Without any doubts, the World Cup is the most prestigious football event any player can hope to participate in. Only being held every four years, it is a truly unique experience for both fans and players. The next edition of the FIFA World Cup will take place in South Africa in June 2010.
In order to determine the participating teams, qualifying rounds are being held on each continent between August 2007 and November 2009. There is a total of 31 spots up for grabs plus the automatically granted spot for the host nation. Recent changes in the qualifying system included Australia being moved to the Asian qualifying group while New Zealand will face the sixth placed team from Africa for a World Cup berth.
The competitions itself starts off with a round-robin stage consisting of eight groups with four teams each. Subsequently the best two teams from every group will advance to the knockout stage featuring elimination games all the way to the finals. Over a period of four weeks a total of 64 exciting games will be played, culminating in the finals kick-off on the 11th of July in Johannesburg.
Although every FIFA World Cup is bound to have its upsets, it appears to be a safe bet that the battle for the title will mainly concern the top-tier teams from Europe and South America. In particular Brazil and Argentina are facing a lot of pressure given their disappointing performances in the last World Cup. In fact, the Brazilian Sele"o around Ronaldinho faced harsh critique at home after being eliminated in the quarterfinals by France in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Likewise, defending champions Italy as well as Spain, Portugal, England, Germany and the Netherlands can rightfully be considered championship contenders. Especially the Spanish team around Fernando Torres and Xavi is coming off a huge confidence boost after winning the Euro 2008 title. In contrast, host nation South Africa is hoping to play well in front of their home crowd, but unfortunately anything else than a group-stage knockout would be a big surprise.
There have been a few problems during the planning stages of the World Cup, but the South African Football Association repeatedly assured that all issues will have been addressed until the event gets underway. More specifically, the construction of soccer stadiums had been delayed various times, ultimately leading to most parts being manufactured and assembled overseas. Likewise, there are still concerns regarding infrastructural deficits in South Africa.
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