FIFA World Cup History

South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup

Year: 2010

Participants: 32

Countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay

Championship: Spain 1, Netherlands 0 (A.E.T.)

Top goal scorer: Thomas Muller (Germany) (5 goals scored with 3 assists, other three players scored 5 goals with 1 assist each)

MVP: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

The greatest show on earth took place in South Africa from the 11th June 2010 to the 11th July 2010. The Soccer World Cup has grown from its beginning in 1930 to become one of the greatest sporting events in the world. Well over a billion people followed the month long tournament between the world's top soccer playing nations.

The World Cup is also massive in terms of the business it creates. From clothing to breakfast cereal, you can find hundreds of products that are tied in to the World Cup. Even online casinos have games tied in to the World Cup.

Hosting the World Cup brings a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars to the host city.

Host cities and stadiums

The stadiums were approved by FIFA's executive committee at a meeting on the 17th March 2006 after being proposed by the South African local organising committee (SALCO). The early announcement of the venues is intended to help the cities which will now be able to learn from their German counterparts at this year's tournament.

For the first time, the African continent hosted the World Cup. In terms of football betting, the likes of Italy, Spain and Brazil were the favorites, whilst there was great optimism for the African sides...unfortuanately it was not to be, with no African side reaching the semi-finals.

Thanks to the World Cup, millions of people develop a love for football that they didn't previously have. Whether this means going to play slots at King Solomons Casino that is related to football, following club competitions or having a kick themselves, the impact is far reaching. Some people are even inspired to attend the next World Cup.