2010 FIBA World Championship Group C, September 2
Côte d'Ivoire had opened a 12-point lead, which was one point shy of seeing them through to the knockout round, before David Huertas hit a three in the closing seconds to make the final margin nine and send both teams home. With the outcome, China was assured of a berth in the quarterfinals by virtue of having the best goal average of the three teams. Brigham Young's Charles Abouo scored 19 points and Mouloukou Diabate added eight assists in the victory. Although falling short in qualifying for the knockout phase, Côte d'Ivoire took some consolation in its first ever victory in fifteen games spread over three FIBA World Championship appearances; Puerto Rico, meanwhile, was left to wonder what could have been after losing four single-digit games by a combined 23 points.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group C, September 2
In the battle for second place, Russia used a 27–6 run late in the third quarter to turn a one-point deficit into a twenty-point lead en route to a 73–69 victory over Greece. A late run came up short for the Greeks, which finished the group 3–2 and advanced to play defending champions and group D runner-up Spain. Timofey Mozgov scored 18 points, as Russia claimed second place and a far more favorable matchup against the third place team in group D, New Zealand.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group C, September 2
In the final game, Turkey jumped out to a 12–2 lead and never looked back in an 87–40 blowout over China to remain undefeated in the group. Oğuz Savaş scored 20 points for the Turks while Ömer Aşık (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Ersan İlyasova each had double-doubles. With China's fourth-place position secure, Chinese stars Yi Jianlian, Liu Wei, and Wang Zhizhi all rested; without their stars, China shot a measly 27 percent (17 of 63) from the field. The hosts advanced to play France, which finished fourth in group D.  Despite its 1–4 record, China advanced to play Lithuania, who won group D with a 5-0 record.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D
Group D of the 2010 FIBA World Championship commenced play on August 28 and ended on September 2, 2010. The group played all of their games at İzmir Halkapınar Sport Hall, İzmir, Turkey.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D
The group was composed of Canada, France, wild cards Lebanon and Lithuania, New Zealand and defending champions Spain. Their average FIBA World Ranking at the start of the tournament was 13.3; excluding Lebanon, the lowest in the rankings, it was 11.2.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D
The four teams with the best records – Lithuania, Spain, New Zealand, and France – advanced to the knockout stage. All four teams advanced to the knockout stage for the second consecutive tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 28
Day 1 of Group D play kicked off on August 28. Lithuania topped New Zealand 93–79 despite a tournament high 37 points from New Zealand's Kirk Penney. Lithuania's big men proved too much for New Zealand in the second quarter, outscoring the Kiwis 25–10. Linas Kleiza scored 27 points, including 11 in the decisive fourth quarter, to lead the Lithuanians.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 28
In the day's second game, Lebanon, the lowest ranked team in the group, turned a nine-point third quarter deficit into a ten-point minor upset victory over Canada. Canada proved unable to stop Lebanon's Fadi El Khatib, who scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The Miami Heat's Joel Anthony scored 17 points in the loss for the Canadians.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 28
In the nightcap, France pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament's first day in beating defending champions Spain 72–66. The French team, lightly regarded coming into the tournament because five of their top players elected not to play, started off slow, missing four shots and turning the ball over three times before scoring their first basket, before outscoring Spain 29–22 in the final quarter for the victory. Twenty-year-old Andrew Albicy, France's youngest player, scored 13 points and made five of six free throws in the last minute to preserve the victory. Juan Carlos Navarro scored a game-high 17 points for Spain, which lost in the first group stage for the first time since 1994.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 29
Canada nearly pulled off Group D's second major upset before falling to Lithuania 70–68. The young Canadians were seemingly cruising to victory, opening up a 17-point third quarter lead before Lithuania ended the quarter on an 11–0 run against Canada's backups to erase most of the deficit. Jermaine Anderson still had a chance to send the game into overtime, but missed a pull-up jumper at the buzzer after receiving Levon Kendall's outlet pass. Linas Kleiza again led unbeaten Lithuania, scoring a game-high 18 points and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 29
In game two, France easily defeated Lebanon 86–59 in a battle of Day 1 winners. France used a 10–0 second quarter run to break open a tie game; from there, France dominated the game, slowed down only when Nicolas Batum's second quarter dunk twisted the rim and delayed the game for 15 minutes. Four French players scored in double digits, led by Mickaël Gelabale's 18 and Alain Koffi's 17.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 29
Spain took out its day one frustration on winless New Zealand, never trailing en route to a 101–84 victory. Five Spanish players reached double figures, led by Marc Gasol's 22 points, and Ricky Rubio dished out a group-stage high 11 assists. New Zealand started out 0–2 for the second consecutive tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 31
Group D returned to action on August 31 following the rest day. New Zealand earned its first victory of the tournament with a convincing 108–76 win over Lebanon. The Kiwis set the tone from the first quarter, scoring five lay-ups in the final minutes of the first quarter to take a 32–16 lead at the quarter break. From there, New Zealand continued to score, shooting 57% from the field, including 11 of 24 (45.8%) from three-point range. Six Kiwis reached double figures in scoring.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 31
For the third consecutive game, Canada took a lead into the fourth quarter only to come up short once again in a 68–63 loss to undefeated France. Canada missed all six of their shots from the field in the final 90 seconds, and Mickaël Gelabale and Nicolas Batum each hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory. Batum was France's sole offensive standout, scoring 24 points, as no other French player had more than eight points.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, August 31
In the nightcap, Spain was upset for the second time in three games, falling to undefeated Lithuania 76–73. Spain jumped out to an 18-point third quarter lead, only to see Lithuania use a 23–5 run to tie the game up with 5:25 left. Linas Kleiza, who again led Lithuania with 17 points, scored four points in the closing seconds to clinch the victory. Down three with six seconds left, Spain had one last chance to send the game into overtime, but Martynas Pocius deflected Raúl López's last second pass and Spain failed to get a shot off. With Spain's loss, both Lithuania and France clinched a spot in the knockout round.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 1
Day 4 effectively became knockout day for Group D.  New Zealand and Spain were in mutually beneficial positions, as both teams would advance if both won. Canada and Lebanon, meanwhile, needed victories to stay alive in the tournament. In the final game of the day, unbeaten France and Lithuania met to determine the group winner.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 1
In the first game, New Zealand eliminated Canada with a 71–61 victory. Canada dropped to 0–4 for the tournament, with all four losses coming by ten points or less. Poor free throw shooting proved to be Canada's undoing, as they finished 15-for-25 from the charity stripe, including 7-of-13 in the third quarter. Kirk Penney, the Kiwis' leading scorer, again led all scorers, this time with 18 points.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 1
In the second game, Spain fell behind early to Lebanon, trailing 22–21 at the quarter break, on the strength of Jackson Vroman's 12 first quarter points. Spain's big men took over from there, however, outscoring Lebanon in the paint 42–10 after the first quarter. Marc Gasol scored 25 points, including 22 in the second and third quarters to pace Spain. Vroman finished with 22 for Lebanon. The victory sent Spain and New Zealand into the knockout stage and eliminated Lebanon from contention.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 1
In the final game of the day, Lithuania used a 28–11 third quarter to top France 69–55 and finish in first place in the group. France's Nicolas Batum scored nine first quarter points as the French jumped out to a 24–11 lead. France's shooting went cold from there, as Lithuania outscored them 47–17 between the start of the second quarter and 7:30 left in the fourth quarter. Jonas Mačiulis scored 19 points to lead Lithuania, while Batum finished with 13 for France. Lithuania clinched a quarterfinal game against the fourth-place finisher from Group C with the win.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 2
With Lithuania, France, Spain, and New Zealand already qualified for the knockout phase, the final day of group play was a battle for second place. With a win, France could lock up second place. Spain and New Zealand could each finish second with a win and help. Seeding was particularly important going into the group's final day of play, as the fourth-place finisher would earn an undesirable matchup with host Turkey, the undefeated Group C winner.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 2
In the first game, Spain beat Canada with ease, sending the Canadians home without a win. Canada trailed by only five at halftime before shooting 3-for-17 in the third quarter to fall behind 63–48. Rudy Fernández and Fran Vázquez each scored 19 for Spain in the victory. With the loss, Canada's losing streak in World Championship group play stretched to nine, with their last win coming against Senegal in 1998. Spain finished group play 3–2; their 1.0705 goal average against New Zealand and France meant that they could finish no worse than third in the group, pending results of the final game.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 2
Lithuania cruised to a victory over Lebanon in a game that would have no impact on either team, regardless of the result. Lebanon's starters were no match for Lithuania's backups, which played the majority of the game with first place already locked up. Lithuania finished the group with a perfect 5–0 record, while Lebanon failed to qualify for the knockout stage for the third consecutive year.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 2
New Zealand and France met in the day's final game with knockout stage positions on the line. Kirk Penney again led the way for the Kiwis, scoring 25 points. New Zealand used a late 10–0 second quarter run to open up a 14-point halftime lead en route to the victory. With New Zealand on their way to victory, the final seconds of the game turned into a shootout in an attempt to win the goal average tiebreaker.


