The Soccer World Championship

The 2010 World Cup will be the 19th international tournament of soccer, that is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. It will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by a nation in the Confederation of African Football.

Host Selection

Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 soccer event as part of a new policy to rotate the event between football confederations (which was later abandoned in October 2007). Five African nations placed bids to host the World Cup:

• Egypt
• Libya / Tunisia (co-hosting)
• Morocco
• South Africa

Following the decision of the Soccer 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.

After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by their president at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.

Results:

• South Africa, 14 votes
• Morocco, 10 votes
• Egypt, 0 votes
• Tunisia withdrew on 8 May 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed
• Libya bid was rejected: bid did not meet the list of requirements and joint bidding was not allowed

2006 Soccer World Championship: Italy

The 2006 Championship was the 18th instance of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, Germany, for the finals tournament.

The tournament was won by Italy, who claimed their fourth title. They defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish third.

It stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament. The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people. The 2006 World Championship ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the 1994 and the 2002.

The Trophy

The World Cup is a gold trophy that is awarded to the winners. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have represented victory: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, and the Championship Trophy from 1974 to the present day.

The Jules Rimet Trophy, originally named Victory, but later renamed in honour of former Federation president, was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli and depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and never recovered.

The replacement trophy, was first used in 1974. Made of 18 carat gold with a malachite base, it depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The current holders of the trophy are Italy, winners of the 2006 Championship.

International Soccer News

by OddsAndNews.com