2010 FIFA World Cup – South Africa

2010 FIFA World Cup – South Africa

For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it was decided that it would be held in Africa and only African nations could place bids. South Africa was chosen over Egypt and Morocco becoming the first African nation to hold the world cup.

A total of 204 teams registered to enter the tournament qualification. For the first time, Australia would compete with AFC, after their request to leave the OFC and join the AFC was approved by FIFA. The 32 places would be allocated as follow: 1 for the hosts, 13 to UEFA (including Israel), 4 to CONMEBOL, 4 to AFC, 3 to CONCACAF and 5 to CAF. One of the last 2 places would be contested by the 5th from CONMEBOL vs. and the winner of OFC. The other would be contested by the 5th from AFC vs. the 4th from CONCACAF.

The final, considered one of the most boring ever, was played by Spain and the Netherlands. It was the first time, since 1978, that the final was played by two teams that were never champions before. Spain, at its first appearance in the final and the Netherlands, at their third final, tied during regular time. The Spanish were able to overcome the Netherlands defense during extra time, and became champions for the first time, after winning the game 1-0. They were the first new winners without home advantage to take the title home since Brazil in 1958. They were also the first European team to win outside a world cup held outside Europe.

List of qualified teams: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay.

Champions: Spain
2nd place: Netherlands
3rd place: Germany

Top scorer players with 5 goals each: Thomas Müller (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
Top scorer team: Germany, 16 goals

List of all the tournaments