2010 FIBA World Championship Group D, September 2
The Kiwis outscored France 10 to 4 in the final 45 seconds and Thomas Abercrombie's three-pointer with six seconds left clinched third place for New Zealand. France dropped their final two games to finish a disappointing fourth and earn a knockout round matchup with host Turkey. New Zealand's victory meant Spain rebounded from its 1–2 start to finish second in the group.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women
The 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, the 16th edition of FIBA's premier tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held from September 23 to October 3, 2010 in the Czech Republic. Three cities, Ostrava, Brno and Karlovy Vary, hosted games. Four countries initially bid for the event but Australia, France and Latvia withdrew during the bidding process.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women
The USA won its eighth title, extending its own record for the most wins in tournament history. The other medalists—the Czech Republic with silver and Spain with bronze—had not previously medaled at a World Championship. The Czechoslovakia women's team had won six medals in previous World Championships, but FIBA considers the Czech Republic and Slovakia to be separate teams from the former Czechoslovakia. The Czech Republic's Hana Horáková was chosen as the tournament's most valuable player.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women
Pre -tournament favourites USA, Russia, and Australia dominated play in the first two rounds, with the Russia and the USA going undefeated and Australia only losing to the USA in the second round after both teams had guaranteed progression to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, however, Russia and Australia suffered shock defeats to Belarus and the Czech Republic respectively. Meanwhile, the USA cruised into the final with easy wins over injury-ridden South Korea and Spain. After knocking out the defending World Champions, the Czechs defeated Belarus in overtime to set up the final with the USA.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women
In the final the USA were heavy favourites but the Czechs were supported by a partisan crowd of over 6000 that included Czech president Václav Klaus. The USA led for most of the match, but the Czechs were able to keep it close in the first half, trailing only 40-35 at the break. The USA pulled away in the second half to win 89-69.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, Venues
The tournament was held in three cities. The Preliminary Round and the Eighth-final Round was played at Brno and Ostrava, while the Final Round was played at Karlovy Vary.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, Qualification
16 teams participated in the 2010 World Championship for Women. After the 2008 Summer Olympics, the continental allocation for FIBA Americas was reduced by one when the United States won the Olympic tournament, they automatically qualified for the 2010 World Championship.


2010 FIBA World Championship for Women squads
The following is the list of squads for each of the 24 teams competing in the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, held in the Czech Republic between September 23 and October 3, 2010. Each team selected a squad of 12 players for the tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 2010 FIBA World Championship commenced play on September 4, 2010. The teams that finished fourth or higher at their respective preliminary round groups qualify for the knockout stage; the knockout stage is a modified single-elimination tournament, with a third–place game for the losers of the semifinals. The teams played all of their games at Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul, Turkey.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage
Eliminated teams at the quarterfinals played for fifth to eighth places, the loser of the first round play for seventh place, while the winners play for fifth place.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage
In order to give each contest more ticket sales, more TV coverage and more media coverage, the Local Organizing Committee proposed the measure to FIBA to extend the eighth-finals (round of 16)'s schedule to last four days instead of the previously done two days as was done in Saitama. FIBA accepted the proposal.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Serbia vs. Croatia
The first eighth-final round match-up pitted two former Yugoslav republics against each other as Group A winner Serbia met Group B fourth-place finisher Croatia, the first meeting for the teams in a major international tournament. Serbia prevailed 73–72 in a back-and-forth battle that neither team led by more than eight points at any point during the game. Milan Mačvan, Serbia's youngest player at age 20, drained a three-pointer to extend Serbia's lead to 64–57 with 4:24 remaining before Croatia began a late comeback to pull within one at 68–67 with 24 seconds left in the game.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Serbia vs. Croatia
Aleksandar Rašić hit two free throws to extend the lead to three with 21 seconds left before Croatia's Marko Popović answered with two free throws of his own with 15 seconds left. Marko Tomas then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and dished to Popović, who was fouled with 11 seconds left. Popović made only one of two free throws to tie the game at 70 and set up a dramatic finish.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Serbia vs. Croatia
Serbia freed Rašić with a screen on the ensuing inbounds pass and he made an uncontested layup with nine seconds left. Popović was then fouled with 5.9 seconds left, and hit both free throws to tie the game at 72. Serbia inbounded the ball to Rašić, who drove downcourt and was fouled by Croatia's Davor Kus while attempting an off-balance shot with one second left. Rašić made the first and missed the second free throw to give Serbia a one-point victory. Rašić ended up with 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter and five in the final 21 seconds. Croatia's Popović led all scorers with 21 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. The Oklahoma City Thunder's Nenad Krstić scored a team-high 16 points for Serbia.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Spain vs. Greece
The second game of the knockout phase was a rematch of the 2006 FIBA World Championship final between Spain and Greece. Like the previous meeting, Spain prevailed, winning 80–72 over the Greeks. The game was tight for three quarters and Greece led by one entering the final quarter before Spain used an 18–6 run to pull away. Spain switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense to begin the fourth quarter, and Greece could not take advantage, missing nine of 12 three-pointers in the period. Juan Carlos Navarro scored a game-high 22 points and Ricky Rubio dished out six assists for Spain in the victory. Nikolaos Zisis scored 16 points for Greece in the loss.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Spain vs. Greece
With the victory, Spain had eliminated Greece in the knockout stage of each of the previous two FIBA World Championship and Eurobasket tournaments. Spain thus owned a five-game winning streak over the Greeks in major international competitions.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Spain vs. Greece
This represented a reversal of the previous situation, as Greece had defeated Spain in the four previous major international competitions where the two teams had played against each other (1998 FIBA World Championship, Eurobasket 1995, Eurobasket 1993 and 1990 FIBA World Championship), while the last Greek victory over Spain (until a new victory at the Eurobasket 2013) had been in a friendly in Madrid in September, 2005. Following the loss, Greek basketball icon Dimitris Diamantidis – widely acknowledged as one of the best players in the country's history – announced his retirement from the national team.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Slovenia vs. Australia
In the third game of the knockout round, Slovenia cruised over Australia in an 87–58 victory. Australia stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 12–0, and never mounted a challenge against the Group B runner-up Slovenes. By halftime, Australia had nine turnovers while only making six field goals on 22% field goal shooting as Slovenia opened up a 21-point halftime lead. The Aussies were not much better in the second half, finishing 18 of 58 (31 percent) from the field and 2 of 19 from the three-point line. Slovenia, meanwhile, shot 16 of 33 from three-point range, led by Jaka Lakovič's 19 points on 5-of-11 three-point shooting. Goran Dragić added 10 points and 8 assists and all twelve Slovenian players scored as they rolled into the quarterfinal round.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Slovenia vs. Australia
With the victory, Slovenia reached the Quarterfinals in the FIBA World Championship for the first time in their short history, while Australia was knocked out in the Round of 16 for the second consecutive tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Turkey vs. France
Host Turkey prevailed in the day's second big blowout, beating France 95–77. Like Slovenia before them, Turkey never trailed in becoming the fourth consecutive higher-seeded team to advance to the quarterfinals. The Turks used a 21–4 run during the second and third quarters to open up a 15-point halftime lead and a 26-point third quarter lead en route to the 18-point victory. A capacity crowd was out in full force for Turkey, spending most of the second half singing in unison.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Turkey vs. France
Turkey guard Sinan Güler "got the shivers" from the crowd, and fed off the energy with 17 points and three assists. Hedo Türkoğlu was the star for Turkey, scoring 21 points, including four of seven from three-point range, in only 25 minutes of action. Boris Diaw was France's most consistent player in the loss, leading the team in points (21), rebounds (5), and assists (4).


