2010 FIFA World Cup

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2010 FIFA World Cup opened on the 11th of June at Soccer City in Johannesburg, and for the first time in the tournament's history, the host continent was Africa. It was the 19th edition of the world championship, and South Africa had fought hard to win the right to stage it. The bid process had been restricted exclusively to African nations, and in 2004, FIFA's president Sepp Blatter stood at a media conference in Zürich to announce the winner. South Africa beat out Egypt and Morocco, becoming the first African country ever awarded the tournament. Behind that announcement lay years of planning, political maneuvering, allegations of corruption, and a construction effort worth over a billion US dollars. How did South Africa actually get the tournament? What happened when the world showed up? And who walked away with the trophy? The answers run deeper than the scoreboard.

• 2. Winning the Bid

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  Nelson Mandela had spoken openly about what football meant to him while imprisoned on Robben Island, saying the game "made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in." When South Africa secured the hosting rights, an emotional Mandela raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy at the announcement. The first round of voting in Zürich gave South Africa 14 votes, Morocco 10, and Egypt none. South Africa had narrowly missed the chance to host the 2006 tournament as well, making the 2004 victory especially significant.

  But the story of the bid did not end cleanly. On the 28th of May 2015, reports linked to the 2015 FIFA corruption case alleged that high-ranking South African bid committee officials had secured the tournament by paying US$10 million in bribes to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and other Executive Committee members. On the 4th of June 2015, FIFA executive Chuck Blazer, who had cooperated with both the FBI and Swiss authorities, confirmed under questioning that he and others had accepted bribes in connection with the South African bid for both 1998 and 2010. Blazer stated plainly that the FIFA executive committee "agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup." Two days later, a British newspaper reported that Morocco had actually received the majority of votes, but South Africa was awarded the tournament regardless.

• 3. Building a Nation's Stage

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  Construction costs for the venues and supporting infrastructure ran to £3 billion, equivalent to roughly €3.6 billion. Five entirely new stadiums were built, and five existing ones were upgraded. The two Johannesburg venues, FNB Stadium and Ellis Park Stadium, sat at approximately 1750 metres above sea level, the highest of all ten sites. That altitude affected how the ball moved through the air, though FIFA's medical chief publicly downplayed the concern.

  On the 8th of July 2009, roughly 70,000 construction workers walked off the job at the new stadium sites. The majority of workers earned R2,500 per month, and unions alleged that some had been paid far less. A spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers told the national broadcaster that the strike would continue until FIFA assessed penalties on the organisers. Within a week, the dispute was resolved and workers returned to the sites. All stadiums were completed on schedule.

  The tournament's organisation came with a serious human cost that critics did not let pass quietly. The Durban-based shack-dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo took the KwaZulu-Natal government to court on the 14th of May 2009 over legislation designed to eliminate informal settlements before the tournament. In Cape Town, a project along the N2 Freeway displaced over 20,000 residents from the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement. International human rights organisations and the Anti-Eviction Campaign criticised the conditions in the relocation site known as Blikkiesdorp. Tournament organiser Danny Jordaan dismissed these concerns in relation to World Cup planning, though others pointed out that such evictions were not uncommon in South Africa outside tournament contexts.

• 4. The Sound of South Africa

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  The vuvuzela, a long plastic horn, became the defining sound of South Africa 2010 and the instrument of genuine controversy. Players at the highest level complained about the noise. France's Patrice Evra publicly blamed the horns for his team's poor performance. Lionel Messi said the constant drone made it impossible to communicate with teammates on the pitch. Broadcasters, including the BBC, investigated whether they could offer viewers a feed stripped of vuvuzela noise entirely.

  The official match ball also provoked strong reactions. The Jabulani, manufactured by Adidas and named after the Zulu word for "bringing joy to everyone," featured eight thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University. Brazilian goalkeeper Júlio César compared it to a supermarket ball that helped strikers and penalised goalkeepers. Argentine coach Diego Maradona predicted that "we won't see any long passes in this World Cup because the ball doesn't fly straight." A special gold-panelled version called the Jo'bulani was used for the final in Johannesburg.

  The tournament's official song, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," was performed by Colombian singer Shakira alongside the South African band Freshlyground. The song drew from a traditional African soldiers' song called "Zangalewa" and was sung in both English and Spanish. Shakira and Freshlyground performed it at a pre-tournament concert in Soweto on the 10th of June, again at the opening ceremony the following day, and at the closing ceremony on the 11th of July.

• 5. Records That Fell

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  Only 145 goals were scored across the 64 matches at South Africa 2010, the lowest total for any World Cup held in the 64-game format. The trend had been downward for three consecutive tournaments: 171 goals at France 1998, 161 in Korea and Japan in 2002, and 147 in Germany in 2006. Despite the low scoring, Spain set a record for the fewest goals by a winning team, eight in total. The previous record low had been 11, shared by Brazil in 1994, England in 1966, and Italy in 1938. Spain conceded just two goals across the tournament, matching Italy in 2006 and France in 1998, and became the first champion to concede no goals during the knockout rounds.

  The final produced one of the most card-heavy matches in World Cup history. English referee Howard Webb handed out 14 yellow cards, more than doubling the previous record for a World Cup final, set when Argentina and West Germany shared six cards in 1986. Webb had already made history before the tournament ended; he became the first person to referee both the UEFA Champions League final and the World Cup final in the same calendar year. John Heitinga of the Netherlands was sent off after collecting a second yellow card, reducing his side to ten men in extra time.

  South Africa was eliminated in the group stage despite beating France and drawing with Mexico. It was the first time a host nation had failed to advance beyond the first round. New Zealand, ranked 78th before the tournament, drew all three of their group matches and left as the only undefeated team, yet still went home in the group stage.

• 6. Spain's Final Chapter

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  Andrés Iniesta scored at the 116th minute of the final on the 11th of July 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg, finishing a pass from Cesc Fàbregas with a volleyed shot. That goal, the latest winning strike in a World Cup final, gave Spain a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands after extra time. Spain became the eighth nation to win the tournament and the first European country to win a World Cup held outside Europe. Every previous World Cup staged outside Europe had been won by a South American team.

  Spain's route to the title had been built on unusual history. They lost their opening match of the tournament, making them the first World Cup winner to have dropped a game in the group stage since Argentina in 1978. Their three scorers were David Villa with five goals, Iniesta with two, and Carles Puyol with one; no champion had ever won the tournament with fewer goalscorers. The Golden Boot went to Germany's Thomas Müller, who shared five goals with three others but took the award on the basis of his three assists, compared to one assist each for Villa, Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands, and Diego Forlán of Uruguay.

  At the closing ceremony before the final, Nelson Mandela appeared briefly on the pitch at Soccer City, wheeled in by a motorcart, returning to the stage where South Africa's World Cup story had begun. Spain's win also carried a continental milestone: Europe reached 10 World Cup titles in total, moving past South America's nine.