The 32 teams participating at next year's FIFA World Cup finals discovered their fate this evening when the Final Draw for South Africa 2010 took place in Cape Town.An estimated global television audience of 200 million joined the 2,000 invited guests in the Draw Hall in watching the colourful and entertaining ceremony unfold. With African sporting stars such as athlete Haile Gebreselassie, rugby player John Smit, cricketer Makhaya Ntini, and footballers Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu assisting with the draw, along with England icon David Beckham, it was always going to be an exhilarating evening, but the undoubted centrepiece came when the eight groups were revealed.
While South Africans smiled upon learning that the host nation's Opening Match on 11 June would be played against Mexico at Soccer City, it was the outcome of Group D which caused the biggest stir. Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana will battle it out for the two qualifying places for the Round of 16, meaning that two nations with a proud footballing heritage will have to depart the tournament early.
The early stages of the draw brought a very interesting match-up as England were paired together with USA in a match which will take place in Rustenburg on Saturday 12 June, which brought back memories of the clash at Brazil 1950, which USA won 1-0. However, Fabio Capello and Bob Bradley avoided a nightmare group, with Algeria and Slovenia also coming out of the hat.
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
Although the dates and locations of each of the 48 matches are known for the group-stage games, the kick-off times will be announced shortly, upon conclusion of a meeting between FIFA, the Local Organising Committee and broadcasters.
