Tunisia withdraw, and while Libya submitted a solo bid, it was not considered as they did not meet the requirements set by FIFA.


South Africa recieved the most votes and was declared as the host for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2015 it was revealed that FIFA committee members were actually bribed to promote South Africa’s 1998 and 2010 World Cup bids and that Morocco had actually won the 2010 FIFA World Cup bid. On 17th March 2006 it was announced that the FIFA World Cup would be played in 10 different stadiums across South Africa.


The FNB Stadium, the Cape Town Stadium, and the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium were the most used venues in the 2010 FIFA World Cup with each of the stadiums hosting 8 matches each.


JohannesburgCape TownDurban
FNB Stadium(Soccer City)Ellis Park StadiumCape Town Stadium(Green Point Stadium)Moses Mabhida Stadium(Durban Stadium)
26°14′5.27″S 27°58′56.47″E26°11′51.07″S 28°3′38.76″E33°54′12.46″S 18°24′40.15″E29°49′46″S 31°01′49″E
Capacity: 84,490Capacity: 55,686Capacity: 64,100Capacity: 62,760
Soccer City Stadium Exterior.jpgEllis Park Stadium.jpgCape town stadium aerial view 1.jpgMoses Mabhida Stadion durban aerial view 1.jpg
Pretoria2010 FIFA World Cup is located in South Africa
JohannesburgDurbanCape TownPretoriaPort ElizabethBloemfonteinPolokwaneRustenburgNelspruit
Loftus Versfeld Stadium
25°45′12″S 28°13′22″E
Capacity: 42,858
Loftus Versfeld Stadium.jpg
Port ElizabethStadiums in Johannesburg2010 FIFA World Cup is located in Greater JohannesburgSoccer CityEllis Park
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E
Capacity: 42,486
Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth (cropped).jpg
RustenburgPolokwaneNelspruitBloemfontein
25°34′43″S 27°09′39″E23°55′29″S 29°28′08″E25°27′42″S 30°55′47″E29°07′02.25″S 26°12′31.85″E
Royal Bafokeng StadiumPeter Mokaba StadiumMbombela StadiumFree State Stadium
Capacity: 42,000Capacity: 41,733Capacity: 40,929Capacity: 40,911
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Phokeng.jpgPeter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa (8714600990).jpgMbombela Stadium Aerial View.jpgFree State Stadium1.jpg


Who Was The 2010 World Cup Winner?


Spain became the champions of the world in 2010. They managed to beat Netherlands in the finals to lift the 2010 FIFA World Cup Trophy. Spain were drawn into Group H along with Chile, Switzerland, and Honduras. Everyone expected Spain to win their games comfortably but they were shocked in the first game itself. They got handed a 1-0 defeat by Switzerland. Spain however got right back on track after this loss, winning their next two games and finishing on top of their group owing to a better goal difference than Chile.


Spain had one narrow win after another in the knockout stages. They won 1-0 in each of the Round of 16, Quarter-final, Semi-finals, and final games. They won 1-0 against Portugal in the Round of 16 as David Villa scored in the 63’ to help Spain reach the Quarters. In the Quarter-finals, David Villa scored again, this time in the 83’ to help Spain beat Paraguay 1-0. Spain had the same scoreline but a different goal scorer in the Semi-finals. Carles Puyol scored for Spain this time, helping them book their place in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The finals scoreline was 0-0 after 90 minutes, sending the game into extra time. Netherlands were holding Spain off very well but in the 109’ John Heitinga received a red card. After this Spain hammered attack after attack on Netherlands before Andres Iniesta managed to find the breakthrough for Spain in the 116’, helping Spain win the 2010 FIFA World Cup.



Which Teams Were In The 2010 World Cup?

AFC (4)


Australia
Japan
North Korea
South Korea


CAF (6)


Algeria
Cameroon
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Nigeria
South Africa


CONCACAF (3)


Honduras
Mexico
United States


CONMEBOL (5)


Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Paraguay
Uruguay


OFC (1)


New Zealand


UEFA (10)


Denmark
England
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland


Who Was The Top Scorer In The 2010 World Cup?


Thomas Muller was the top scorer in the 2010 FIFA World Cup with 5 goals. David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Folan all scored 5 goals as well but as Thomas Muller has more assists than the other 3 players, he was declared as the winner of the 2010 Golden Boot award. Muller scored 1 goal in the group stages, 3 in the knockout stages and 1 in the third place playoff. He scored against Australia in the group stage. He then scored 2 goals against Engalnd in the Round of 16 and scored another goal against Argentina in the Quarter-finals. His 5th and final goal came in the 3rd place playoff match against Uruguay.



What Was The 2010 World Cup Trophy?


Spain was awarded the 2010 FIFA World Cup Trophy for winning the tournament. Since the discontinuation of the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1970, the same FIFA World Cup Trophy has been awarded to all the teams to have won the FIFA World Cup since 1974. This trophy thus was presented to Spain in 2010 and after the post match celebrations was taken back from them for the next FIFA World Cup winner.



What Was The Official 2010 World Cup Ball?


The official ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was called the Jabulani. A special variant of this ball was used for the final match. This was called the gold Jo'bulani. The Jabulani was an 8 panel ball manufactured by Adidas.This ball is remembered for the controversy it attracted due to its aerodynamics being unusually unpredictable.


Jabulani


Jo’bulani


What Was The 2010 World Cup Song?


The 2010 FIFA World Cup arguably had the best FIFA World Cup songs till date. Both of the songs became widely popular and could be heard during the build up to the World Cup and even long after it had ended. The songs were Wavin' Flag by K’Naan and Waka Waka by Shakira. Links to both these sings are given below.


K'NAAN - Wavin' Flag (Coca-Cola Celebration Mix)

Shakira - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Song)