Brazil and Germany sign cooperation deal for 2014 World Cup
By Duncan Mackay
December 5 – Brazil and Germany have signed a cooperation agreement for the 2014 World Cup, it has been announced.
Adidas launch ball for 2010 World Cup
By Duncan Mackay
December 5 – The official match ball for next year’s World Cup finals designed by Adidas will be called Jabulani, it has been announced.
Women’s World Cup to be bigger in 2015
December 5 – The women’s World Cup will expand its field from 16 to 24 teams for the 2015 tournament, FIFA has announced.
We have to prepare well to give ourselves chance says SA coach
.jpg)
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 4 – No European team has ever won the World Cup outside of Europe. No host nation has ever failed to get past the first phase.
World Cup draw gives hint of passion and efficiency ahead
By David Owen in Cape Town
December 4 – South Africa and Mexico will contest the first-ever World Cup finals match on African soil in Johannesburg on June 11, after the draw for the 2010 tournament was completed tonight in Cape Town.
US angry after Spain and Portugal scupper presentation
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 4 – The bidding war for the 2018 World Cup burst into controversy today when the official United States presentation was interrupted by the arrival of Spain and Portugal’s main ambassadors.
Beckham steals the show again as World Cup bidders line up
By David Owen in Cape Town
December 4 – It was a cross between a bazaar and a travel trade conference. Today in Cape Town, on the manicured lawns of a governmental mansion, the bidders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups finally got to see the whites of each other’s eyes.
Beckham PR push for England 2018 takes him to township
.jpg)
By Duncan Mackay
December 3 – David Beckham today continued his one-man campaign to win England its bid to host the 2018 World Cup when attended a ‘Coaching for Hope’ (CfH) session at the Khaylitsha Township, Cape Town to meet with youngsters and coaches involved with the scheme.
Exclusive: Holland and Belgium will resist pressure to pull out of 2018 World Cup race
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 3 – Holland and Belgium will resist all pressure to pull out of the running to stage the 2018 World Cup and insist they have just as strong a case as their European rivals.
FIFA to pay clubs for players competing in World Cup
By Andrew Warshaw on Robben Island
Decmber 3 – After years of club versus country conflict, football’s world governing body today agreed to hand over $40 million (£24 million) to clubs whose players compete in next year’s World Cup finals.
David Owen: Forget David Beckham, I have met a real football hero
.jpg)
Today I met a great football man. Easily done, you might think, in the city that is about to host the World Cup draw; the place must be swarming with Beckenbauers, Platinis and Beckhams.
Way cleared for Messi and Rooney at play in London 2012
.jpg)
By Duncan Mackay
December 3 – Players like Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney (pictured) will be eligible to play at London 2012 after FIFA today decided to retain its current under-23 status plus three over-age players at the Olympics.
Beckham to stay with England in South Africa despite death of grandfather
By Duncan Mackay
December 2 – David Beckham is set to stay in South Africa to help England’s 2018 World Cup bid despite the death of his 83-year-old grandfather, which has left him devastated.
Giveth With One Hand and Taketh with Another
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 2 - Talk about a double whammy. No sooner did Thierry Henry’s France become the fall guys in a revamped seeding system for next summer’s World Cup than Henry’s own damaged reputation took another serious battering.
France punished for Hand of Henry? Non insist FIFA
By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 2 - Early yesterday evening in Johannesburg, Ruud Gullit, one of Holland’s most famous footballing ambassadors, shook his head in disbelief at rumours that Holland would not be seeded at next year’s World Cup finals.