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Turkey vs. France
France was eliminated after losing its third consecutive game, while undefeated hosts Turkey advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight World championship.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, USA vs. Angola
The unbeaten US team cruised to the biggest blowout of the tournament so far, beating African champions Angola 121–66. After leading 12–4 early on the US used a 10–0 run to build a 33–13 first quarter lead and never looked back in the rout. Angola made only five of 18 shots in the first quarter in digging themselves the early hole. In three of four quarters the US scored at least thirty points, while outscoring Angola by 27 in the first and 28 in the second half.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, USA vs. Angola
The US team shot 52.6% from the field, including 47.4% (18/38) from the three-point range. The Americans used their athletic advantages in the rebounding area by outrebounding Angola 48–23 and also recording 28 assists with just five turnovers to show their flawless offensive execution. Angola played the game shorthanded, as the team's leading scorer Olimpio Cipriano sat out with a leg injury. With Cipriano out, Joaquim Gomes scored 21 to lead the Angolan side. All twelve players scored for the United States, and four ended up in double digits. Veteran Chauncey Billups scored a team-high 19 and Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, and Eric Gordon each had 17 points.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, USA vs. Angola
Unbeaten United States assured themselves a top eight finish for the 16th consecutive World Championship, while Angola failed to qualify for the quarterfinals for the second straight tournament. Despite the loss, Angola became the first African team to qualify for the knockout stage of back-to-back tournaments.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Russia vs. New Zealand
Russia provided the fourth blowout in a row by beating New Zealand 78–56. The "Tall Blacks" jumped out to an early 9–2 lead in the first quarter and ended the first quarter with a two-point advantage. The Russians then played impressive defense to regain a four-point lead at half. When New Zealand's stars Kirk Penney and Mika Vukona were sent to the bench with their fourth fouls midway through the third quarter, Russia blew the game open with a 13–0 run to expand a 38–35 lead to 51–35.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Russia vs. New Zealand
The Kiwis were unable to cut the deficit below eight as Russia cruised to a 22-point victory. The Russian defense, despite the absence of injured star forward Viktor Khryapa, held New Zealand to 56 points, well below their pre-knockout stage average of 84.8 points per game. Andrey Vorontsevich had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Russians and Timofey Mozgov chipped in 16 points of his own while Anton Ponkrashov dished out 7 assists.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Russia vs. New Zealand
The Kiwis' leading scorer Kirk Penney again led New Zealand with 21 points despite his limited playing time and Thomas Abercrombie ended his impressive play at the World Championship with 13 points. New Zealand just shot 31.2% (15 of 48) from the field and 5 of 24 from beyond the arc.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Russia vs. New Zealand
Russia became the fifth European team to reach the quarterfinals and the sixth straight higher seeded team to advance. With New Zealand's loss, both Oceania teams were knocked out in the eighth finals for the second consecutive World Championship.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Lithuania vs. China
Group D winner Lithuania continued the European dominance at this World Championship by beating China 78–67 to become the sixth European team in the quarterfinals. China got off to a good start and led 16–5 early on and by five points after the first quarter. Lithuania came back to outscore China by eight in the second quarter to take a three-point lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Lithuania locked down the Chinese offense by just allowing eleven points to stretch their lead to 13.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Lithuania vs. China
China attempted to make it a close game in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead down to six before Lithuania's Linas Kleiza scored ten unanswered points to put the game away. Kleiza was the player of the match for Lithuania, scoring 30 points and also grabbing 9 rebounds. Liu Wei scored 21 points for the Chinese team, while team scoring leader Yi Jianlian scored 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Lithuania vs. China
China failed to reach the quarterfinals for the third straight year, although they were knocked the last Asian team standing for the third consecutive tournament. Lithuania reached the quarterfinal stage for the third time in their history and remains to be one of three unbeaten teams in this tournament together with the USA and Turkey.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Argentina vs. Brazil
The last eighth final match featured a South American rivalry between Argentina and Brazil. The game quickly turned into a run and gun spectacle in which no team had a bigger lead than four. The game was tied at 25–25 after the back-and-forth first quarter. Brazil took a narrow 48–46 lead into the halftime break. The third quarter was the lowest scoring quarter, as Argentina made a small comeback to tie the game. The fourth quarter was all about offense again with Leandro Barbosa and Hernán Jasen hitting threes after each other.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Argentina vs. Brazil
In the end, Luis Scola made the difference with his stellar performance of 37 points and 9 rebounds. The 37 points tied Kirk Penney's tournament high in points. Marcelo Huertas gave the Brazilian team a lift by scoring 34 points. Barbosa added 20 points of his own, as did Carlos Delfino of Argentina. In the shootout, Argentina shot 57.9% from the field, including 61.1% (11/18) from three-point range, while Brazil shot 53.7% and hit half of their shots from behind the arc (12/24).


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Eighth–finals, Argentina vs. Brazil
With the win, Argentina is assured of finishing in the first eight places for the fourth consecutive time, while one-time powerhouse Brazil failed to medal for the eighth straight World Championship.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Serbia vs. Spain
Serbia avenged their EuroBasket 2009 gold medal game loss in the first quarterfinal against Spain in a tight 92–89 victory. Both teams got off to a hot start in the early going, before Serbia went on a quick 10–0 run after Spain's Jorge Garbajosa had tied the game at 13 with a three-pointer at 13. Serbia got a great start from Nemanja Bjelica and Novica Veličković, who scored a combined 21 points in the first quarter. Despite this, Spain came back to cut the lead to just four at the first quarter break. Serbia stretched their lead in the second quarter and went into halftime with an eight-point advantage.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Serbia vs. Spain
In the third quarter, Spain outscored the Serbian team by five to make it a three-point game heading into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was a back-and forth affair in which both teams went onto runs before it came down to the last seconds. Serbia found themselves up by eight points at several points in the quarter, but could not put the Spaniards away.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Serbia vs. Spain
Serbia was holding onto a slim 89–84 lead with a bit over one minute left before Juan Carlos Navarro made a three-pointer before dishing to Marc Gasol on the next possession as Spain tied the game at 89 with 25.8 seconds left in the game. On its final possession, Serbia ran the clock down until five seconds left when Miloš Teodosić took advantage of Spain's defense to make a long three-pointer with just 3.1 seconds left.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Serbia vs. Spain
Spain took a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, but Garbajosa fumbled the inbound pass and Veličković jumped on the ball to seal the victory. Serbia displayed great team play with having six players in double-figures and recording 18 assists while hitting half of their shots from three-point range (15/30). Navarro's 27 points were not enough for Spain in the losing effort. Ricky Rubio ran into foul trouble in the fourth quarter and was held to a tournament-low three assists by Serbia.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Turkey vs. Slovenia
Turkey won the second quarterfinal against Slovenia in a blowout fashion 95–68 in front of an electric home crowd. Slovenia came out strong early on, led by Boštjan Nachbar, who scored seven of the team's first ten points, to take a 10–6 lead. Turkey came back with a 20–5 run to take the lead 27–14 after the first quarter. From there, the game was never in doubt; Slovenia was never able to cut the lead to single digits at any point after the first quarter.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Turkey vs. Slovenia
In the second quarter, Turkey's bench gave them a lift by taking a 19-point lead at halftime. Turkey shot the ball well, hitting eight of eleven from three-point range in the first half. Turkey outscored Slovenia by nine in the third quarter to take a comfortable 71–43 lead into the last quarter. The last quarter was essentially a victory lap for the Turkish team, as the starters took places on the bench to give playing time to the second unit.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Turkey vs. Slovenia
Turkey ended the game hitting a tournament-high 71% of the field, 10 of 17 from behind the arc, and recording 24 assists. Slovenia meanwhile struggled offensively, shooting just 35.7% from the field. Ersan İlyasova scored 19 points to lead Turkey. Eleven of twelve Turkish players scored and Hedo Türkoğlu dished out with 7 assists. Sani Bečirovič and Nachbar both had 16 points for the Slovenian team.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Turkey vs. Slovenia
With the victory, Turkey became the first host team to reach the final four since Greece advanced to the semifinals at the 1998 FIBA World Championship in Athens. The Turks also assured themselves of their best ever performance at the World Championship. Slovenia improved upon 2006's eighth final performance, reaching the quarterfinals in their second ever World Championship appearance.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, USA vs. Russia
The United States and Russia reignited their rivalry in the quarterfinals on the thirty-eighth anniversary of the Soviet Union's gold medal victory over the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics. On this occasion, the Americans prevailed, winning 89–79 to reach the semifinals. In the first half, the Russians looked to give the Americans a stiff challenge, as big men Andrey Vorontsevich (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Timofey Mozgov (13 points (9 in the first quarter), 4 rebounds) controlled the middle.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, USA vs. Russia
The United States struggled from the field, missing 17 of their first 25 shots as Russia built a 35–30 lead midway through the second quarter. On the verge of trailing at halftime for only the second time in the tournament, the Americans answered with a quick 12–0 run and entered halftime with a five-point lead.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, USA vs. Russia
Leading 50–45 in the third quarter, Russell Westbrook sparked the United States with seven points and three steals over a three-minute stretch in the third quarter to help the United States open up a 65–50 lead. The Americans dominated from there, leading by as many as 17 and never letting Russia back within single digits en route to the victory. Kevin Durant scored a game-high 33 points as the Americans moved two wins away from their first World Championship since 1994.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, USA vs. Russia
Westbrook scored ten of his twelve points in the second half to spark the Americans, while Lamar Odom added 12 rebounds. Sergei Bykov scored a game-high 17 points for Russia, while Russian big men Vorontsevich, Mozgov, and Sergei Monia performed well, helping the Russians outrebound the Americans 45–38. Turnovers proved Russia's undoing, however, as the quick American team forced 18 turnovers, including 14 steals.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, USA vs. Russia
With the victory, the United States moves to the semifinals with a perfect 7–0 record for the second consecutive World Championship. Russia fell to the consolation bracket, although their quarterfinal appearance assured they would have their best result since finishing second at the 1998 FIBA World Championship.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Lithuania vs. Argentina
Lithuania blew out Argentina in the last quarterfinal of the tournament 104–85. The game started even before Lithuania went on an 8–0 run to lead 17–10 midway through the first quarter. Argentina answered with a 5–0 run on their own but Lithuania closed out the quarter 11–3 to stretch the lead to ten. From there, the game was never really in doubt after Lithuania hit their first eight three-pointers and the lead grew to twenty (50–30) at halftime.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Lithuania vs. Argentina
The third quarter started with a quick 6–0 run for Lithuania to stretch the lead to 26 before Pablo Prigioni finally made the first three-pointer of the day for Argentina, after missing their first eleven, with 4:47 left in the third quarter. The lead was 32 after three quarters until a late run by Argentina brought the final deficit down to 19. All seven players that scored for Lithuania ended up in double-figures, led by Simas Jasaitis with 19. Linas Kleiza, the Lithuanians' high scorer for the tournament, scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Lithuania vs. Argentina
Carlos Delfino was the leading scorer for Argentina with 25, while the overall tournament scoring leader Luis Scola struggled by hitting just five of his 13 shots for 13 points. Argentina made only four of their 21 tries from behind the arc, while Lithuania made half of their shots from three-point range (12 of 24).


