The
2010 FIFA World Cup is the 19th
FIFA World Cup, the premier international
association football tournament. It is being held in
South Africa, beginning on 11 June and scheduled to conclude on 11 July 2010. The tournament is the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208
FIFA national teams; as such, it matches the
2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.
This is the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an
African nation, with South Africa selected over
Morocco and
Egypt following a bidding process open only to African nations.
The defending champions were
Italy who won the
2006 World Cup in Germany.
Host selection
Fans celebrating the forthcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa (
Camps Bay,
Cape Town)
Main article:
FIFA World Cup hosts
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a short-lived policy, abandoned in 2007,
to rotate the event among football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:
Egypt
Libya / 
Tunisia (co-hosting)
Morocco
South Africa
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president
Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in
Zürich. South Africa, which had narrowly
failed to win the right to host the 2006 event, was awarded the rights to host the tournament over Morocco and Egypt.
| Voting Results |
|---|
| Country | Votes |
|---|
| South Africa | 14 |
| Morocco | 10 |
| Egypt | 0 |
- Tunisia withdrew on 8 May 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed
- Libya bid was rejected: bid did not meet the list of requirements and joint bidding was not allowed
During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Some 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. However, FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, stating that a contingency plan existed only to cover natural catastrophes, as had been in place at previous FIFA World Cups