Africa's football confederation was founded just a few years after UEFA, their European counterpart, but for nearly 70 years, African football teams struggled to gain their footing on the world stage. International recognition finally came in 2004 when FIFA announced that the bidding process for the 2010 finals would only be open to African nations. South Africa were chosen as the hosts and despite the misgivings of many, the tournament was a great success.


Pre-Cup Fears

Before the tournament began, there were fears over security and logistics, despite the fact that South Africa had already successfully hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1995. Nonetheless, if some of the world’s press were to be believed, South Africa was a lawless nation where knife-wielding criminals lurked around every street corner. It was also assumed that there would be transport issues and the stadiums would not be ready on time. It is true that South Africa's crime rates are far higher than most countries, but the fears about the World Cup proved to be unfounded. South Africa was ready, and the tournament passed off without major incident.

In hindsight one could say that the most controversial issue arising for this World Cup in the football world was the hum of the omnipresent vuvuzelas.The constant drone of these trumpets made watching the game without noise cancelling headphones arduous at best. Even some of the players protested about their use with some of the French team suggesting that the hum of the vuvuzelas was the reason they were eliminated.

 

Africa Football

On the pitch, Africa had a record 6 nations competing (Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and South Africa.) South Africa qualified automatically as hosts, thus adding to the five slots typically allotted to African teams for the World Cup finals. Unfortunately for  South Africa they put a spoke in the wheels of their own World Cup by becoming the first hosts to be eliminated at the group stage, although their performance was creditable. Three of the other teams contrived to finish bottom of their respective groups.

Ultimately, it was Ghana who flew the flag for African football as they were the only African team to progress to the knockout rounds. The Ghanaians qualified 2^nd in their group behind Germany and beat the USA in the round of 16. Their run ended at the quarter final stage with defeat to Uruguay. Many felt that they should have been the first African team to play in a semi-final, and they only missed out due to a last minute penalty miss courtesy of Asamoah Gyan. Their football had been excellent, though, and they had become the local favorites.  

Once the tournament was over and the smoke had cleared,FIFA were quick to proclaim the 1^st African hosted finals a great success. Head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter gave South Africa 9 out of 10 points for their organizational skills. The legacy of the World Cup within South Africa, however, was more contested. As with many international sporting events, critics have questioned the economic impact of the games on Africa.