World Cup Soccer Fans

FIFA World Cup is probably the biggest world event, attracting sponsors and businesses — even governments — to invest on the event. There are millions of dollars and Euros circulating in this year’s World Cup. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting facts about money involved in the World Cup.

FIFA claimed that there is an increase in the total prize money of this year’s World Cup when compared to the 2006 event. The event allocated a whopping $420 million of cash to the event, a generous 60% increase over last event’s budget. Each competing team received $1 million preparation money before the qualifying rounds began. The 32 teams that continued to the playoff were awarded $8 million each for further preparation.

The prize money is distributed gradually on each round. Every team that passes the playoff round and advances to Round of 16 will receive $9 million. The cash prize is doubled if the team progresses to the quarter-finals.

As you expected, the prize money continue to grow as each team progresses through the competition even further. Semi finalists will receive $20 million each; the cash prize allocated is noted to be the biggest so far. Runner-up would get $24 million, while the 2010 World Cup winner would receive $30 million.

This year, domestic teams will also be compensated if their players are joining the national team to compete at the World Cup. FIFA would be distributing €26 million to domestic clubs in compensation money for players.

We all know that Italy is the defending champion in 2010 World Cup. They are now competing in Group F against three other strong teams for a spot at the Round of 16. Will Italy defend their title at this year’s World Cup, or will they suffer the same fate as France at the 2006 World Cup?

The Italian squad is pretty strong naturally. Gianluigi Buffon is showing superb performances throughout the qualification rounds, with opponents scoring 7 goals only against Buffon’s goalkeeping. The defense line is nothing to be taken lightly, especially since players such as Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta defending their fields.

The attacking squadron is very sharp, with 22 years old Giuseppe Rossi teaming up with experienced veteran Antonio Di Natale. Marcello Lippi took Italy to 2006 World Cup Champion title, and he will surely have a lot of surprises up his sleeves for this year’s competition. Let’s not forget that Italy also has working midfielders that can ruin opponents’ defense line effectively.

Other teams such as England and Brazil are not in the same group as Italy, but the encounters between these strong teams are unavoidable. In Group F, Italy is up against Slovakia, Paraguay, and New Zealand. The team’s first match in the 2010 World Cup playoff would be against Paraguay; be sure you watch the team’s opening match at Cape Town Stadium on June 14th, 2010. Although Italy is not favored by bookmakers, the team has a lot of potentials and will cause problems for its opponents.

11 July 2010 is a very important date for football lovers across the glove. The date would mark a new history, with this year’s World Cup final match as the grand event. A lot of fans are looking forward to that day, hoping their favorite teams to be the next World Cup champion.

The 2010 World Cup qualification process was started in August 2007. After two years and a lot of matches among 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams, with 32 teams currently listed as contender for the championship trophy. The qualification process is not without controversy, but 32 strongest teams are chosen in the end.

The road to July 11th will be continued on June 11th, 2010. The first match would be between South Africa and Mexico; the match will be held at Soccer City, Johannesburg. The Round of 16 will then be started after 16 group winners and runner-ups are selected, with a match between winner of Group A and runner-up of Group B opening this stage of the competition on June 26th, 2010.

The competition will surely get more intense as 2010 World Cup progresses to quarter-finals and semi-finals on July 2nd and July 6th respectively. We will find out which two teams are competing for the World Cup after the semi-finals end on July 7th. The fight for third place will be held on July 10th, before we continue to the match we’ve all been waiting for and see who rules Johannesburg and be this year’s World Cup winner.