The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19^th soccer World Cup. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. This will be the first time that the tournament is hosted by an African nation.

When the soccer bid was awarded to South Africa on 15 May 2004, it triggered a whole range of projects and programs in preparation for the World Cup 2010.  This is the 1st of a series of articles about the projects leading up to the big event, but first some background.

The 30-day count-down to the start of one of the biggest sport events in the world, the 2010 FIFA World Cup has officially started!

Participating Teams

Source: Wikipedia

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

Soccer Venues

Source: Wikipedia

There are 10 venues to be used for the World Cup, but 9 host cities, namely:

1. Cape Town
2. Durban
3. Bloemfontein
4. Nelspruit
5. Port Elizabeth
6. Pretoria
7. Johannesburg
8. Rustenberg
9. Polokwane

World Cup 2010 Stadiums

The final 10 World Cup 2010 Stadiums to be used for the World Cup are:

1. Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
2. Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
3. Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
4. Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
5. Nelson Mandela Stadium, Port Elizabeth
6. Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
7. Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
8. Soccer City, Johannesburg
9. Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
10. Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane

About the World Cup 2010 Stadiums

• Cape Town Stadium: Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.: A 70.000 seater soccer stadium in Greenpoint.
• Durban 2010 Stadium: In Durban, South Africa’s busiest port, the temperatures seldom drop below 16 degrees Celsius. Moses Mabhiba Stadium, a 60 000 seater soccer stadium
• 2010 Stadium Johannesburg (‘Joburg’): The capital of the Gauteng province is the economical heart of the region and of South Africa. Johannesburg will also be the epicentre of the World Cup Soccer, home to Soccer City, a 94.000 + seater stadium will host the opening and the final of the World Cup Soccer in 2010.
• Johannesburg also boasts the 60.000 seater stadium of Ellis Park, renovated for the event.
• 2010 Stadium in Bloemfontein: Bloemfontein is situated in the Free State province of South Africa, and is home to the constitutional court. The Free State Stadium 40 000 seater for soccer fans.
• Nelspruit: Nelspruit is the capital city of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province. From Nelspruit, the Kruger National Park is a stone throw away.  A new stadium, the Mbombela Stadium – 40.000 seater
• 2010 Stadium Polokwane: Polokwane, the capital city of South Africa’s Limpopo province. Peter Mokaba Stadium.
• 2010 Stadium Port Elizabeth (‘PE’):Port Elizabeth, surrounded by nature and beautiful coastlines, has a lot to offer, from Addo Elephant Park and several game reserves. Brand new soccer stadium is the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
• 2010 Stadium Pretoria: Pretoria is situated 60 kilometres outside of Johannesburg, and is South Africa’s administrative capital. The 50.000 seater Loftus Versveld stadium is in the heart of the city of Tshwane.
• 2010 Stadium Rustenburg: Host City Rustenburg lies 100 km north west from Johannesburg, on the foot of the Magaliesberg. The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace has space for 40.000 soccer fans.

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