Road to the 2010 World Cup

South Africa 2010 World Cup Chief Executive Danny Jordaan has promised a highly successful FIFA World Cup in when South Africa hosts Africa’s first ever World Cup.Since South Africa won the historic bid to host the World Cup, there have been various criticism aimed at the continents alleged inability to stage the competition.

But Jordaan, who led South Africa’s successful bid has poured cold water on the concerns, assuring that the tournament would be the most successful World Cup ever organized.Speaking at a press conference in Accra during his visit for the Ghana 2008 draw, the 2010 World Cup chief said South Africa was aiming to make the World Cup highly successful both on and off the pitch.

“There have been doubts that Africa cannot organize a successful World Cup but I want to assure that we are capable of organizing a highly successful World Cup and we will deliver,” Jordaan said.

He revealed that the tournament had already achieved commercial success as its commercial revenue had exceeded the previous World Cup hosted by Germany, making it the highest ever in the history of the World Cup“We want to organize a successful tournament both on and off the pitch and we are working very hard to achieve this target.”Jordaan added that it was also the vision of South Africa 2010 World Cup to use the tournament to erode the notion that Africa is a hopeless continent.

“We want to use the World Cup to change the perception of Africa as a hopeless continent. This is very important because the World Cup is an African World Cup.”

Abedi: African teams must excel at 2010 World Cup

Ghana legend Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew says it is extremely important for African countries who will take part in the first ever World Cup on the continent to excel and even go on to win the trophy to continue the tradition of host continents hosting and winning.Abedi, who is also an ambassador for the South Africa 2010 World Cup, said the World Cup in South Africa should be the time for Africa football to make a stronger impression on world football.“The history of the World Cup shows that only twice have continents hosting the World Cup failed to win and this is an important history Africa should continue.

Fifa World Cup 2010

South Africawill be the host for the 2010 World Cup, which will be staged in a variety of South African cities including Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban, and Bloemfontein. The tournament will begin on June 11, 2010 and conclude exactly one month later on July 11. Johannesburg, the country's largest city, will host the championship match in Soccer City Stadium, which is currently undergoing renovations to be new and improved in time for the World Cup.

Although the big event is still 18 months away, a long and grueling qualification process has already begun. South Africa automatically qualifies for the field of 32 teams, but the 31 other spots are still up for grabs. Qualifying matches began in August of 2007 and will finish in November of 2009. The draw ceremony to place the 32 finalists in groups will be held in December of 2009.

At the moment, various qualifying tournaments are taking place around the world. World Cup hopefuls are vying for 13 spots among European nations, five spots for African teams (in addition to South Africa), four or five for South America, three or four for North America, Central America, and Caribbean, and either no spots or one for Oceania.

In Asia, Australia and the Korea Republic are currently leading the way in their respective qualification groups. In Europe, Denmark, Greece, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy, and the Netherlands are atop the groups. Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile are currently looking good in South America. Qualifying matches in Africa and the North /Central America and Caribbean divisions have yet to commence.

Once qualifying concludes and sets the stage for the December 2009 draw ceremony in Cape Town, the 32 World Cup participants will be placed into eight groups of four teams. Each team in a group plays every other team in its group and the top two teams (16 total) advance to the knockout stage, which will take place between June 26, 2009 and June 29.

Round-robin group play will be held from June 11 to June 25.In the first round of the knockout stage, the eight group winners play the eight group runner-ups. From there, the remainder of the tournament is single elimination. The losers of the semifinals, however, will square off in a third-place match held on July 10 in Port Elizabeth.

Italy is the defending champion, having defeated France 5-3 in penalty kicks in the 2006 title match. Brazil, which won World Cups most recently in 1994 and 2002, owns the most World Cup titles with five. Italy has four and Germany, the 2006 host nation, has three. Italy is currently third in the FIFA rankings, while Brazil is fifth and Germany is second. Spain is the top-ranked team, while the Netherlands is the other team in the Top 5. All five countries should be serious contenders in South Africa.

The FIFA World Cup is Close

Held every four years, the FIFA World Cup is probably one the most renown and popular sports tournaments in the world. The soccer tournament takes place in one or two countries over a four week period in which thirty-two teams compete against each other to claim the title of world champions. The most recent world cup was held in Germany in 2006, in which Italy were proclaimed as the winners after defeating France in a penalty shoot-out.

Origins of the World Cup: The first World Cup tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930. The first tournament was difficult to establish because of the location. The organizers struggled to attract European nations to send teams to South America to contest the tournament. Eventually, the tournament took place with thirteen teams involved; nine from the Americas and four from Europe. The first final was contested between the hosts and Argentina, with Uruguay winning 4-2.

The early competitions were troubled by the difficulties of transportation and frequent interruptions caused by war. Many countries refused to participate, as it would involve playing soccer matches against teams that either they did not recognize or had been in conflict with in the recent past. After World War Two many of these problems were removed and FIFA was able to organize credible and professional tournaments much easily.

The Modern World Cup: The World Cup is essentially organized in two distinct parts; the qualification stage and the finals. The qualification stage takes place over a two year period and runs concurrently with each nation's domestic soccer season. Teams are divided into regions: Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the North American and Caribbean regions.
Within these regions the countries are drawn into groups and will play each other home and away. The exact qualification method differs from region to region, but usually the top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup Finals and the runner-up competes in a play-off for the last remaining qualifying positions.