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Quarter–finals, Lithuania vs. Argentina
Number-one ranked Argentina lost in the quarterfinals after reaching the semifinals at each of their last four major international tournaments (two Olympics and two World Championships). Unbeaten Lithuania qualified for the World Championship semifinals for the first time in their history, after finishing seventh in each of their first two appearances (1998 and 2006). All four group winners advanced to the semifinals for the second straight time under the new format that FIBA unveiled in 2006.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Spain vs. Slovenia
Defending world champions Spain overcame a sluggish start to beat Slovenia 97–80 in the first consolation round game. The pre-tournament favorites showed some signs of wear after their emotional quarterfinal loss to Serbia in the early going, missing eight of their first ten shots, as Slovenia opened up a seven-point first quarter lead. From there, Spain settled in and the lead changed hands several times over the next two quarters before Spain entered the fourth quarter leading 64–62.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Spain vs. Slovenia
Sergio Llull hit his only two baskets of the game, both three-pointers, and Juan Carlos Navarro added two more threes as Spain blew the game open with a 15–6 late run. The Spaniards eventually won by seventeen in a game that was far closer than the final score line indicates. Navarro led Spain with 26 points, while Rudy Fernández and Fran Vázquez pitched in with 16 each. Jaka Lakovič and Goran Dragić paced Slovenia with 19 points each. With the victory, Spain kept its hopes alive for finishing in the top five in four consecutive World Championship tournaments.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Russia vs. Argentina
The second consolation bracket game was all Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino as the Argentine duo combined for 53 of Argentina's 73 total points in a 73–61 victory over Russia. The game was a tight defensive struggle for most of the game before Argentina used a late fourth quarter run to pull away. Russia had gotten within two at 58–56 on Timofey Mozgov's bucket with 6:50 to play before Argentina outscored the Russians 17–5 the rest of the way. Only four players scored more than one basket for Argentina, with Fabricio Oberto adding 10 and Pablo Prigioni scoring 5. Mozgov scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace Russia, while Sergei Monia scored a team-high 17 points.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Russia vs. Argentina
With the victory, Argentina advances to the fifth-place game versus Spain, in a rematch of the 2006 FIBA World Championship semifinal. Many predicted that this matchup – between world number one Argentina and defending champion Spain – could be for the final before the tournament. Russia will face Slovenia in the seventh place game.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Seventh–place game
Russia ended their World Championship campaign with a victory after beating Slovenia 83–78. Slovenia outplayed Russia in a sloppy first half that included only four total points in the first five minutes of the second quarter. Slovenia used a late 7–0 run to lead 37–30 at halftime. Slovenia opened up the second half with a quick run to lead by 14 midway through the third quarter before Russia trimmed the lead back down to seven at the end of the third quarter.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Seventh–place game
Russia started the fourth quarter strong with a 12–0 run to take the lead 64–62 before Slovenia made two three-pointers to take back the lead. Vitaly Fridzon was the Russian hero of the day as he scored 15 of his 17 points in the final quarter. Slovenian star Boštjan Nachbar chipped in 11 of his game-high 20 points in the final six minutes, including a three-pointer that gave Slovenia a five-point 74–69 lead with 2:31 left. Russia answered with a 14–4 run in the last 2:15, led by Timofey Mozgov, who scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the final 82 seconds of the game.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Seventh–place game
After finished 12th at the last World Championships, Slovenia achieved the eighth place, the best finish in their short history, while Russia ended up in seventh place for its best finish since 1998.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Fifth–place game
Spain and Argentina met in the fifth place game in a match billed by the media as the "clash for crumbs" after both teams fell short of expectations as pre-tournament favorites. The majority of the game was surprisingly uncompetitive, as Argentina never trailed at any point in the game. After extending a 17-point halftime lead to 25 on Carlos Delfino's three-pointer with 6:45 left in the third quarter, Spain mounted a furious comeback.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Fifth–place game
Rudy Fernández scored eleven points and Sergio Llull added seven more during a 28–6 run over the last 6:30 of the third quarter that trimmed Argentina's lead to 65–62 entering the final quarter. From there, the Spaniards could never get over the hump, as Argentina hung onto the narrow lead.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Fifth–place game
After Marc Gasol hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 80 with 2:11 left – the first tie since it was 4–4 in the opening minutes – Luis Scola made a basket and Pablo Prigioni followed with a dagger three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Argentina a commanding four-point lead with 15 seconds left.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Fifth–eighth classification, Fifth–place game
Fernández led all scorers with 31 points in the losing effort. Argentine stars Delfino (27 points), Scola (22 points, 11 rebounds), and Prigioni (17 points, 7 assists) continued to pace Argentina. With his 22 points, Scola likely locked up the tournament's scoring title; only a monumental performance from the USA's Kevin Durant could top him. The Argentines sealed fifth place after finishing second and fourth in the last two World Championships while the Spaniards finished below fifth place for the first time since 1994.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, USA vs. Lithuania
The US team continued their unbeaten streak at the World Championship by beating Lithuania 89–74. In the first quarter, Lithuania held an early 11–9 lead before the US took the game over with 12 unanswered points, while holding Lithuania without a field goal over a six-minute stretch in the first and second quarters. Kevin Durant was the star early on as he outscored the entire Lithuanian team with 17 points in the first quarter. The Lithuanians finished the first quarter by missing their final eight shots after starting out shooting 5-for-8.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, USA vs. Lithuania
The Americans led by eleven to start the second quarter and were able to grow the lead to 17 at halftime. Lithuania made an early push in the third period to cut the lead to ten before the USA answered with a 9–0 run to widen the lead to 19. Tomas Delininkaitis scored eight points in a row to bring his team back within 10, but the Lithuanians could not cut the lead to single digits. Late in the fourth quarter, Durant put the game away with his fifth three-pointer to give the USA an 84–67 lead en route to the fifteen-point victory.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, USA vs. Lithuania
Durant was the top scorer with a tournament-high 38 points, topping the all-time US record for most points in a game. Lamar Odom had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go along 3 blocked shots, while Andre Iguodala recorded four steals and held Lithuanian top scorer Linas Kleiza to just four points on 1 for 11 shooting, the only time all tournament that he was held in single digits. Robertas Javtokas led Lithuania with 15 points, and was the only Lithuanian scorer to shoot more than 50% on the afternoon.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, USA vs. Lithuania
Lithuania will play in the bronze medal game and have a chance to win a medal for the first time in their history, while the USA put themselves to win a record-setting fourth title that would be its first since the 1994 World Championship. With the victory, the USA assured that they will regain the Number One ranking in the FIBA World Ranking from Argentina following the tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, Serbia vs. Turkey
The second semifinal provided the most thrilling finish of the tournament as the hosts were able to keep their magical run alive with an 83–82 victory over Serbia. Serbia controlled the game for much of the first half, leading by three at the end of the first quarter before growing their lead to 7 in the second quarter to lead 42–35 at halftime. Turkey came out firing in the second half, scoring 25 in the third quarter to cut the lead to three before the fourth quarter.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, Serbia vs. Turkey
Turkey hung tight for most of the second half, never leading but never falling behind by double digits as Serbia could not separate themselves from the Turks. Serbian star Miloš Teodosić hit a three-pointer with 5:36 left to give Serbia a 72–64 lead to match their biggest lead of the game. Turkey came roaring back following Teodosić's three, going on a 14–3 run over the next two minutes. Kerem Tunçeri, who scored eight of Turkey's 14 points during the run, hit a three-pointer with 3:25 left gave Turkey its first lead since it was 4–3 early in the first quarter to set up the thrilling finish.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, Serbia vs. Turkey
After both teams exchanged free throws over the next few minutes, Serbia got the lead back with 28 seconds left when Marko Kešelj hit two free throws. On the ensuing possession, Turkey's Semih Erden got a dunk and a foul with 16.8 seconds to go. He missed the free throw and Serbia had the chance to win it. Novica Veličković hit a shot with four seconds left to give Serbia an 82–81 lead and set up a frantic finish.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, Serbia vs. Turkey
After a timeout, Turkey inbounded the ball to Hedo Türkoğlu near midcourt; Türkoğlu mishandled the ball but it fell right to Tunçeri who drove along the baseline for an uncontested layup as the buzzer sounded, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. An official review put 0.5 seconds back on the clock, and Serbia had one last chance for a miracle. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Duško Savanović hit a streaking Veličković in front of the basket for an alley-oop, but Erden got a hand on the ball to deflect the shot and preserve the historic victory for Turkey.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, Serbia vs. Turkey
Tunçeri was the hero for Turkey, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the final 5:16, while Türkoğlu scored a team-high 16 points. Big men Kešelj (18 points, 7 rebounds) and Nenad Krstić (15 points, 7 rebounds) paced Serbia in the loss. Teodosić continued his strong tournament performance, tying a tournament high with 11 assists. With the victory, Turkey advanced to the final against the US, ensuring themselves their first ever FIBA World Championship medal in the process. They are the first host team to make the final since Yugoslavia in 1970. Serbia, unable to win a third straight knockout stage game in the final seconds, will play in the bronze medal game against Lithuania in an attempt to win a third medal in the last four World Championship tournaments.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Semifinals, Serbia vs. Turkey
After the game, Serbian players and media blamed the referees and FIBA for their loss, because of several decisions in the last minutes of the game they deemed suspicious. A few days after the game, Serbian media have published an amateur video showing Kerem Tunçeri stepping out of bounds before making the decisive last-second layup for Turkish victory.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Third–place game
In the bronze medal match, it was all about offense as Lithuania defeated Serbia 99–88. Serbia got the better start, and led 18–9 midway through the first quarter before Lithuania came back with a 14–4 run to take a one-point lead at the first break. In the second quarter, Lithuania used their hot shooting and some minor runs to open up a ten-point halftime lead. The third quarter was more of the same; Lithuania was the better team and extended their lead to 22 at one point before Serbia cut the lead to 18 heading into the final quarter. Neither team missed many shots in the back-and-forth final quarter. Serbia could not cut the deficit below double digits, as Lithuania shot consistently and hung on for the 11-point victory.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Third–place game
Serbia shot 60.5% on two-point shots but made just six of 17 from behind the arc while Lithuania shot 52.2% from three-point range and 59% overall. Linas Kleiza bounced back from his poor performance yesterday and scored 33 points on 12 of 18 shooting, and Simas Jasaitis had a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds. Novica Veličković led Serbia with 18 points while Aleksandar Rašić dished out ten assists. With the victory, Lithuania won their first ever medal at a World Championship. Serbia finished in fourth place in their first tournament competing under the name Serbia, after previous appearances as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.


