2010 FIFA World Cup Logo & Mascct

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa beat Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. Italy are the defending champions. The draw for the finals took place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town.

                           

                   Tournament details

 

Host country     South Africa

Dates               11 June – 11 July

Teams              32 (from 6 confederations)

Venue(s)          10 (in 9 host cities)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

This is 2010 FIFA World Cup official logo

 

 Mascot:

 

 The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi (born 16 June 1994 (1994-06-16) (age 15)), an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair. His name comes from "ZA", the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages. The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.

 Zakumi, the mascot of the

2010 FIFA World Cup

Zakumi's birthdate coincides with a day known and celebrated as Youth Day in South Africa and their second group match. The year 1994 marks the first non-racial nationwide elections in South Africa. He will turn 16 in 2010.
The Zakumi's official motto is: "Zakumi's game is Fair Play." The motto was seen in the digital advertisement boards during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and it will also appear in next year's FIFA World Cup.

Match ball (Jabulani, the official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup)

The match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be named the "Jabulani", made by Adidas, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in isiZulu. The number eleven plays a prominent role in the the new technologically advanced ball: it is the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it features eleven colours, one for each player on the pitch; and there are eleven official languages of South Africa. Also, the event will start on the eleventh day of June and end on the eleventh day of July.