The World Cup Finals themselves are held in a different country on each occasion. Sometimes, FIFA has selected two countries in the same vicinity to host the tournament; for example, South Korea and Japan hosted in 2002.

The finals are contested between thirty-two nations divided into eight groups. They play each other once and the top two teams qualify for the knock out stages. There follows three further rounds that are decided by one match. If the match is level, the game will be decided on penalties.

Past Winners of the World Cup: Brazil is the most successful team in the history of the World Cup, having won the tournament a record five times. Italy's recent victory in 2006 has brought them close to equaling the record with four successes. Remarkably, the World Cup has only been won by seven different countries over the eighteen tournaments so far. Germany, Uruguay, Argentina, France and England complete the list.

The Future of the World Cup: The next World Cup will be held in the South Africa in 2010. This will be the first time that the tournament will be held on the African continent.
After a series of promising performances by Cameroon, Senegal and Nigeria in recent tournaments, many soccer experts are predicting that one of these nations may be able to win the Word Cup next time.

2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa

The World Cup is the most significant tournament in international soccer and this is organized by FIFA, the tournament is experienced every four years, this year the World Cup 2010 will be hosted by South Africa. People all over the world are anticipated to watch the month long event between the world's 32 top soccer playing nations.

This spectacular and great extravaganza will take place in South Africa and the first game of the Soccer World Cup will be on 11 June 2010. It is the first time that any African nation will be hosting this premier event. The games will be played at Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Bloemfontein, Rustenburg, Pretoria, Polokwane and Nelspruit.

The World Cup will provide an opportunity for the National government to improve infrastructure, increase tourism through global exposure, create permanent and casual jobs and focus on promoting entrepreneurship. Major preparations are underway for this great event. such as upgrading of international airports to cater for the traffic inflow expected. Improving and renovating major roads and freeways, new Stadiums are being built in the major cities where the games will be played and hospitality establishments are stepping up the pace to offer world class accommodation. The world cup organizing body, as well as Government and Business in South Africa are making tremendous progress in this regard. The whole country is focused on making this event, the best world cup the world has experienced. South Africa has proved to be up to the task, as it hosted successful Rugby and Cricket world cups.

Various South African cities will be hosting games and this is a perfect opportunity to experience the world renowned Winelands, the South African Rainbow culture, the Western Cape beaches and mountain ranges. open spaces in the Free State, mountains, mist and sites of amazing natural beauty in Mpumalanga, battlefields and beaches in Kwazulu Natal, peaceful and warm culture of the Eastern Cape, as well as the world's big five wild animals in various National parks. South Africa will be ready to welcome the world and to enjoy and savor its accommodation, dining and other experiences.

To make the tournament more accessible to the local South African community, fifa has made available a number of tickets (120000).The South African market will have first chance to secure the priceless 2010 World cup tickets. For the rest of the world tickets will go on sale in September 2008. Purchasing a hospitality package would be the perfect way to enjoy the World Cup Finals. However, if this is out with your budget tickets for the final will go on sale in February 2009.World wide tour operators and travel companies are to receive a number of tickets so that they can arrange special travel packages.

The 2010 world cup is a major tournament and is not just about the match you will see. It is about the experience of visiting a new city and experiencing the local culture, its natural inviroment, meeting the local people, tasting traditional gourmet and being part of this vibrant major event which captures the imagination of the whole world. This tournament will contribute to the upliftment of the local previously disadvantaged population and create long term prosperity.

2010: World Cup Soccer in South Africa

South Africa is not exactly one of those places where people plan a vacation and, therefore, with the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament to take place in South Africa, a great deal is being done to help prepare for an onslaught of visitors to the area. World Cut Soccer is, on many levels, something like the Olympics and baseball's World Series rolled into one; teams from around the world are already counting down and competing with their eyes on the World Cup in 2010 and fans are already looking into learning more about places to stay and even driving rules in South Africa.

All of this - fans looking into lodging and travel, teams playing for a shot at making the tournament - is already taking place. Even with almost two years to go before the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament in South Africa, the official web site is documenting the way that teams are playing and that features a countdown to the event (with well over 600 days to go). So far, there are two hundred teams that have entered into the competition; two hundred teams that are aiming to be one of the thirty-one teams that will compete.

Teams from Spain, England, France, Germany and Italy are all competing as representatives of European nations. Africa has a total of fifty-three teams that are working their way through the preliminaries, with Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, Swaziland, Togo and other nations participating. Asian nations that hope to be in thirty one teams who will compete for the 2010 World Cup Soccer title in South Africa include Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia. New Zealand and Fiji are both vying for a position from Oceania.

On the other side of the globe, teams from North and Central America as well as the nations of the Caribbean are competing and preparing for a spot in the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament in South Africa. So far, teams from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago and Honduras are leading the way. From South America, thus far, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have taken the lead.

While it is far too soon to tell which nations will ultimately be among the thirty one spots in the 2010 World Cup tournament finals in South Africa, one thing is sure: each of the preliminary matches is grabbing the interest of soccer fans worldwide - all of whom are hoping that their nation or their favorite team will ultimately be represented. Photos of matches are available online, match details have been made available and these are just the first steps: the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will also offer live streaming coverage of the matches that are played; likewise, some preliminary matches will be aired live online.

The road to the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament in South Africa is still long and winding, however that does nothing to slow down the ways in which players and fans have planned to travel it to reach their destination.