2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the nineteenth FIFA World Cup, the official badge of men's national football teams organisation. It was held in South Africa from 11 June till 11 July 2010. The bid procedure to stage the tournament's finals was open only to African countries. In 2004, South Africa was selected as the first African country to host the final by international football body FIFA over Egypt and Morocco. The matches were held at 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the world, with the opener and finale being held at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. Thirty-two teams have been selected for inclusion through a global qualifying competition that started in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams advancing from each division. Such 16 teams advanced into the qualification round, where the teams will compete for three rounds of play determined in the final. Spain, the European champions, defeated 3rd-time Dutch finalists 1–0 in the final after extra time to claim their first world title. Spain was the eighth to lift the trophy, and the first European nation to win a World Cup outside its own continent: the five previous World Cups in Africa were won by South American countries. They are now the first national team to win a World Cup since 1978, despite having missed a game in the group stage. As a product of their success Spain led the world at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. The host nation South Africa and both the 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France have been relegated in the tournament's first round. This was the first time the hosts had been defeated in the first round. With their three draws, New Zealand became the only unbeaten team in the competition but they were also eliminated in the first round. On 28 May 2015, media coverage of the 2015 FIFA corruption trial reported that South African bid committee senior officials had won the right to host the World Cup by paying $10 million in payments to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and other FIFA Executive Committee leaders. The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held at Durban on 25 November 2007. As host nation South Africa qualified directly for the tournament. As was the case for the previous tournament, the defending champions were not awarded automatic berth and Italy had to participate in the qualifying. Like the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 World Cup held the record in a single event for most competing nations in a field of entries that at the time included 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. The tournament planned five new stadiums, and five of the former facilities were upgraded. They should have cost R8.4bn to build. South Africa has set up fast transit infrastructure within host cities, including the Johannesburg Gautrain and other metro systems, and strengthened regional road networks. In March 2009, Danny Jordaan, the president of the organising committee for the 2010 World Cup, declared that all stadiums for the tournament are scheduled to finish within six months. The overall prize money on offer to the event was also revealed by FIFA as US$ 420 million, an rise of 60 per cent from the 2006 edition. Each of the 32 entries had earned US$ 1 million in pre-tournament preparation expenditures. Many locations 'height affected ball and player performance travel but FIFA's medical officer downplayed the aspect. Of the ten stadiums, seven were over 1200 metres above sea level, with the two Johannesburg stadiums, FNB Stadium and Ellis Park Stadium, the largest at 1750 metres above sea level. 32 National teams live and practise in base camps before and after World Cup. In February 2010 FIFA revealed benchmark camps for each team that took part in the trial.