2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage, Final
In a matchup of the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the tournament, USA captured its record-setting fourth World Championship with an 81–64 victory over Turkey. Kevin Durant again led the Americans, scoring 28 points while Lamar Odom added 15 points and 11 rebounds. With the title, USA also qualifies for the 2012 Summer Olympic tournament. Hosts Turkey ended their fantastic tournament run in front of the home crowd by capturing the silver medal, its first medal of any kind in one of the two major international tournaments.


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification
Qualifying for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey commenced as early as 2007 and will culminate in the five continental championships in each of the five FIBA zones. The final ranking of each continental championship determines which teams go to Turkey for the world championship, with FIBA allocating slots partly based on a zone's strength.


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification
In addition to the host, the gold medalists in the 2008 Olympic basketball championship are also allocated automatic berths to the championship. Teams that failed to crack the top positions in their respective continental championships may still be selected as wild cards to fill out the 24-team cast.


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification
A total of 106 countries participated in qualification to the world championship. This is less than in the 2010 FIFA World Cup (204) and 2010 FIVB Men's World Championship (109), but more than the 2011 Rugby World Cup (98) and the 2011 Cricket World Cup (about 100).


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification, Qualified teams
Turkey is automatic qualifier as the host country. The USA also received an automatic berth for winning the 2008 Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification, Qualified teams
Eighteen other teams qualified through continental qualifying tournaments, and FIBA invited four more "wild card" teams to fill out the 24-team field. Each FIBA zone is allocated a certain amount of automatic berths based upon the strength of its zone: the weakest zone, Oceania, gets only two automatic berths each, while Europe gets six.


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification, Qualified teams
The draw for the championship will take place in Istanbul on December 15, 2009.


2010 FIBA World Championship qualification, Summary
These are the final standings of the different World Championship qualifying tournaments. The venues are as follows, with the city of the knockout stage mentioned first:


2010 FIBA World Championship squads
The 2010 FIBA World Championship included 24 teams that competed in Turkey between August 28 and September 12, 2010. Each team selected a squad of 12 players for the tournament. Final squads for the tournament were due on August 26, two days before the start of competition.


2010 FIBA World Championship squads
Angola and the United States were the only teams made up of entirely domestic players (Jordan and Russia each had 11 domestic players). Slovenia and Canada were the only teams composed entirely of players playing outside the domestic league, although at the time of the tournament Canada had no pro league exclusive to the country, instead competing in several U.S.-Canada cross-border professional and semi-professional leagues. Forty-one National Basketball Association players were selected to compete in the tournament, the most of any league. In all, thirty countries had at least one player from their league system participate in the tournament.


2010 FIBA World Championship squads, Player statistics
The following tables list the player participation by national domestic league systems and the most represented clubs at the time of the tournament. League totals include players playing in all levels of each country's basketball league system. Whenever possible, links go to the highest professional league of the associated country.


2010 FIBA World Championship squads, Player statistics
The United States' total includes 41 professional NBA players (three of whom played for the Toronto Raptors, based in Canada), seven amateur NCAA players, and one amateur NJCAA player.


2010 FIBA World Championship squads, Player statistics
The total for Australia includes four players on the New Zealand squad who played for the New Zealand Breakers, a team that has competed in Australia's National Basketball League since 2003. For consistency, the New Zealand total includes only players who competed in that country's National Basketball League.


2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or
The 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the inaugural year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The gala is a continuation of the FIFA World Player Gala and a result of merging the FIFA Men's World Player of the Year award with the Ballon d'Or, previously created and presented by France Football to the top men's player in Europe. The awards ceremony took place on 10 January 2011 in Zürich, Switzerland. The three finalists for each category were announced on 6 December 2010.


2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or
La Masia, the FC Barcelona academy, achieved a record breaking honor in becoming the first youth academy ever to have all three finalists for the Ballon d'Or in one same year, with Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi. Messi won the award, his second consecutive Ballon d'Or victory.


2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or
Marta won the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award, her fifth in a row.


2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or
José Mourinho, Portuguese manager of Real Madrid and previously of Internazionale, was the first winner of the men's FIFA World Coach of the Year award in 2010. The women's version of the award was won by Germany head coach Silvia Neid.


