The Soccer World Cup is the one of the biggest sporting events in the world. In 2010 this great event will be hosted by South Africa and this will be a first for the African continent. Cape Town will be fortunate enough to host nine world cup matches, including the semi finals.

We are all optimistic that our stadiums and infrastructure will be ready for our visitors. Besides, South Africa has already hosted two world cup competitions: the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and the Cricket World Cup 2003 and both events were great sucesses. But if the train or the bus is maybe a bit late, at least the african parties will be good.

Construction and upgrades on the stadiums started in early 2007 and progress can be checked out at http://www.southafrica.info/2010/ . Book your flights and accommodation as early as possible. Even if you don’t get tickets to watch a game in a stadium, there will be many venues showing the games live with beer tents, food courts, entertainment and much more.

The stadium in Cape Town will be built in Greenpoint which is close to the V&A Waterfront, city centre and the harbour. The existing stadium will be demolished and a completely new stadium with a retractable roof and a capacity of 70 000 will be constructed in its place. It will host six first round matches, one second round match, one quarter final and one semi-final.

To get to Greenpoint just follow the N1 highway into Cape Town, turn right into Greenpoint Main Road (first turn after entrance to the V&A Waterfront) and you’ll drive into Greenpoint and past the stadium.

A total of ten stadiums in nine cities will host world cup matches in South Africa. The opening match and the finals will be held in Soccer City in Johannesburg. Here a new stadium which can hold 100 000 spectators will be constructed.

The other stadiums are: Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg, Peter Mokaba in Polokwane, Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Loftus Versveld in Pretoria, King Senzangakhona in Durban, Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth and Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.