32 teams qualified to play in the World Cup. Teams were split into 8 groups and they play each team in their group during the first round of the tournament, known as “the Group stage”. Here they are:
Group A – South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France
Group B – Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic and Greece
Group C – England, USA, Algeria and Slovenia
Group D – Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana
Group E – Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon
Group F – Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia
Group G – Brazil, Korea DPR, Cote d’Ivoire and Portugal
Group H – Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile
Well done to Spain winning world cup.
What made me think it would have been Argentina....maybe something to do with Diego Maradona
Not surprising England was a total let down as expected
This is my Dream Team of the WORLD CUP 2010
Goalkeeper : Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Defence : Fábio Coentrao(POR), Maicon(BRA), Philipp Lahm (GER), Gerard Pique (SPA)
Midfield : Arjen Robben(NED), Xavi(SPA), Wesley Sneijder (NED), Lionel Messi (ARG)
Forward : David Villa(SPA), Diego Forlan(URU),
Now that the WORLD CUP has finished lets look at some stats As the dust settles on an unforgettable and historic FIFA World Cup™, FIFA.com reflects on some of the key statistics to have emerged over the past month.
669 passes were attempted by Xavi during the tournament, 104 more than his nearest challenger, Bastian Schweinsteiger. Xavi also delivered the second-highest number of crosses with 42, with only Diego Forlan (50) attempting more.
145 goals were scored at South Africa 2010, the lowest of any FIFA World Cup since the tournament switched to a 64-game format. Indeed, the current edition continues a downward trend in this respect since the first 64-game finals were held 12 years ago, with France 1998’s total of 171 goals dwindling to 161 at Korea/Japan 2002 and then to 147 at Germany 2006.
117 minutes was the time at which Andres Iniesta struck against the Netherlands, making his dramatic winner the latest-ever winning goal in a FIFA World Cup Final.
39 years and 330 days old, David James was the most senior player of this FIFA World Cup.
Christian Eriksen was South Africa 2010’s youngest player at 18 years and 120 days old.
31 solo runs established Spain’s Sergio Ramos as the tournament’s most prolific dribbler, ahead of more likely candidates such as Lukas Podolski (27), Andres Iniesta (26), David Villa and Lionel Messi (both 25).
22 goals at Green Point Stadium made the Cape Town arena the highest-scoring of South Africa's ten venues. Johannesburg's Soccer City ranked second with 20.
19 fouls made Japan’s Keisuke Honda an unlikely leader of the competition’s crime count. Finalists Sergio Ramos and Mark van Bommel followed closely behind on 17.
14 FIFA World Cup goals was the landmark reached by Miroslav Klose, leaving the Germany striker one behind record-holder Ronaldo but nonetheless in joint-second place with Gerd Muller.
14 yellow and red cards were handed out in a fiery Final between the Netherlands and Spain, more than doubling the previous record for this fixture, set when Argentina and West Germany shared six cards in 1986.
12 goals were scored by Bayern Munich players during South Africa 2010, making the Bavarian giants the best-represented club in the scoring charts. Bayern’s European conquerors, Inter Milan, were next-highest on nine, while Atletico Madrid players accounted for eight. The Spanish league dominated overall, with 29 goals to 21 for the Bundesliga, 12 for the English Premier League and 16 for Serie A.
9 hours and 19 minutes without conceding enabled Switzerland to set a new FIFA World Cup record. The Helvetians surpassed Italy’s previous record of 550 minutes.
3.18 million fans attended South Africa 2010’s 64 matches, just short of the FIFA World Cup record set when 3.59 million clicked through the turnstiles at USA 1994.
3 players – David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol – accounted for Spain’s entire haul of goals at South Africa 2010. Previously, no team had ever won the FIFA World Cup with fewer than four different goalscorers. La Roja’s overall tally of eight was the lowest of any world champions in history.
2 draws and a defeat from three group games made Italy’s performance in South Africa their worst-ever FIFA World Cup showing. Never before had they failed to win a single match, or finished bottom of their group. Marcello Lippi’s side remain winless in 2010.
2 minutes and 39 seconds was the time at which Thomas Muller scored the tournament’s fastest goal in Germany’s 4-0 win over Argentina.
1 team finished the tournament unbeaten: New Zealand.
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