FIFA WORLD CUP 2010:TEAMS, GROUPS, MATCH SCHEDULES
source:wikipedia,fifa
TEAMS
2010 FIFA World Cup | South Africa 2010 |
2010 FIFA World Cup official logo |
| Tournament details |
| Host country |  South Africa |
| Dates | 11 June – 11 July |
| Teams | 32 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 10 (in 9 host cities) |
Mascot
Zakumi, the mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
The
official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is
Zakumi, an
anthropomorphised leopard with green hair. His name comes from "ZA", the
international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages.
mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.
Match ball
Jabulani, the official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
The match
ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be named the
"Jabulani", made by
Adidas, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in
isiZulu. The number eleven plays a prominent role in the the new technologically advanced ball: it is the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it features eleven colours, one for each player on the pitch; and there are eleven official
languages of South Africa and eleven tribal communities. Also, the event will start on the eleventh day of June and end on the eleventh day of July.
Venues
In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane/Pietersburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria (two venues), and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues which were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006:
| Johannesburg | Durban | Cape Town | Johannesburg | Pretoria |
| Soccer City | Moses Mabhida Stadium | Cape Town Stadium | Ellis Park Stadium | Loftus Versfeld Stadium |
| Capacity: 94,900 | Capacity: 70,000 | Capacity: 69,070 | Capacity: 62,567 | Capacity: 51,760 |
 |  |  |  |  |
| Port Elizabeth | Bloemfontein | Polokwane | Nelspruit | Rustenburg |
| Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | Free State Stadium | Peter Mokaba Stadium | Mbombela Stadium | Royal Bafokeng Stadium |
| Capacity: 48,000 | Capacity: 48,070 | Capacity: 46,000 | Capacity: 44,000 | Capacity: 42,000 |
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Preparations
Five new stadiums are to be built for the tournament (three new match venues and two new practice grounds), and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.
In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with projects such as the Gautrain and the new Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) titled Rea Vaya.Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, has said that he expects all stadiums for the tournament to be completed by October 2009.
The country is also going to implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements.
Construction strike
70,000 construction were supposed to be working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs on 8 July 2009. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or $313), but the unions allege that some workers are grossly underpaid – some receiving as little as R40 (£3.11) a week. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike will go on until FIFA assesses penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The World Cup organising committee downplayed the strike and expressed confidence that the stadiums will be ready.
Relocation rumours
During 2006 to 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. people, including Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa’s preparations., FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, and stated that the event will not be moved, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter re-iterating that "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa". stated that there is a contingency plan to hold the World Cup elsewhere but only in the event of a natural catastrophe, and that the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany also had a similar contingency plan.
Despite reassurances by FIFA that the event would only be moved in the case of natural catastrophe, rumours continued to circulate about possible relocation of the event.
[20] These rumours were criticised by South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister
Jabu Moleketi, saying that some have targeted the event to reflect their persistent negativity towards South Africa and Africa.
GROUPS
Matches
Group A
Group B Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France
Argentina
Nigeria
Korea Republic
Greece
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia
Brazil
Korea DPR
Côte d'Ivoire
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile
Mexico
France
Nigeria
Greece
United States
Slovenia
Australia
Ghana
Denmark
Cameroon
Paraguay
Slovakia
Korea DPR
Portugal
Switzerland
Chile