2010 FIFA World Cup

Is the 19th cup, the premier international association football tournament, being held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July. It is the first time the finals of the tournament have been staged in an African host nation. South Africa were selected as hosts in May 2004 over Morocco and Egypt, following a bidding process open only to African nations.

The World Cup finals tournament in South Africa sees 736 players representing 32 qualifying teams compete in games held in ten stadiums across the country for the World Cup Trophy. The 32 qualifying teams were selected from a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams, selected for the finals in a qualification process that began in August 2007. With 204 initial entrants, it equals the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

Controversial aspects of the tournament have included the use of the Vuvuzela horn and the Adidas Jabulani ball. The Vuvuzela, favoured by South African football fans who see it as a unique part of their football culture, has been criticised by many other travelling fans who were otherwise not accustomed to it's loudness or unhappy at its effect on traditional singing or match commentary. The specially designed Jabulani ball has been criticised by a number of players for being unpredicatable, but defended by FIFA and Addidas as the most technically advanced World Cup ball yet, who attributed criticism to lack of practice or altitude of some venues.

List of qualified teams

The following 32 teams qualified for the final tournament.

AFC (4)

* Australia
* Japan
* Korea DPR
* Korea Republic

CAF (6)

* Algeria
* Cameroon
* Côte d'Ivoire
* Ghana
* Nigeria
* South Africa (hosts)



CONCACAF (3)

* Honduras
* Mexico
* United States

CONMEBOL (5)

* Argentina
* Brazil
* Chile
* Paraguay
* Uruguay

OFC (1)

* New Zealand



UEFA (13)

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

Group A
uruguay
mexico
south africa
france

Group B
Argentina
Korea Republic
Greece
Nigeria

Group C
USA
England
Slovenia
Algeria

Group D
Germany
Ghana
Australia
Serbia

Group E
Netherlands
Japan
Denmark
Cameroon

Group F
Paraguay
Slovakia
New Zealand
Italy

Group G
Brazil
Portugal
Côte d'Ivoire
Korea DPR

Group H
CHILE
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras