On Soccer Safari

The 2010 World Cup Finals will be contested on the pitches of ten stadiums in nine cities around South Africa.



The draw in Cape Town grouped these teams together.

Group A
A1 - South Africa
A2 - Mexico
A3 - Uruguay
A4 - France

Group B
B1 - Argentina
B2 - Nigeria
B3 - South Korea
B4 - Greece

Group C
C1 - England
C2 - USA
C3 - Algeria
C4 - Slovenia

Group D
D1 - Germany
D2 - Australia
D3 - Serbia
D4 - Ghana

Group E
E1 - Holland
E2 - Denmark
E3 - Japan
E4 - Cameroon

Group F
F1 - Italy
F2 - Paraguay
F3 - New Zealand
F4 - Slovakia

Group G
G1 - Brazi
G2 - North Korea
G3 - Côte d'Ivoire
G4 - Portugal

Group H
H1 - Spain
H2 - Switzerland
H3 - Honduras
H4 - Chile

It's looking very useful for England. Capello gets Rustenburg and the English fans get to visit the coastal venues of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

World Cup - Final Preparations

Of the 32 available slots for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, eight places remain to be decided between now and Wednesday.

After a goaless draw in the Middle East, New Zealand kicked off the final preparations show with a narrow (1-0) victory over Bahrain in Wellington; Mark Paston saving a 51st-minute penalty from Bahrain's Sayed Adnan.

In Africa, Algerian players claim to have been attacked by Egyptian fans as tensions mount.

Three teams are hoping to join Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana at next year's Soccer Safari are: Cameroon (away to Morocco) or Gabon (away to Togo); Algeria or Egypt; and Tunisia (away to Mozambique) or Nigeria (away to Kenya).

In The Americas, Costa Rica play-off against Uruguay.

In Europe, where nine nations have already qualified for the finals, the eight best runners-up will be trying to join them. Due to FIFA seedings for the two-leg play-offs, Bosnia-Herzegovina need to eliminate Portugal, while Slovenia will look to get the better of Russia.

The other pairings are Greece vs Ukraine and Ireland vs France.

The 2010 World Cup Finals Draw will then take place in Cape Town's International Convention Centre, on 4th December at around 7pm local time.

Soccer City - This Time Next Year

In exactly one year from now (June 11th, 2010), South Africa will be kicking off the nineteenth World Cup Finals.

In recent qualifying matches, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Holland have all secured their places, and England are just one win away from joining them.

With four teams already set to join South Africa in the finals, the fans can now look at the 2010 World Cup Finals fixtures and start to plan their trip.

I hope to be in South Africa in December, to look at the new stadiums and report on who will be playing South Africa this time next year, in the new Soccer City - Johannesburg.

First Teams Qualified For South Africa 2010

After the hosts (South Africa), Japan, Australia and South Korea became the first teams to reach the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.

With two rounds still to play in the Asian Qualifying Zone, Australia and Japan have secured the top two spots in Group A; where Bahrain, with a game in hand, could be in the third-place playoffs.

In Group B, North Korea or Saudi Arabia look most likely to join South Korea in automatic qualification, although Iran are still in with a mathmatical chance; if they win their last two games (against UAE and South Korea) while North Korea draw with Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia lose to South Korea.

Euro 2008 - Finally

In case you've just returned from Mars, the Euro 2008 Finals start today with Switzerland opening the tournament against Czech Republic; in Basle, at 6pm.

The weather is rather cold, especially for this time of year but the atmosphere is starting to warm-up.

Switzerland has a large guest-worker population, so there are plenty of flags around reresenting the various nations competing in the finals.

If you're visiting Switzerland over the coming weeks and can't get a ticket to one of the matches, you may want to check out the specially constructed mini-stadiums around the country (UBS Arena) in Aarau, Biel/Bienne, Buchs, Chur, Glarus, Kreuzlingen, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Lausanne, Locarno, Lugano, Nyon, Sion, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thun and Zug.

Of course we'll be bringing you all the games live, if you just want to tune in from your computer.

Match Schedule by Date

Saturday, 7th June
Group A
Basle: Switzerland vs Czech Republic (18.00)
Geneva: Portugal vs Turkey (20.45)

Sunday, 8th June
Group B
Klagenfurt: Germany vs Poland (20.45)
Vienna: Austria vs Croatia (18.00)

Monday, 9th June
Group C
Berne: Netherlands vs Italy (20.45)
Zurich: Romania vs France (18.00)

Tuesday, 10th June
Group D
Innsbruck: Spain vs Russia (18.00)
Salzburg: Greece vs Sweden (20.45)

Wednesday, 11th June
Group A
Basle: Switzerland vs Turkey (20.45)
Geneva: Czech Republic vs Portugal (18.00)

Thursday, 12th June
Group B
Klagenfurt: Croatia vs Germany (18.00)
Vienna: Austria vs Poland (20.45)

Friday, 13th June
Group C
Berne: Netherlands vs France (20.45)
Zurich: Italy vs Romania (18.00)

Saturday, 14th June
Group D
Innsbruck: Sweden vs Spain (18.00)
Salzburg: Greece vs Russia (20.45)

Sunday, 15th June
Group A
Basle: Switzerland vs Portugal (20.45)
Geneva: Turkey vs Czech Republic (20.45)

Monday, 16th June
Group B
Klagenfurt: Poland vs Croatia (20.45)
Vienna: Austria vs Germany (20.45)

Tuesday, 17th June
Group C
Berne: Netherlands vs Romania (20.45)
Zurich: France vs Italy (20.45)

Wednesday, 18th June
Group D
Innsbruck: Russia vs Sweden (20.45)
Salzburg: Greece vs Spain (20.45)

Quarter-finals
Group winners stay in the country they played their group games in, while teams finishing second will be travelling across the border.

The runner up of Group A will have to travel from Switzerland to Vienna for the quarter-final and (if they win that) back to Basel for the semi-final.; then back to Vienna for the final.

Thursday, 19th June (QF1)
Basle: Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group B (20.45)

Friday, 20th June (QF2)
Vienna: Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group A (20.45)

Saturday, 21st June (QF3)
Basle: Winner Group C vs Runner-up Group D (20.45)

Sunday, 22nd June (QF4)
Vienna: Winner Group D vs Runner-up Group C (20.45)

Semi-finals
Wednesday, 25th June (SF1)
Basle: Winner of QF1 vs Winner of QF2 (20.45)

Thursday, 26th June (SF2)
Vienna: Winner of QF3 vs Winner of QF4 (20.45)

2008 European Championships Final
Sunday, 29th June
Vienna: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (20.45)