The most awaited event for 2010, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is just round the corner. Reverse counting has already begun for the participating nations and they are getting ready to plunge into the battlefield of 2010 FIFA World Cup. FIFA World Cup 2010, to be held from June 11 to July 11, will be hosted by South Africa, the first ever African country to host FIFA.
This 19th leg of FIFA World Cup will feature 32 teams, who will ultimately be sweating out their blood and competing for the prize of the best team in the world. There will be a total of 8 groups consisting of 4 teams each and a total of 64 matched will be played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Qualifying teams
Since, South Africa is hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup; it has automatically gained entry in the game and will be playing in Group A. Apart from the host nation 5 other nations i.e. Holland, Australia, North Korea, South Korea and Japan have also marked their presence for this 2010 tournament. The list of remaining 26 nations will be confirmed by November 2009.
Venues and Stadiums
To meet up to the needs of 2010 FIFA World Cup, five new stadiums are being built in South Africa. With the addition of these 5 new stadiums, the host country will be using a total of 10 stadiums for the 2010 World Cup. Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg will be the venue for the opening ceremony and for the final match. The semi finals will played in Cape Town and Durban, and the third place play off match will be played in Port Elizabeth.
Names of stadiums and the city in which they are located are as follows:
- Soccer City Stadium - Johannesburg
- Ellis Park Stadium - Johannesburg
- Moses Mabhida Stadium - Durban
- Free State Stadium - Bloemfontein
- Green Point Stadium - Cape Town
- Mbombela Stadium - Nelspruit
- Peter Mokaba Stadium - Polokwane
- Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - Port Elizabeth
- Lotus Versfeld Stadium - Pretoria
- Royal Bafokeng Stadium - Rustenberg
Official Mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Each and every world cup hosting country as its own official mascot, represented in a cartoon format. Following the same legacy South Africa, the host for 2010 FIFA World cup, has announced "Zakumi" as its mascot. Zakumi is a yellow colored leopard with green hair, depicting the colors of South African team. The word "Zakumi" arrives from ZA + Kumi, wherein "ZA" stands for the international abbreviation used for South Africa and "Kumi" means 'TEN' is African language.
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