World Cup 2010 · History

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th edition of the men's FIFA World Cup and the first played in Africa. South Africa hosted it from 11 June to 11 July 2010. Thirty-two national teams from six confederations played 64 matches in ten stadiums across nine host cities. Spain won the trophy for the first time, beating the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time in the final at Soccer City, Johannesburg.

Host selection and draw

FIFA's Executive Committee picked the host in Zürich on 15 May 2004. In the first round of voting South Africa received 14 votes, Morocco 10 and Egypt none. The qualifying draw was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. The draw for the final tournament took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 4 December 2009. On the same day Adidas and FIFA unveiled the official match ball, the Jabulani. Players criticised the way it moved in the air during the tournament. A gold version, the Jo'bulani, was made for the final.

Group stage

The tournament opened at Soccer City on 11 June with South Africa 1-1 Mexico. Siphiwe Tshabalala scored for the hosts in the 55th minute and Rafael Márquez equalised in the 79th. South Africa later beat France 2-1 in Bloemfontein, but they finished third in Group A on goal difference behind Uruguay and Mexico. That made them the first host nation to go out in the first round. France, runners-up in 2006, finished bottom of the same group with one point. They drew 0-0 with Uruguay and then lost to Mexico and South Africa. The holders, Italy, were also eliminated in last place in Group F after a 3-2 defeat to Slovakia on 24 June. It was the first time since 1974 that they had failed to get past the first round. New Zealand drew all three of their matches and went home unbeaten. Spain lost their opening game 1-0 to Switzerland in Durban on 16 June, with Gelson Fernandes scoring in the 52nd minute. They then won Group H after beating Honduras and Chile.

Round of 16 and quarter-finals

In the round of 16, Germany beat England 4-1. Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski scored, Matthew Upson pulled one back, and Thomas Müller added two more. On 3 July in Cape Town, Germany beat Argentina 4-0 with goals from Müller, Klose (two) and Arne Friedrich. A day earlier in Port Elizabeth, the Netherlands came from behind to beat Brazil 2-1. Robinho scored in the 10th minute and Wesley Sneijder replied twice in the second half. That evening Uruguay and Ghana drew 1-1 at Soccer City, with goals from Sulley Muntari and Diego Forlán. In the last minute of extra time, Luis Suárez stopped a goal-bound shot on the line with his hand and was sent off. Asamoah Gyan hit the crossbar with the resulting penalty. Uruguay then won the shoot-out 4-2, and Sebastián Abreu scored the deciding kick with a chip. On 3 July at Ellis Park, David Villa's 83rd-minute goal gave Spain a 1-0 win over Paraguay.

Semi-finals and third place

On 6 July in Cape Town, the Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2. Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored first and Forlán equalised. Sneijder and Arjen Robben then scored within three minutes of each other, and Maxi Pereira pulled one back in stoppage time. In Durban the next day, Carles Puyol scored in the 73rd minute to give Spain a 1-0 win over Germany. Germany took third place on 10 July in Port Elizabeth, beating Uruguay 3-2 in front of 36,254 spectators. Müller, Marcell Jansen and Sami Khedira scored for Germany.

The final

The final was played at Soccer City on 11 July 2010 in front of 84,490 spectators. English referee Howard Webb showed 14 yellow cards, nine to Dutch players and five to Spanish players. In the 109th minute he sent off John Heitinga for a second booking. Seven minutes later, Andrés Iniesta scored the only goal of the game and was named man of the match. It was Spain's first world title. The Netherlands lost a World Cup final for the third time, after 1974 and 1978.

Awards and figures

Diego Forlán of Uruguay won the Golden Ball. Forlán, Müller, Sneijder and Villa all scored five goals. Müller took the Golden Boot on the tiebreaker because he had three assists and each of the others had one. Müller was also named Best Young Player. Iker Casillas won the Golden Glove, and Spain received the Fair Play award. There were 145 goals in total, an average of 2.27 per match and the lowest total of any World Cup with 64 matches. Total attendance in 2010 was 3,178,856, an average of 49,670 per match.