FIFA World Cup 2010

This is already the 19th World Cup and The first time it takes place on the African continent. 32 teams take part in the championship, of which 13 teams represent Europe, 6 - Africa, 5 - South America, 4 - Asia, 3 - Central and North America, 1 - Oceania.

Europe at the championship represent teams of England, Greece, Denmark, Italy, Spain,Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, France and Switzerland. The national teams of South Africa, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria represent Africa.

For Asia play teams from North and South Korea, Japan andAustralia, which withdrew from the OFC (Confederation of Football of Oceania) in 2006 and joined the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). For Oceania is the national team of New Zealand.

South America in the championship represent Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay, North America - the United States, Mexico and Honduras.

FIFA World Cup 2010 host nine cities at ten stadiums: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Rustenburg.

The official opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held at the stadium Soccer City in Johannesburg. The final match of the championship will be held at the same stadium July 11th.

The very first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay, which became the first world champion in football. In total, 13 teams took part in the tournament and that is why the only time in the history of the World Cup was not necessary for the qualifying tournaments.

Today the holding of qualifying or qualifying tournaments is an obligatory stage of the World Cup. In qualifying competitions take partteams divided into groups according to the zonal principle in accordance with the representation in the regional federations of FIFA (International Football Federation):

• AFC - Asian Confederation of Football



• CAF - African Football Confederation



• UEFA - Union of European Football Associations



• CONCACAF - Confederation of Football of North, Central America and the Caribbean



• CONMEBOL - South American Football Confederation



• OFC - Confederation of Oceania Football

The number of seats for each region in the finalthe tournament of the FIFA World Cup is determined by FIFA in accordance with the level of football development in the region. Since 1938, the host country of the championship automatically enters the final of the tournament, being released from participation in qualifying competitions.

The qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup is read almost three years before the final tournament and lasts more than two years. Competitions are held inside each region andtheir format can vary greatly depending on the region. In addition to internal regional matches, often for the right to enter the final, teams also compete in intercontinental play-offs.

In the qualifying round for the World Cup 2010, 204 teams took part: 53 European, 43 Asian, 51 African, 35 North American, and 10, teams of South America and Oceania.

The final round of the World Cup consists of two stages. The first is group tournament. All teams participating in the championship are divided into 8groups of 4 teams in each. The composition of groups is determined by drawing lots according to certain criteria. 8 teams, which become the first numbers in groups, are called "seeded". The remaining 24 teams are divided into three "baskets", from which teams one by one fall into each group. The criteria for selecting teams are quite complex and are designed to balance the composition of groups.

Within each of the eight groups there is a tournamentfrom three rounds, and the matches of the last round are held simultaneously to exclude the possibility of falsification. For each victory in the match, the participating teams receive 3 points each, for a draw - 1 point. The first two teams in the group, who scored the maximum number of points, go to the 1/8 finals. Thus, 16 teams take part in 1/8.

Further, the final tournament is based on the principle of elimination (playoffs): the losing team leaves the championship. In the playoff games if at the end of the main game time the account remains tied, the referee will assign additional time. If in additional time the winner is not determined, then a penalty shoot-out is appointed.

In the quarter finals are the winners of the 1 / 8th, inwhich winners of each of the groups of the first round meet with the second teams from other groups. The winners of the quarter finals go to the semi-finals, then the winners of the semi-final to the final.

The winner of the final becomes the world champion in football and is awarded the World Cup, which will be kept with them until the nextchampionship. Also, the winner is awarded with gold medals and a cash prize. The second team-finalist receives small gold medals (gilded) and also a cash reward. Between teams losing in the semi-finals, the third place is played out, for which the winning team receives silver medals. The fourth team receives bronze.

This principle of reward was introduced in 1966 and still exists.

Especially for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Adidas developed the ball Jabulani, which consists of 8 3D-shaped, spherical EVA and TPU panels that are cast together and ideally harmoniously embrace the inner skeleton of the ball.

The official talisman of the World Cup 2010 was chosen yellow leopard with green hair,the inscription on the shirt of which reads "SOUTH AFRICA 2010". The combination of colors is not chosen by chance, because it is green and yellow colors - the colors of the national team of South Africa. Leopard's name is Zakumi. This name is derived from the lettering "ZA" - the international letter code of South Africa and the word "Kumi", meaning 10 in many African languages.

On July 11 the 2010 FIFA World Cup ended with the victory of the Spanish national team. At the 116th minute of the match, Andres Iniesta scored the only goal in the Netherlands goal, which brought the World Cup to Spain.