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World Cup 2010 South Africa

The 19th FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation

South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt by FIFA president on 15 May 2004 in Zürich. Being the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament.

Moscot
The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair, name Zakumi., born in 16 June 1994,. His name comes from "ZA", the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages. The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green. The Zakumi's official motto is: "Zakumi's game is Fair Play.

Prize
The total prize money for this tournament was announced by FIFA as $420 million, an icrement of 60% as compared to the last tournament. Each of the participating team would receive $1 million as preparation costs before the tournament. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage would receive $8 million. Subsequently, $9 million - Round of 16, $18 million - Quarter-finals, $20 million - Semi-finals, 24 million - Runners up and the Winner gets $30 million.

Qualification
The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007 and 32 teams qualified for the final tournament. As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament.

Venue
FIFA officially announced on 17 March 2006 the provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup 2010 was narrowed down to ten venues: Johannesburg (2 venues), Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban,   Nelspruit, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, and Rustenburg.