2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Winners and nominees, FIFA Ballon d'Or
The following 20 men were also in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010:


2010 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the 7th FIFA Club World Cup and was hosted by the United Arab Emirates. Other countries that placed bids were Australia and Japan. Portugal had initially placed a bid, but later withdrew from the process.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup
Barcelona were the defending champions, but could not defend their title after being eliminated in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League semi-finals.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup
The tournament marked the first time in its history that a team from outside Europe or South America reached the final, after Africa's TP Mazembe of DR Congo defeated South America's Internacional of Brazil in the semi-finals. However, Mazembe were unable to pass the final hurdle, as they lost 3–0 to Italy's Internazionale (representing Europe) in the final. It was Inter's third world title, having won the Club World Cup's predecessor – the Intercontinental Cup – in 1964 and 1965.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup, Qualified teams
1 In bold: Previous tournament winners (Internacional was the first previous winner to participate again in the tournament)


2010 FIFA Club World Cup, Venues
Abu Dhabi was the only city to serve as a venue for the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup, Bracket
A draw was held on 27 October 2010 at the FIFA Headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland to decide the matchups for the two quarter-finals.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup, Matches
If a match was tied after normal playing time, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shootout would be held to determine the winner. However, for the fifth-place and third-place matches, no extra time would be played, and if tied the match would go straight to a penalty shootout to determine the winner.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup Final
The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup Final was the final match of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup, an association football tournament for the champion clubs from each of FIFA's six continental confederations. The match took place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on 18 December 2010, and pitted TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the CAF club champions, against Internazionale of Italy, the UEFA club champions. It was the first time that a club from outside Europe or South America was involved in contesting the final.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup Final
Inter won the final 3–0 over TP Mazembe. Goran Pandev and Samuel Eto'o scored two goals in the first half before Jonathan Biabiany scored the third goal in the 85th minute to secure the first title for Inter Milan.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees: Toru Sagara (Japan) Toshiyuki Nagi (Japan)Fourth official: Victor Carrillo (Peru)Reserve assistant referee: Jorge Yupanqui (Peru)


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads
The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 8 December to 18 December 2010. The final 23-man squads had to be submitted by 29 November, with all members of the final squad taken from the provisional list. All players were required to be registered with squad numbers between 1 and 23, unless they were registered for their domestic league with a different number. In the event of an injury to one of the players on the final list, that player may be replaced with a player from the provisional list no less than 24 hours before his team's first match in the competition.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Al Wahda
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Hekari United
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Internacional
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Internazionale
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Pachuca
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA Club World Cup squads, TP Mazembe
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
The 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup women's football tournament is the second such tournament, and was held in Trinidad and Tobago from 5 to 25 September 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, in which Trinidad and Tobago had a guaranteed place as the host nation.


2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, Qualified teams
On 30 June 2010, President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan announced he would suspend the Nigeria Football Federation from FIFA competition for 2 years. This put the Flamingoes place at the competition in jeopardy. On 5 July 2010, the ban was lifted.


2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, Venues
During preparation four stadia were constructed in 2001. These four venues along with Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad are the venues for the women's competition.


2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, Group stage
The opening phase of the tournament comprised four groups of four teams, with the top two sides in each section advancing to the quarter-finals. The final draw to determine the groups took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on May 5, 2010.


2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, Group stage
If more than two or more teams are still tied after that:


2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup squads
The following is a list of squads for each nation competing at the second FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago.


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later from July 13 to August 1, 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, were taking part in the final competition, in which Germany had a guaranteed place as the host nation.


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Qualified teams, Nigerian team ban
On June 30, 2010, President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan announced he would suspend the Nigeria Football Federation from FIFA competition for 2 years. This put the Falconets place at the competition in jeopardy. On July 5, 2010, the ban was lifted.


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Final draw
No two teams from the same confederation were to be drawn in the same group, with the exception of Group A, which would include two European teams.


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Group stage
The ranking of each team in each group was determined as follows:


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Group stage
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Group stage
It has been decided by FIFA to remove the use of the fair play point system as an option to determine the rankingof teams at the conclusion of the group phase (art. 25 par. 5g).


2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup squads
This article lists the squads for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, held in Germany. Each competing federation was allowed a 21-player squad, which had to be submitted to FIFA no later than 25 June.


2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals.


2010 FIFA World Cup
The matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the opening and final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These 16 teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.


2010 FIFA World Cup
In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time losing finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first world title. Spain became the eighth nation to win the tournament and the first European nation to win a World Cup hosted outside its home continent: all previous World Cups held outside Europe had been won by South American nations. They are also the only national team since 1978 to win a World Cup after losing a game in the group stage. As a result of their win, Spain represented the World in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.


2010 FIFA World Cup
Host nation South Africa and both 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament. It was the first time that the hosts had been eliminated in the first round. New Zealand, with their three draws, were the only undefeated team in the tournament, but they were also eliminated in the first round.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a short-lived rotation policy, abandoned in 2007, to rotate the event among football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup: Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and a joint bid from Libya and Tunisia.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
The winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich; in the first round of voting, South Africa received 14 votes, Morocco received 10 votes and Egypt no votes. South Africa, which had narrowly failed to win the right to host the 2006 event, was thus awarded the right to host the tournament.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
Campaigning for South Africa to be granted host status, Nelson Mandela had previously spoken of the importance of football in his life, stating that while incarcerated in Robben Island prison playing football "made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in". With South Africa winning their bid, an emotional Mandela raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt, and, reportedly, some FIFA executives expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's preparations. FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, stating that a contingency plan existed only to cover natural catastrophes, as had been in place at previous FIFA World Cups.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection, Bribery and corruption
On 28 May 2015, media covering the 2015 FIFA corruption case reported that high-ranking officials from the South African bid committee had secured the right to host the World Cup by paying US$10 million in bribes to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and to other FIFA Executive Committee members.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection, Bribery and corruption
On 4 June 2015, FIFA executive Chuck Blazer, having co-operated with the FBI and the Swiss authorities, confirmed that he and the other members of FIFA's executive committee were bribed in order to promote the South African 1998 and 2010 World Cup bids. Blazer stated, "I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup."


2010 FIFA World Cup, Host selection, Bribery and corruption
On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had actually won the vote, but South Africa was awarded the tournament instead.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007. As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament. As happened in the previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification. With a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, the 2010 World Cup shares with the 2008 Summer Olympics the record for most competing nations in a sporting event.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Some controversies arose during the qualifications. In the second leg of the play-off between France and the Republic of Ireland, French captain Thierry Henry, unseen by the referee, handled the ball in the lead up to a late goal, which enabled France to qualify ahead of Ireland, sparking widespread comment and debate. FIFA rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to replay the match, and Ireland later withdrew a request to be included as an unprecedented 33rd World Cup entrant. As a result, FIFA announced a review into the use of technology or extra officials at the highest level, but decided against the widely expected fast-tracking of goal-line referee's assistants for the South African tournament.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Costa Rica complained over Uruguay's winning goal in the CONMEBOL–CONCACAF playoff, while Egypt and Algeria's November 2009 matches were surrounded by reports of crowd trouble. On the subject of fair play, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said:


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
I appeal to all the players and coaches to observe this fair play. In 2010 we want to prove that football is more than just kicking a ball but has social and cultural value ... So we ask the players 'please observe fair play' so they will be an example to the rest of the world.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Slovakia was making its first appearance as an independent nation but had previously been represented as part of the Czechoslovakia team that had last played in the 1990 tournament; North Korea qualified for the first time since 1966; Honduras and New Zealand were both making their first appearances since 1982; and Algeria were at the finals for the first time since the 1986 competition. Serbia also made its first appearance as an independent nation, having previously been present as Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1930, as SFR Yugoslavia from 1950 to 1990, as FR Yugoslavia in 1998 and as Serbia and Montenegro in 2006.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Teams that failed to qualify for this tournament included Saudi Arabia, which had qualified for the previous four tournaments; Tunisia and Croatia, both of whom had qualified for the previous three finals; Costa Rica, Ecuador, Poland and Sweden, who had qualified for the previous two editions; 2006 quarter-finalists Ukraine and Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia and Turkey. The highest ranked team not to qualify was Croatia (ranked 10th), while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was North Korea (ranked 105th).


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
As of 2018, this was the last time South Africa, New Zealand, North Korea, Paraguay, Slovakia and Slovenia qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, and the last time Costa Rica, Colombia, Iran, Belgium, Croatia and Russia failed to qualify.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Qualification, List of qualified teams
The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Preparations
Five new stadiums were built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues were upgraded. Construction costs were expected to be R8.4 billion (just over US$1 billion or €950 million).


