Five years after FIFA broke new ground by awarding its most prized possession to an African country, the eyes of the sporting world converge on Cape Town on Friday when the 32 finalists for next summer's World Cup finally learn their fate.
Over 200 million viewers in countries all around the globe are expected to watch the 90-minute draw - one of the biggest global media events - as it is broadcast from Cape Town's International Convention Centre, a veritable haven of activity as the excitement mounts.
A few things are known in advance, such as hosts South Africa being in Group A and playing their opening match at the breathtaking Soccer City stadium on the outskirts of Soweto on June 11. All the seeds will be placed in pot one and, while the European seeds will meet another European opponent in the group phase, FIFA have managed to design the draw so that South Africa can't face another country from the African continent too early.
Everyone will have the fears and hopes, with the eventual winners on July 11 pocketing a cool £18.6 million ($31 million). Nice work if you can get it - and only one team can.
32 qualifiers:
ESPN.com
wil.
Over 200 million viewers in countries all around the globe are expected to watch the 90-minute draw - one of the biggest global media events - as it is broadcast from Cape Town's International Convention Centre, a veritable haven of activity as the excitement mounts.
A few things are known in advance, such as hosts South Africa being in Group A and playing their opening match at the breathtaking Soccer City stadium on the outskirts of Soweto on June 11. All the seeds will be placed in pot one and, while the European seeds will meet another European opponent in the group phase, FIFA have managed to design the draw so that South Africa can't face another country from the African continent too early.
Everyone will have the fears and hopes, with the eventual winners on July 11 pocketing a cool £18.6 million ($31 million). Nice work if you can get it - and only one team can.
32 qualifiers:
ESPN.com
wil.
