| The much awaited and anticipated sporting event of | | | | - Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile |
| the year, the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament | | | | Teams within each group will play each other. Two |
| finally kicked off on June 11, 2010 at the Soccer City | | | | teams from reach group, with the highest points, will |
| stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. | | | | proceed to group of 16 who will have to compete with |
| The FIFA world cup tournament is held once every 4 | | | | the each other to proceed to the quarters, semis and |
| years and it's a long bidding and qualifying process, for | | | | finals. |
| the participating countries and the respective teams. | | | | The soccer matches will be held across various cities |
| Italy won the last world cup championship which was | | | | in South Africa and 10 specific venues were chosen. |
| held in Germany. | | | | Below is a list of all the stadiums and the cities: |
| FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) | | | | 1. Green Point Stadium, Cape Town |
| is responsible for the organization and governance of | | | | 2. Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban |
| football's major international tournaments, most notably | | | | 3. Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg |
| the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930. FIFA also has | | | | 4. Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg |
| recognized 6 other confederations to help oversee | | | | 5. Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein |
| various regions across the world. | | | | 6. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth |
| A total of 32 teams qualified to take part in the final | | | | 7. Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit |
| 2010 World Cup tournament from various continents | | | | 8. Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane |
| and regions as mentioned in the above section (About | | | | 9. Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg |
| FIFA). The qualification process began in August 2007 | | | | 10. Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria |
| with 204 national teams participating from around the | | | | Zakumi, is the official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World |
| world. | | | | Cup, an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair. His |
| The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was | | | | name comes from "ZA", the international abbreviation |
| held in Durban, South Africa in November 2009. | | | | for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" |
| Qualified teams are placed in 8 groups as shown | | | | in various African languages. |
| below: | | | | Jabulani is name of the soccer match ball for the 2010 |
| - Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France | | | | FIFA World Cup, made by Adidas, which means |
| - Group B: Korea Republic, Argentina, Nigeria, Greece | | | | "bringing joy to everyone" in isiZulu. The 11 different |
| - Group C: USA, England, Slovenia, Algeria | | | | colors on the ball represent the 11 official languages of |
| - Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana | | | | South Africa, the 11 diverse South African communities |
| - Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon | | | | that exist throughout the country, and the 11 players on |
| - Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia | | | | the pitch. |
| - Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Cote d'Ivoire, Portugal | | | | |