2010 FIFA World Cup, Preparations
South Africa also improved its public transport infrastructure within the host cities, including Johannesburg's Gautrain and other metro systems, and major road networks were improved. In March 2009, Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, reported that all stadiums for the tournament were on schedule to be completed within six months.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Preparations
The country implemented special measures to ensure the safety and security of spectators in accordance with standard FIFA requirements, including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Preparations
At a ceremony to mark 100 days before the event, FIFA president Sepp Blatter praised the readiness of the country for the event.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Preparations, Construction strike
On 8 July 2009, 70,000 construction workers who were working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or US$313), but the unions alleged that some workers were grossly underpaid. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike would go on until FIFA assessed penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The strike was swiftly resolved and workers were back at work within a week of it starting. There were no further strikes and all stadiums and construction projects were completed in time for the kick off.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Prize money
The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as US$420 million (including payments of US$40 million to domestic clubs), a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament. Before the tournament, each of the 32 entrants received US$1 million for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, the prize money was distributed as follows:


2010 FIFA World Cup, Prize money
In a first for the World Cup, FIFA made payments to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament. This saw a total of US$40 million paid to domestic clubs.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Prize money
This was the result of an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 group and drop their claims for compensation dating back to 2005 over the financial cost of injuries sustained to their players while on international duty, such as that from Belgian club Charleroi S.C. for injury to Morocco's Abdelmajid Oulmers in a friendly game in 2004, and from English club Newcastle United for an injury to England's Michael Owen in the 2006 World Cup.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Venues
In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of 13 venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Klerksdorp, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to the ten venues that were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Venues
The altitude of several venues affected the motion of the ball and player performance, although FIFA's medical chief downplayed this consideration. Six of the ten venues were over 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level, with the two Johannesburg venues – the FNB Stadium (also known as Soccer City) and Ellis Park Stadium – the highest at approximately 1,750 m (5,740 ft).


2010 FIFA World Cup, Venues
The FNB Stadium, the Cape Town Stadium and the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth were the most-used venues, each hosting eight matches. Ellis Park Stadium and the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban hosted seven matches each, while the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein and the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg hosted six matches each. The Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane and the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit hosted four matches each, but did not host any knockout-stage matches.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Venues
The following stadiums were all upgraded to meet FIFA specifications:


2010 FIFA World Cup, Venues, Team base camps
The base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. In February 2010, FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team. Fifteen teams were in Gauteng Province, while six teams were based in KwaZulu-Natal, four in the Western Cape, three in North West Province and one each in Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Final draw
The FIFA Organising Committee approved the procedure for the final draw on 2 December 2009. The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA World Ranking and seven squads joined hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the final draw. No two teams from the same confederation were to be drawn in the same group, except allowing a maximum of two European teams in a group.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Final draw
Australia  Japan  North Korea  South Korea  Honduras  Mexico  United States  New Zealand


2010 FIFA World Cup, Final draw
The group draw was staged in Cape Town, South Africa, on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The ceremony was presented by South African actress Charlize Theron, assisted by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. The balls were drawn by English football star David Beckham and African sporting figures Haile Gebrselassie, John Smit, Makhaya Ntini, Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Referees
FIFA's Referees' Committee selected 29 referees through its Refereeing Assistance Programme to officiate at the World Cup: four from the AFC, three from the CAF, six from CONMEBOL, four from CONCACAF, two from the OFC and ten from UEFA. English referee Howard Webb was chosen to referee the final, making him the first person to referee both the UEFA Champions League final and the World Cup final in the same year.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Squads
As with the 2006 tournament, each team's squad for the 2010 World Cup consisted of 23 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad by 1 June 2010. Teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Squads
Of the 736 players participating in the tournament, over half played their club football in five European domestic leagues; those in England (117 players), Germany (84), Italy (80), Spain (59) and France (46). The English, German and Italian squads were made up of entirely home based players, while only Nigeria had no players from clubs in their own league. In all, players from 52 national leagues entered the tournament. FC Barcelona of Spain was the club contributing the most players to the tournament, with 13 players of their side travelling, 7 with the Spanish team, while another 7 clubs contributed 10 players or more.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Squads
In another first for South Africa 2010, one squad included three siblings. Jerry, Johnny and Wilson Palacios made history thanks to their inclusion in Honduras's 23-man list. Unusually, the game between Germany and Ghana had two brothers playing for opposite nations, with Jérôme Boateng and Kevin-Prince Boateng playing respectively.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Match summary
The 32 national teams involved in the tournament together played a total of 64 matches starting from the group stage matches and progressing to the knockout stage matches, with teams eliminated through the various progressive stages. Rest days were allocated during the various stages to allow players recovery during the tournament. Preliminary events were also held in celebration of the World Cup event. All times listed in the table below are in South African Standard Time (UTC+02).


2010 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
The tournament match schedule was announced in November 2007. In the first round, or group stage, the 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four, with each team playing the other three teams in their group once. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The top two teams in each group advanced to the round of 16.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
The South American teams performed strongly, with all five advancing to the round of 16 (four as group winners), and four further advancing to the quarter-finals. However, only Uruguay advanced to the semi-finals.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
Of the six African teams, only Ghana advanced to the round of 16. South Africa became the first host nation in World Cup history to be eliminated in the first round, despite beating France and drawing with Mexico, while Ghana and Ivory Coast were the only other African teams to win a match. The overall performance of the African teams, in the first World Cup to be hosted on the continent, was judged as disappointing by observers such as Cameroon great Roger Milla.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
Only six out of the thirteen UEFA teams advanced to the round of 16, a record low since the introduction of this stage in 1986. Nonetheless, the final was contested by two European teams. In another World Cup first, the two finalists from the preceding tournament, Italy and France, were eliminated at the group stage, with Italy becoming the third defending champions to be eliminated in the first round after Brazil in 1966 and France in 2002. New Zealand, one of the lowest-ranked teams, surprised many by drawing all three of their group matches, ending the tournament as the only undefeated team.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage
The knockout stage comprised the 16 teams that advanced from the group stage of the tournament. There were four rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round. The successive rounds were the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. There was also a play-off to decide third and fourth place. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by thirty minutes of extra time; if scores were still level, there was a penalty shootout to determine who progressed to the next round.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
In this round, each group winner (A-H) was paired against the runner-up from another group.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
The round was marked by some controversial referees' decisions, including:


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
FIFA President Sepp Blatter took the unusual step of apologising to England and Mexico for the decisions that went against them, saying: "Yesterday I spoke to the two federations directly concerned by referees' mistakes [...] I apologised to England and Mexico. The English said thank you and accepted that you can win some and you lose some and the Mexicans bowed their head and accepted it."


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
Blatter also promised to re-open the discussion regarding devices which monitor possible goals and make that information immediately available to match officials, saying: "We will naturally take on board the discussion on technology and have the first opportunity in July at the business meeting." Blatter's call came less than four months after FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke said the door was closed on goal-line technology and video replays after a vote by the IFAB.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The three quarter-finals between European and South American teams all resulted in wins for Europeans. Germany had a 4–0 victory over Argentina, and the Netherlands came from behind to beat Brazil 2–1, handing the Brazilians their first loss in a World Cup match held outside Europe (other than in a penalty shootout) since 1950 when Uruguay won the decisive match 2–1. Spain reached the final four for the first time since 1950 after a 1–0 win over Paraguay. Uruguay, the only South American team to reach the semi-finals, overcame Ghana in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw in which Ghana missed a penalty at the end of extra time after Luis Suárez controversially handled the ball on the line.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
The Netherlands qualified for the final for the third time with a 3–2 win over Uruguay. Spain reached their first ever final with a 1–0 victory over Germany. As a result, it was the first World Cup final not to feature at least one of Brazil, Italy, Germany or Argentina.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Third place play-off
Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2 to secure third place. Germany holds the record for most third-place finishes in the World Cup (4), while Uruguay holds the record for most fourth-place finishes (3).


