Every four years, there's the soccer equivalent of a world war as teams from around the globe face off in the FIFA World Cup. From June 11 to July 11, 2010, 32 teams that qualified for the finals in earlier preliminary matches will vie for the world championship and challenge the reigning champs, Italy.
The venue
For the first time in the World Cup's history -- which dates back to 1930 and skipped 1942 and 1946 due to a real world war -- an African nation will host the cup. Libya and Tunisia tried to put in a bid to co-host the cup, but Tunisia withdrew because of FIFA rules against joint bidding and Libya was then disqualified for not meeting the requirements on its own. That left bidders Egypt, Morocco and South Africa. South Africa won in the first round of voting, with 14 votes to Morocco's 10. South Africa nearly won the right to host the 2006 World Cup, but Germany beat the country by one vote, 12-11.
South Africa gets an automatic spot in the tournament as the host nation, but had already participated in qualifying rounds. The matches will take place at 10 venues in nine host cities across the country: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane/Pretoria, Polokwane, Rustenburg, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, Durban, Nelspruit. Among the venues will be five new stadiums.
The teams
The teams that have qualified are:
Asian Football Confederation: Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
Confederation of African Football: Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football: United States, Mexico, Honduras
South American Football Confederation: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Oceania Football Confederation: New Zealand
Union of European Football Associations: Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland.
Ireland has asked for a 33rd spot, claiming a bad call in a qualification game with France cost them a berth in the cup. FIFA was set to review the request on Dec. 3, 2009.About FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is international soccer's governing body based in Zurich, Switzerland. FIFA has 208 members, more than the United Nations, and recognizes six global soccer confederations.