FIFA world cup tickets.. are there any left? Status as of 13 May 2010

So a glance at the availability of tickets on the FIFA site indicates the following:

There are no tickets available in the following venues (unless there are cancellations from from foreign FA allocations):

- Johannesburg (Soccer City)
- Johannesburg (Ellis Park)
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There are very few tickets available in the following venues:

- Pretoria:
Category 1
Match 38 - USA v Algeria

- Durban:
Category 1
Match 25 - Netherlands v Japan
Match 35 - Nigeria v South Korea
Match 53 - Netherlands v Paraguay (my prediction)

- Cape Town:
Category 1
Match 11 - Italy v Paraguay
Match 30 - Portugal v North Korea
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There are still tickets available in various categories for certain matches at the following venues:

- Rustenburg:
Category 1
Match 12 - New Zealand v Slovakia
Match 24 - Ghana v Australia
Match 33 - Mexico v Uruguay
Match 43 - Denmark v Japan

Category 2
Match 12 - New Zealand v Slovakia
Match 43 - Denmark v Japan

Category 3
Match 12 - New Zealand v Slovakia
Match 43 - Denmark v Japan

- Port Elizabeth:
Category 1 & 2
Match 4 - South Korea v Greece
Match 13 - Ivory Coast v Portugal
Match 21 - Germany v Serbia
Match 31 - Chile v Switzerland
Match 37 - Slovenia v England
Match 49 - France v Nigeria (my prediction)
Match 57 - Netherlands v Brazil (my prediction)
Match 63 - Losers final

Category 3
Match 4 - South Korea v Greece
Match 21 - Germany v Serbia
Match 31 - Chile v Switzerland
Match 49 - France v Nigeria (my prediction)
Match 63 - Losers final

Category 4
Match 31 - Chile v Switzerland

- Polokwane:
Category 1
Match 6 - Algeria v Slovenia
Match 18 - France v Mexico
Match 42 - Paraguay v New Zealand

Category 2 & 3
Match 6 - Algeria v Slovenia
Match 42 - Paraguay v New Zealand

Category 4
Match 42 - Paraguay v New Zealand

- Nelspruit:
Category 1, 2 & 3
Match 15 - Honduras v Chile
Match 28 - Italy v New Zealand
Match 40 - Australia v Serbia
Match 46 - South Korea v Ivory Coast

Category 4
Match 15 - Honduras v Chile
Match 40 - Australia v Serbia
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For the latest info consult the FIFA site.

[Sport - Football] Phase 4 set to commence... Fifa World Cup 2010 Ticket sales

The fourth ticket sales phases kicks off on 9 February 2010 at 1:00pm South African time (GMT +2). In this phase tickets will be allocated on a 'first come, first served, subject to availability' basis so don't delay your application! 400 000 seats will be on sale in this phase, though not all the matches will be available in this phase, those listed below are excluded, possibly due to high demand in previous phases:

Match 5 - England vs USA
Match 11 - Italy vs Paraguay
Match 37 - England vs Slovenia
Match 45 - Brazil vs Portugal
Match 54 - 1G vs 2H - Round of 16 fixture (likely Brazil vs Chile)
Match 56 - 1H vs 2G - Round of 16 fixture (likely Spain vs Portugal/Ivory Coast)
Match 59 - Quarter-final fixture (possibly Argentina vs Germany)
Match 60 - Quarter-final fixture (possibly Italy vs Spain)
Match 61 - Semi-final fixture (possibly England vs Brazil)
Match 62 - Semi-final fixture (possibly Germany vs Spain)
Match 64 - Final

Thus far apparently about 2 million of the 3 million odd tickets have already been sold. Aside from the host nation the most ticket applications have been received from the following countries:

1 - USA
2 - UK
3 - Australia
4 - Mexico
5 - Germany
6 - Brazil

[Sport - Soccer] FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

Its been decided, the playoffs are over! All 32 nations which will compete in the FIFA 2010 World Cup have been determined. In just over 200 days the teams listed below will converge in South Africa for the much anticipated contest. (Click on image to enlarge).


There were a few upsets in the playoffs. Pity Gus Hiddink could not manage to get the very talented Russian side through the play-offs, Slovenia qualified at their expense. The other major upset (this one I was happy about) was that the Algerians beat the much fancied Egyptian side (while Egypt is a good side they've always been a bunch of faking divers and I hate them for that). The Greeks (in my opinion the dullest side in world football) managed to get past Ukraine by a single goal, sigh. But undoubtedly the Republic of Ireland with the unluckiest team (the irony) when it came to the failing to make it right at the very end. The saddest thing was that they were leading the much fancied French side in Paris until Thierry Henry blatantly handled the ball in the penalty area (twice!) to keep it in play and then crossed it in to what resulted in the goal which France drew level and enabled them to go through on aggregate.

The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

[Sport] FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (as of 15 November 2009)

With only 6 more spots to be filled the following from the following playoffs the team lineup is looking concrete. Thankfully the major African teams have qualified this time round, its hard to determine the African qualifiers due to a high level of inconsistency (at the 2006 World Cup in Germany the African qualifiers were drastically different to the 2002 World Cup in Korea & Japan). The following teams still have a chance of making it:

Africa
Egypt / Algeria

South/Central America
Uruguay / Costa Rica

Europe
Ireland / France +
Portugal / Bosnia-Herzegovina +
Greece / Ukraine +
Russia / Slovenia

The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.