In the first round 32 teams are randomly selected into eight groups of four. Each team face the three other teams in their group. They earn 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The two teams with the most points advance to the Round of 16.
Here are the group stages with the two winner teams in bold.
Group A = Uruguay, Mexico, South Africa, France
Group B = Argentina, South Korea, Greece, Nigeria
Group C = United States, England, Slovenia, Algeria
Group D = Germany, Ghana, Australia, Serbia
Group E = Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Cameroon
Group F = Paraguay, Slovakia, New Zealand, Italy
Group G = Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, North Korea
Group H = Spain, Chile, Switzerland, Honduras
On July 11th 2010, the Finale was held in Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was Spain vs Netherlands. The game went on to extra time, Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal on the 116th minute. Spain won its first ever World Cup.
In the Round of 16, the first place of one group faces the second place of another group. The first from group A goes against the second from group B and vice versa. The winners make it to the quarter-finals. If both teams are tie by the 90 minutes, they play 30 extra minutes. If there is still a draw, they go to penalty kicks to see who goes to the next round. This scenario can happen on any game in the knockout stages, even on the final game. One of the most important matches was Spain vs Portugal, in which David Villa scored in the minute 63. There was some controversy about him being offside.
