2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ welcomes the world

The FIFA World Cup has arrived in Africa. After years of preparation the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ kicked off on Friday in Johannesburg. An elaborate ceremony, held in the Soccer City Stadium officially opened the month–long soccer celebration. The ceremony was followed by the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ in which host nation South Africa earned a 1:1 with Mexico in front of 90,000 fans. In the other match on day one of the competition France and Uruguay drew 0:0 at the beautiful Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.



The theme of the 30-minute opening ceremony was “Welcoming the World Home” and featured a cast of over 1,581 world-class artists, dancers, musicians and performers. The official slogan of the tournament is – “Ke Nako” – which means simply – it’s time.



The 64 match tournament will be played out over 31 days in ten stadiums and nine cities. The 32 participating teams have been split up into 8 groups of four. The top two teams from each group will advance from the group stage which will wrap up on 25 June. The round of 16 matches will be played over four days from 26 June to 29 June. From there the tournament will take two rest days before the four quarter finals are played on 2 and 3 July. The first of two semi finals will be played on 6 July in Cape Town’s Green Point stadium, Durban hosts the second semi final on 7 July. The 2010 FIFA World Cup champion will be crowned in the tournament final played on Sunday 11 July at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.



The CONCACAF region is represented by USA, Mexico, and Honduras. Italy is the returning champion having defeated France four years ago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.



The song “Wavin’ Flag,” was chosen as the official anthem of Coca-Cola’s 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa program. It was written and performed by K’naan , the Somalian-born, Canadian artist.