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
The final was held on 11 July 2010 at Soccer City, Johannesburg. Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0, with an extra time goal from Andrés Iniesta. Iniesta scored the latest winning goal in a FIFA World Cup final (116'). The win gave Spain their first World Cup title, becoming the eighth team to win it. This made them the first new winner without home advantage since Brazil in 1958, and the first team to win the tournament after having lost their opening game.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
A large number of fouls were committed in the final match. Referee Howard Webb handed out 14 yellow cards, more than doubling the previous record for this fixture, set when Argentina and West Germany shared six cards in 1986, and John Heitinga of the Netherlands was sent off for receiving a second yellow card. The Netherlands had chances to score, most notably in the 60th minute when Arjen Robben was released by Wesley Sneijder to be one-on-one with Spain's goalkeeper Iker Casillas, only for Casillas to save the shot with an outstretched leg. For Spain, Sergio Ramos missed a free header from a corner kick when he was unmarked. Iniesta finally broke the deadlock in extra time, scoring a volleyed shot from a pass by Cesc Fàbregas.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
This result marked the first time that two teams from the same continent had won successive World Cups (following Italy in 2006), and saw Europe reaching 10 World Cup titles, surpassing South America's nine titles. Spain became the first team since West Germany in 1974 to win the World Cup as European champions. The result also marked the first time that a European nation had won a World Cup Finals that was not hosted on European soil.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
A closing ceremony was held before the final, featuring singer Shakira. Afterwards, the former South African President Nelson Mandela made a brief appearance on the pitch, wheeled in by a motorcart.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
South African winger Siphiwe Tshabalala was the first player to score a goal in the competition, in their 1–1 draw against Mexico, the opening game of the tournament. Danish defender Daniel Agger was credited with the first own goal of the tournament, in his side's 2–0 loss to the Netherlands. Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín was the only player to score a hat-trick in the tournament, in Argentina's 4–1 win over South Korea. It was the 49th World Cup hat-trick in the history of the tournament.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
Spain set a new record for the fewest goals scored by a World Cup-winning team, with eight. The previous record low was 11, set by Brazil in 1994, England in 1966, and Italy in 1938. Spain had the fewest goalscorers for a champion as well (three – Villa with five goals, Iniesta with two and Puyol with one). They also had the fewest goals conceded for a champion (2), equal with Italy (2006) and France (1998). Spain's victory marked the first time that a team won the World Cup without conceding a goal in the knockout stage.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
The four top scorers in the tournament had five goals each. All of the four top scorers also came from the teams that finished in the top four, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Uruguay. The Golden Boot went to Thomas Müller of Germany who had three assists, compared to one for the three others. The Silver Boot went to David Villa of Spain, who played a total of 635 minutes, and the Bronze Boot to Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands, who played 652 minutes. Diego Forlán of Uruguay had five goals and one assist in 654 minutes. A further three players scored four goals.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
Only 145 goals were scored at South Africa 2010, the lowest of any FIFA World Cup since the tournament switched to a 64-game format. This continued a downward trend since the first 64-game finals were held 12 years earlier, with 171 goals at France 1998, 161 at Korea/Japan 2002 and 147 at Germany 2006.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Statistics, Discipline
28 players were suspended after being shown two consecutive yellow cards (13 players), a single red card (8 players), or a yellow card followed by a red card (7 players).


2010 FIFA World Cup, Statistics, Final standings
Shortly after the final, FIFA issued a final ranking of every team in the tournament. The ranking was based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. All 32 teams are ranked based on criteria which have been used by FIFA. The final ranking was as follows:


2010 FIFA World Cup, Awards, All-Star Team
FIFA released an All-Star Team based on the Castrol performance index in its official website.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Awards, Dream Team
For the first time, FIFA published a Dream Team decided by an online public vote. People were invited to select a team (in a 4–4–2 formation) and best coach; voting was open until 23:59 on 11 July 2010, with entrants going into a draw to win a prize.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Awards, Dream Team
Six of the eleven players came from the Spanish team, as did the coach. The remainder of the team comprised two players from Germany, and one each from Brazil, the Netherlands and Uruguay.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Mascot
The official mascot for the 2010 World Cup was Zakumi, an anthropomorphised African leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name came from "ZA" (the international abbreviation for South Africa) and the term kumi, which means "ten" in various African languages. The mascot's colours reflected those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Official song
The official song of the 2010 World Cup "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", was performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band Freshlyground from South Africa, and is sung in both English and Spanish. The song is based on a traditional African soldiers' song, "Zangalewa". Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at the pre-tournament concert in Soweto on 10 June. It was also sung at the opening ceremony on 11 June and at the closing ceremony on 11 July. The official anthem of the 2010 World Cup was "Sign of a Victory" by R. Kelly with the Soweto Spiritual Singers, which was also performed at the opening ceremony.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Match ball
The match ball for the 2010 World Cup, manufactured by Adidas, was named the Jabulani, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in Zulu. It was the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it featured eleven colours, representing each player of a team on the pitch and the eleven official languages of South Africa. A special match ball with gold panels, called the Jo'bulani, was used at the final in Johannesburg.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Match ball
The ball was constructed using a new design, consisting of eight thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These were spherically moulded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of the ball was textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called GripnGroove that was intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The design received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University, United Kingdom. The balls were made in China, using latex bladders made in India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from Taiwan, ethylene vinyl acetate, isotropic polyester/cotton fabric, and glue and ink from China.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Match ball
Some football stars complained about the new ball, arguing that its movements were difficult to predict. Brazilian goalkeeper Júlio César compared it to a "supermarket" ball that favored strikers and worked against goalkeepers. Argentinian coach Diego Maradona said: "We won't see any long passes in this World Cup because the ball doesn't fly straight." However, a number of Adidas-sponsored players responded favourably to the ball.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Vuvuzelas
The 2010 finals amplified international public awareness of the vuvuzela, a long horn blown by fans throughout matches. Many World Cup competitors complained about the noise caused by the vuvuzela horns, including France's Patrice Evra, who blamed the horns for the team's poor performance. Other critics include Lionel Messi, who complained that the sound of the vuvuzelas hampered communication among players on the pitch, and broadcasting companies, which complained that commentators' voices were drowned out by the sound.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Marketing, Vuvuzelas
Others watching on television complained that the ambient audio feed from the stadium contained only the sounds of the vuvuzelas with the usual sounds of people in the stands drowned out. A spokesperson for ESPN and other networks said that they were taking steps to minimise the ambient noise on their broadcasts. The BBC also investigated the possibility of offering broadcasts without vuvuzela noise.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Sponsorship
The sponsors of the 2010 World Cup are divided into three categories: FIFA Partners, FIFA World Cup Sponsors and National Supporters.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Social
Tournament organiser Danny Jordaan dismissed concerns that the attack on the Togo national team which took place in Angola in January 2010, had any relevance to the security arrangements for the World Cup. There were also reports of thefts against visitors to the country for the World Cup. Tourists from China, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, Japan and Colombia had become victims of crime. On 19 June after the match between England and Algeria, a fan was able to break through the FIFA-appointed security staff at Green Point stadium and gain access to the England team dressing room. The breach took place shortly after Prince William and Prince Harry had left the room. The trespasser was then released before he could be handed over to the Police. English FA lodged a formal complaint with FIFA and demanded that security be increased.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Social, Resettlement and eviction
As with many 'hallmark events' throughout the world, the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been connected to evictions, which many claim are meant to 'beautify the city', impress visiting tourists, and hide shackdwellers. On 14 May 2009, the Durban-based shack-dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo took the KwaZulu-Natal government to court over their controversial Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, meant to eliminate slums in South Africa and put homeless shackdwellers in transit camps in time for the 2010 World Cup.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Social, Resettlement and eviction
Another prominent controversy surrounding preparations for the World Cup was the N2 Gateway housing project in Cape Town, which planned to remove over 20,000 residents from the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement along the busy N2 Freeway and build rental flats and bond-houses in its place in time for the 2010 World Cup. NGOs, international human rights organisations, and the Anti- Eviction Campaign have publicly criticised the conditions in Blikkiesdorp and said that the camp has been used to accommodate poor families evicted to make way for the 2010 World Cup.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Social, Resettlement and eviction
However some have argued that evictions are ordinarily common in South Africa and that in the lead up to the tournament many evictions were erroneously ascribed to the World Cup.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Economy
Some groups experienced complications in regards to scheduled sporting events, advertising, or broadcasting, as FIFA attempted to maximise control of media rights during the Cup. Affected parties included an international rugby union Test match, a South African airline, and some TV networks, all of whom were involved in various legal struggles with World Cup organisers.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Economy
During the tournament, group ticket-holders who did not utilise all their allotted tickets led to some early-round matches having as many as 11,000 unoccupied seats.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Economy
While the event did help to boost the image of South Africa, financially it turned out to be a major disappointment. Construction costs for venues and infrastructure amounted to £3 billion (€3.6 billion), and the government expected that increased tourism would help to offset these costs to the amount of £570 million (€680 million). However, only £323 million (€385 million) were actually taken in as 309,000 foreign fans came to South Africa, well below the expected number of 450,000.


2010 FIFA World Cup, Event effects, Economy
Local vendors were prohibited from selling food and merchandise within a 1.5 kilometre radius of any stadium hosting a World Cup match. For a vendor to operate within the radius, a registration fee of R60,000 (approximately to US$7,888 or €6,200), had to be paid to FIFA. This fee was out of most local vendors' reach, as they are simple one-man-operated vendors. This prevented international visitors from experiencing local South African food. Some local vendors felt cheated out of an opportunity for financial gain and spreading South African culture, in favour of multinational corporations.