An overview of the Football World Cup 2010

The Football World Cup, mostly referred to as the FIFA World Cup, is an international football competition, wherein the men’s national soccer teams participate from all over the world. However, a team has to be a member of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) to participate in the tournament. FIFA is the global governing body of football. Read on to get an overview of the Football World Cup 2010.

South Africa – The host nation

South Africa will host the FIFA World Cup 2010. 5 African nations placed the bid, out of which, South Africa won by 14 votes to become the host nation of the 2010 Football World Cup. Being the host nation, the South African football team automatically qualifies to participate in the tournament.

Jabulani – The match ball   

The match ball of Football World Cup 2010 is named Jabulani. It means ‘bringing joy to everyone’. It has been designed by ‘Adidas’, a German based sports apparel manufacturer. 

Zakumi – The mascot

Zakumi is the official mascot of FIFA World Cup 2010. Aged 15, Zakumi is an anthropomorphized leopard with green colored hair. The colors of the mascot represent the playing strip of the host nation, that is, green and yellow.

The tournament schedule

32 teams will be participating in Football World Cup 2010 and they have been divided into 8 groups. The quarterfinals will take place on 2nd and 3rd of July, 2010. The wining teams will participate in the semifinal matches on 6th and 7th July, 2010. The final will take place in Johannesburg Soccer City Stadium on 11th July, 2010.

The prize money

The winning team of 2010 FIFA World Cup will get 30 million USD as the prize money and the runner-up team will get 24 million USD. Before the tournament, each of the participating teams is supposed to receive 1 million USD for the preparation costs. The total prize money on offer is 420 million USD, which is 60% more than that of the Football World Cup tournament held in 2006.

Do you know that the number ‘11’ holds a special significance in the new technologically advanced match ball of Football World Cup 2010? This is the 11th World Cup match ball that features 11 colors, representing 11 players on the field from each of the teams. Moreover, there are 11 official languages in South Africa and the event will start and end on the 11th day of June and July 2010, consecutively.


Keyphrase: football world cup 2010

Description: Football World Cup 2010 – Get to know about the host nation, the match ball, the mascot, the prize money and the tournament schedule of 2010 FIFA World Cup.