2010 FIFA World Cup (1983: Doomsday)

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be held in the, the first time the event has been held in Europe since.

Dates
The tournament is scheduled to be played from Friday June 11 through Sunday July 11 at various locales in the Celtic Alliance.

Pool play is scheduled for June 11-29, with rest days on June 30 and July 1. The quarterfinals are scheduled for July 2-3, the semifinals July 6-7, the third-place match July 10 and the final on July 11 at Croke Park in Dublin.

Venues
Below is a list of venues where the matches will be held:


 * Anfield, Liverpool (45,000; rebuilt in 2008)
 * Croke Park, Dublin (82,500)
 * FitzGerald Stadium, Killarney (43,120)
 * Gaelic Grounds, Limerick (49,500)
 * Hampden Park, Glasgow (52,000; rebuilt in 2006)
 * Lansdowne Park, Dublin (50,000; rebuilding scheduled to be finished by spring 2010)
 * Pairc Ul Chaoimh, Cork (43,500)
 * Semple Stadium, Thurles (55,000)

Draw
December 4, 2009, 8:24pm GMT: Draw for 2010 World Cup complete: DUBLIN, Celtic Alliance - The draw for next year's World Cup football tournament in the Celtic Alliance was held tonight. The 16 qualifying clubs were drawn into four groups, with the champion and runner-up from each group advancing to the knockout stage. Celtic Alliance, as the host nation, drew the first spot in Group A; the Celts will be joined in the group by New Britain, Paraguay and Singapore. The United American Republic, one of four seeded sides, drew the top spot in Group B, and will be joined by the ANZC, Pais del Oro and Greece. Defending World Cup champion Brazil, the top-ranked side in the FIFA World Rankings, drew top honors in Group C, and will be joined by the USSR (aka Siberia), New Britain and the Kingdom of Cleveland. Mexico, the second-ranked nation according to the current FIFA World Rankings, drew first in Group D and will be joined by Chile, Alpine Confederation and the Sicilian Republic. Celtic Alliance and Mexico will play the opening match on June 11 at Croke Park in Dublin. Group play will go through June29, with rest days on June 30 and July 1. The quarterfinals are scheduled for July 2-3, the semifinals July 6-7, the third-place match July 10 and the final on July 11 at Croke Park in Dublin.

Qualifying tables and results
Given the number of nations that resumed their national football associations and competition in international competitions, FIFA scrapped the invitational format it had used since 1990 and decided to resume the old qualifying format for 2010 and subsequent World Cup competition.

In Feburary 2009, FIFA announced the format for the 2010 World Cup to be held in the Celtic Alliance. Sixteen teams will compete in four groups of four teams apiece next summer, with an eight-team knockout round leading up to a championship match in Dublin. Two of those teams received automatic byes: the Celtic Alliance as the host country, and the Alpine Confederation as the 2006 champion. Nations in the five recognized regions by FIFA competed for the other 14 berths. The list of nations that have qualified are:


 * Celtic Alliance (host country)
 * Alpine Confederation (Europe Group A winner)
 * Pais del Oro (Africa Group A winner)
 * (Africa Group B winner)
 * (defending champion)
 * (South America winner)
 * (qualified from South America)
 * (CONCACAF winner)
 * East Caribbean Federation (qualified from CONCACAF)
 * United American Republic (qualified from South America)
 * Kingdom of Cleveland (Europe Group B winner)
 * Sicily (European playoff winner)
 * ANZC (Asia/Oceania winner)
 * Siberia (Asia/Oceania runner up)
 * Greece (European playoff winner)
 * Singapore (Asian/South American playoff winner)

PLAYOFF SERIES
Nov. 11 - Singapore 2 Guyana 2

Nov. 18 - Greece 1 Iceland 0; Guyana 1 Singapore 1, Singapore wins 8-7 on penalty kicks

SOUTH AMERICA
Top three qualify, fourth-place team (Guyana) advances to play-in series.

EUROPE
Group winners and runners-up qualify, third-runners-up play for berth.

CONCACAF
Top two qualify.

October 10: Mexico 3 Cuba 2; Dominican Republic 1 East Caribbean 4; Puerto Rico 0 Nicaragua 4 October 17: Cuba 1 Dominican Republic 1; East Caribbean 3 Puerto Rico 0; Nicaragua 1 Mexico 2

ASIA/OCEANIA
Top two qualify; third-place Singapore advances to play-in series.

October 17: Siberia 1 Indonesia 2; ANZC 1 Singapore 2; French Rep. 0 Phillippines 3 October 31: Phillippines 1 Siberia 3; Indonesia 0 ANZC 1; Singapore 0 French Rep. 0

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST
Group winners qualify.

Group A
October 11: Algeria 1 Iran 1; Assyria 0 Pais del Oro 5 October 18: Pais del Oro 0 Algeria 1; Iran 1 Assyria 1

Group B
October 10: New Britain 5 Zaire 1; Republic of Angola 2 RZA 2. October 17: RZA 1 New Britain 2; Zaire 2 Republic of Angola 2.

News
n October 21, FIFA announced the selection for the 2014 World Cup, previously scheduled for Oct. 28 in Dublin, has been pushed back to December 4 to coincide with FIFA's World Congress and to allow for the final play-in series to be fully contested. Brazil is considered the overwhelming favorite, over the ANZC and Siberia, primarily due to the number of and quality of venues in the country, along with sufficient national infrastructure and expected large fan support for each match. Brazil also plans to use World Cup 2014 as a test-run for another major international sporting event it is pursuing: the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The FIFA World Congress, scheduled for December 2-4 in Dublin, features not only the selection of the host nation for the 2014 World Cup, but the following other items:
 * The draw for World Cup 2010
 * Awards for FIFA's 2009 World Footballer of the Year
 * The entrance of several new members (such as Prussia and Canada) into the five regional confederations
 * Voting on the expansion of the field from 16 to 24 teams
 * and preliminary discussions on a new, permanent host site for FIFA's world headquarters, with presentations from Luque, Paraguay; Singapore; and Zurich, Alpine Confederation.

Official anthem
"Wild Dances" by SSR pop singer Ruslana was selected by FIFA in 2009 as the official World Cup anthem.