W ORLD C UP The world cup is very similar to the Olympics. That is, it’s every 4 years and there are teams from all over the world competing in it.

P REVIOUS H OSTS OF W ORLD C UP UruguayItalyFranceBrazilSwitzerlandSwedenChileEnglandMexicoWest GermanyArgentinaSpainMexicoItalyUnited StatesKorea Republic & JapanGermany

S OUTH A FRICA This year, South Africa will be hosting the World Cup. All the games will be played in 9 different cities.

A regulation soccer goal, must be 24’ x 8’ x 4’ x10’ A regular game consists of only 2 goals and 4 corner flags. There are three refs on the field at all times

Q UALIFICATION Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. [24] They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams.1934 [24]AfricaAsiaNorth and Central America and CaribbeanSouth AmericaOceaniaEurope

Throughout these zones only 32 lucky countries get to make it to the 2010 World Cup. RussiaSloveniaGermany MexicoAustriaSerbia UruguayGhanaNetherlands FranceDenmarkJapan Argentina CameroonItaly NigeriaParaguayNew Zealand KoreaKorea DPRCote d’Ivoire GreecePortugalSpain EnglandSwitzerlandHonduras USAAlgeriaChile

Last 2 World Cup Games WinnersScoreRunner Up Italy1-1 (5-3) Penalty Shootout France Brazil2-0Germany

G AMES & C LOTHING Click here for the 2010 Schedule World Cup Merchandise on sale here

R ECORD FOULS COMMITTED In the 16 th Round match in the 2006 World Cup between Portugal and Netherlands, it got out of control. From the start of the match, Russian referee Valentin Ivanov had no control, as he was forced to hand out a record 4 Red Cards and an unprecedented 16 yellow cards, both of which are records in a FIFA tournament.