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[46] that were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006.
The altitude of several venues affected the motion of the ball[47] and player performance,[48][49] although FIFA's medical chief downplayed this consideration.[50] Six of the ten venues were over 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level, with the two Johannesburg venues—FNB Stadium (also known as Soccer City) and Ellis Park Stadium—the highest at approximately 1,750 m (5,740 ft).[51][52]
FNB Stadium, Cape Town Stadium, and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth were the most-used venues, each hosting eight matches. Ellis Park Stadium and Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban hosted seven matches each, while Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg hosted six matches each. Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane and Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit hosted four matches each, but did not host any knockout-stage matches.
| Johannesburg | Cape Town | Durban | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNB Stadium[53] (Soccer City) | Ellis Park Stadium | Cape Town Stadium (Green Point Stadium) | Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban Stadium) |
| 26°14′5.27″S 27°58′56.47″E | 26°11′51.07″S 28°3′38.76″E | 33°54′12.46″S 18°24′40.15″E | 29°49′46″S 31°01′49″E |
| Capacity: 84,490 | Capacity: 55,686 | Capacity: 64,100 | Capacity: 62,760 |
 |  |  |  |
| Pretoria | |||
| Loftus Versfeld Stadium | |||
| 25°45′12″S 28°13′22″E | |||
| Capacity: 42,858 | |||
 | |||
| Port Elizabeth | Stadiums in Johannesburg | ||
| Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | |||
| 33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E | |||
| Capacity: 42,486 | |||
.jpg) | |||
| Rustenburg | Polokwane | Nelspruit | Bloemfontein |
| 25°34′43″S 27°09′39″E | 23°55′29″S 29°28′08″E | 25°27′42″S 30°55′47″E | 29°07′02.25″S 26°12′31.85″E |
| Royal Bafokeng Stadium | Peter Mokaba Stadium | Mbombela Stadium | Free State Stadium |
| Capacity: 42,000 | Capacity: 41,733 | Capacity: 40,929 | Capacity: 40,911 |
 | .jpg) |  |  |
The following stadiums were all upgraded to meet FIFA specifications:
Team base camps
[edit]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.[58] 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.[59]
| Team base camps |
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Final draw
[edit]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.[60]
| Pot 1 (Host & Top seven) | Pot 2 (AFC, CONCACAF & OFC) | Pot 3 (CAF & CONMEBOL) | Pot 4 (UEFA) |
|---|---|---|---|
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The group draw was staged in Cape Town, South Africa, on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.[61] The ceremony was presented by South African actress Charlize Theron, assisted by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.[62] 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.
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