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World Cup 2010

Winner

Spain

Highlights

The 2010 World Cup, held in South Africa, was the first to be played on the African continent, to the sound of vuvuzelas. The home nation became the first hosts to be eliminated in the first round. Both 2006 finalists met the same fate: holders Italy finished bottom of their group, as did France, whose players refused to train in Knysna.

Ghana came agonisingly close to becoming Africa's first semi-finalists: in the last minute of extra time in their quarter-final, Uruguay's Luis Suárez handled the ball on the line, Asamoah Gyan struck the penalty against the bar, and Uruguay won the shoot-out. A young, attacking Germany side beat England 4-1, after a legitimate Frank Lampard goal was not given, and then Argentina 4-0. Thomas Müller received the Golden Boot, and Uruguay's Diego Forlán was named best player.

Beaten by Switzerland in their opening match, Spain went on to win all four of their knockout ties 1-0. In the final in Johannesburg against the Netherlands, Andrés Iniesta scored in the 116th minute to give his country its first world title.

Statistics

Total goals
145
Matches played
64
Goals/match
2.27
Best attack (goals scored)
16
Germany
Best defense (goals conceded)
1
Portugal

First round

Qualified for the next round

Group A

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Uruguay 7 3 2 1 0 4 0 +4
2.Mexico 4 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1
3.South Africa 4 3 1 1 1 3 5 -2
4.France 1 3 0 1 2 1 4 -3
Match results
South Africa - Mexico1 - 1
Uruguay - France0 - 0
South Africa - Uruguay0 - 3
France - Mexico0 - 2
Mexico - Uruguay0 - 1
France - South Africa1 - 2

Group B

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Argentina 9 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6
2.South Korea 4 3 1 1 1 5 6 -1
3.Greece 3 3 1 0 2 2 5 -3
4.Nigeria 1 3 0 1 2 3 5 -2
Match results
Argentina - Nigeria1 - 0
South Korea - Greece2 - 0
Greece - Nigeria2 - 1
Argentina - South Korea4 - 1
Nigeria - South Korea2 - 2
Greece - Argentina0 - 2

Group C

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.United States 5 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1
2.England 5 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1
3.Slovenia 4 3 1 1 1 3 3 0
4.Algeria 1 3 0 1 2 0 2 -2
Match results
England - United States1 - 1
Algeria - Slovenia0 - 1
Slovenia - United States2 - 2
England - Algeria0 - 0
Slovenia - England0 - 1
United States - Algeria1 - 0

Group D

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Germany 6 3 2 0 1 5 1 +4
2.Ghana 4 3 1 1 1 2 2 0
3.Australia 4 3 1 1 1 3 6 -3
4.Serbia 3 3 1 0 2 2 3 -1
Match results
Germany - Australia4 - 0
Serbia - Ghana0 - 1
Germany - Serbia0 - 1
Ghana - Australia1 - 1
Ghana - Germany0 - 1
Australia - Serbia2 - 1

Group E

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Netherlands 9 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4
2.Japan 6 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2
3.Denmark 3 3 1 0 2 3 6 -3
4.Cameroon 0 3 0 0 3 2 5 -3
Match results
Netherlands - Denmark2 - 0
Japan - Cameroon1 - 0
Netherlands - Japan1 - 0
Cameroon - Denmark1 - 2
Denmark - Japan1 - 3
Cameroon - Netherlands1 - 2

Group F

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Paraguay 5 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2
2.Slovakia 4 3 1 1 1 4 5 -1
3.New Zealand 3 3 0 3 0 2 2 0
4.Italy 2 3 0 2 1 4 5 -1
Match results
Italy - Paraguay1 - 1
New Zealand - Slovakia1 - 1
Slovakia - Paraguay0 - 2
Italy - New Zealand1 - 1
Slovakia - Italy3 - 2
Paraguay - New Zealand0 - 0

Group G

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Brazil 7 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3
2.Portugal 5 3 1 2 0 7 0 +7
3.Ivory Coast 4 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1
4.North Korea 0 3 0 0 3 1 12 -11
Match results
Ivory Coast - Portugal0 - 0
Brazil - North Korea2 - 1
Brazil - Ivory Coast3 - 1
Portugal - North Korea7 - 0
Portugal - Brazil0 - 0
North Korea - Ivory Coast0 - 3

Group H

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Spain 6 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2
2.Chile 6 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1
3.Switzerland 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 0
4.Honduras 1 3 0 1 2 0 3 -3
Match results
Honduras - Chile0 - 1
Spain - Switzerland0 - 1
Chile - Switzerland1 - 0
Spain - Honduras2 - 0
Chile - Spain1 - 2
Switzerland - Honduras0 - 0

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Uruguay - South Korea2 - 1
United States - Ghana1 - 2 a.e.t.
Germany - England4 - 1
Argentina - Mexico3 - 1
Netherlands - Slovakia2 - 1
Brazil - Chile3 - 0
Paraguay - Japan0 - 0 a.e.t. (5-3 p)
Spain - Portugal1 - 0

