2010 FIFA World Cup Group A coach Raymond Domenech during the half-time interval. Anelka was subsequently dismissed from the squad, which resulted in many squad members, including captain Patrice Evra, boycotting training in the lead-up to the final group stage match against South Africa. 2010 FIFA World Cup Group A Group A of the 2010 FIFA World Cup began on 11 June and ended on 22 June 2010. The group consisted of France, Mexico, Uruguay and the host nation South Africa. France and South Africa previously met at the 1998 FIFA World Cup; France beat South Africa 3–0. France and Uruguay previously met at the 2002
2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Cup, beach soccer continued to grow and spread worldwide at a fast rate. Therefore, FIFA established the "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers", to try to allow more nations to play in the World Cup, as well as getting more national teams involved in the sport. FIFA also increased the number of participating teams in the World Cup from 12 to a record-high 16 teams. This also meant that nations would no longer be invited to play in the World Cup but would have to qualify. With the establishment of the qualifying rounds, FIFA decided to standardise each World Cup,