Learn

On June 11th, the 19th World Soccer Cup will open in South Africa. It will be the first World Cup ever held in an African nation. FIFA World soccer cups, held every four years (except during World War II) began in 1930 with the tournament in Uruguay. Since then they have grown to become by far the world’s most popular single sporting event, with billions watching each tournament. Some 735 million people are said to have seen the 2006 final match, making it the most watched single sporting event ever. This was seven times as many people as watch the annual Superbowl in the US! There is no more international sport than soccer, which is known as football everywhere in the world except the US.

An important part of each tournament is the mascot. This time the mascot is Zakumi, a leopard with green hair whose colors represent those of the host nation, South Africa. Home teams always generate a lot of excitement because of the large, loud crowds they bring to their matches. This year’s South Africa team is also said to be very competitive.

Soccer has also been catching on in the US, which is also one of the 32 teams in the finals. With so-called arch-rival Mexico, the US has become one of the two powerhouses in its qualifying group, which covers North, Central and the Caribbean region of South America.

The first US match is on June 12th against England, and six days later against Slovenia. Algeria is the fourth country in the group. All teams play each other in the preliminary round, and the top two teams move to the Round of 16. The top team from each group plays the second ranked team from another group in the round of 16 to move to the quarter-finals. In 2002 the US reached the quarter-finals, and in 2006 did not make it past the first round despite being the only team to not be beaten by the eventual winner, Italy. While England is considered a very strong team this year, there is every possibility that the US will make it to the next round in South Africa.

Which team is the favorite to carry off the World Cup? Brazil, which has won the most World Cups and been in the final four during the most recent tournaments, is a perennial favorite. The Brazilians play with a fluid, artistic style that has made their team very popular outside their own country, where nothing seems to be more important than soccer. This year however a much-improved Spanish team is considered, at least in early betting, to have a slight edge over Brazil. This despite the fact that Spanish teams have often finished below expectations in World Soccer cups. England, Argentina, Germany, Holland and France, in that order, round out the other favorites, with the US in the 13th position in mid-May 2010.

Good luck to all teams! Billions will be watching, countless days of work will be lost, but for fun and excitement there is probably no more exciting event in the world.

Thanks to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee South Africa for the photographs.