Quarter-finals

Netherlands - Brazil2 - 1
Uruguay - Ghana1 - 1 a.e.t. (4-2 p)
Argentina - Germany0 - 4
Paraguay - Spain0 - 1

Semi-finals

Uruguay - Netherlands2 - 3
Germany - Spain0 - 1

Third place

Uruguay - Germany2 - 3

Final

Netherlands0
Spain1

After extra time

Top Scorers

Rank Player Goals Penalties Goals/match
1 Thomas Müller 5 0 0.83
1 David Villa 5 0 0.71
1 Wesley Sneijder 5 0 0.71
1 Diego Forlán 5 1 0.71
5 Gonzalo Higuaín 4 0 1.00
5 Róbert Vittek 4 1 1.00
5 Miroslav Klose 4 0 0.80
8 Landon Donovan 3 1 0.75
8 Luís Fabiano 3 0 0.60
8 Asamoah Gyan 3 2 0.60
8 Luis Suarez 3 0 0.50
12 Elano 2 0 1.00
12 Brett Holman 2 0 0.67
12 Kalu Uche 2 0 0.67
12 Samuel Etoo 2 1 0.67
12 Tiago 2 0 0.50
12 Robinho 2 0 0.50
12 Keisuke Honda 2 0 0.50
12 Javier Hernández 2 0 0.50
12 Carlos Tevez 2 0 0.50
12 Lee Chungyong 2 0 0.50
12 Lee Jung Soo 2 0 0.50
12 Arjen Robben 2 0 0.40
12 Lukas Podolski 2 0 0.33
12 Andrés Iniesta 2 0 0.33
26 Martín Palermo 1 0 1.00
26 Fabio Quagliarella 1 0 1.00
26 Kamil Kopúnek 1 0 0.50
26 Marko Pantelic 1 0 0.50
26 Dimítrios Salpingídis 1 0 0.50
26 Hugo Almeida 1 0 0.50
26 Tim Cahill 1 0 0.50
26 Jon Dahl Tomasson 1 0 0.50
26 Matt Upson 1 0 0.50
26 Liedson 1 0 0.33
26 Nicklas Bendtner 1 0 0.33
26 Valter Birsa 1 0 0.33
26 Siphiwe Tshabalala 1 0 0.33
26 Dennis Rommedahl 1 0 0.33
26 Yaya Touré 1 0 0.33
26 Shane Smeltz 1 0 0.33
26 Daniele De Rossi 1 0 0.33
26 Romaric 1 0 0.33
26 Cuauhtémoc Blanco 1 1 0.33
26 Rodrigo Millar 1 0 0.33
26 Florent Malouda 1 0 0.33
26 Antonio Di Natale 1 0 0.33
26 Salomon Kalou 1 0 0.33
26 Zlatan Ljubijankic 1 0 0.33
26 Jermain Defoe 1 0 0.33
26 Didier Drogba 1 0 0.33
26 Gelson Fernandes 1 0 0.33
26 Vasílis Torosídis 1 0 0.33
26 Milan Jovanovic 1 0 0.33
26 Yakubu Ayegbeni 1 1 0.33
26 Ji Yun Nam 1 0 0.33
26 Robert Koren 1 0 0.33
26 Bongani Khumalo 1 0 0.33
26 Winston Reid 1 0 0.33
26 Katlego Mphela 1 0 0.33
26 Vincenzo Iaquinta 1 1 0.33
26 Clint Dempsey 1 0 0.25
26 Michael Bradley 1 0 0.25
26 Antolín Alcaraz 1 0 0.25
26 Raul Meireles 1 0 0.25
26 Cristiano Ronaldo 1 0 0.25
26 Rafael Márquez 1 0 0.25
26 Steven Gerrard 1 0 0.25
26 Klaas Jan Huntelaar 1 0 0.25
26 Shinji Okazaki 1 0 0.25
26 Sulley Muntari 1 0 0.25
26 Mark González 1 0 0.25
26 Marcell Jansen 1 0 0.25
26 Cacau 1 0 0.25
26 Simao 1 0 0.25
26 Park Chuyoung 1 0 0.25
26 Gabriel Heinze 1 0 0.25
26 Jean Beausejour 1 0 0.25
26 Park Ji Sung 1 0 0.25
26 Yasuhito Endo 1 0 0.25
26 Alvaro Pereira 1 0 0.20
26 Enrique Vera 1 0 0.20
26 Martín Demichelis 1 0 0.20
26 Juan 1 0 0.20
26 Kevin Prince Boateng 1 0 0.20
26 Cristian Riveros 1 0 0.20
26 Maicon 1 0 0.20
26 Edinson Cavani 1 0 0.17
26 Sami Khedira 1 0 0.14
26 Arne Friedrich 1 0 0.14
26 Giovanni Van Bronckhorst 1 0 0.14
26 Carles Puyol 1 0 0.14
26 Maximiliano Pereira 1 0 0.14
26 Mesut Özil 1 0 0.14
26 Dirk Kuyt 1 0 0.14
26 Robin Van Persie 1 0 0.14