Finalists
Prior to this game, the Netherlands and Spain had never met each other in the main tournament stages of either a World Cup or a European Championship, the two major tournaments for European international teams. In all-time head-to-head results, the teams have met nine times previously since 1920, both winning four games each, in either friendlies, European Championship qualifying games, and once in the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Neither team has won a World Cup final before. The Netherlands have been runners-up twice, losing 2–1 to West Germany in 1974, and 3–1 to Argentina in 1978. Reaching the 2010 final is Spain's best performance in the World Cup, having previously finished fourth in 1950 when the tournament had a round-robin final stage, and the quarter-finals stage in 1934, 1986, 1994and 2002, when single elimination knock-out stages featured. Spain becomes the 12th different country to play in a World Cup Final, and first new team since France in 1998. The Netherlands will try to avoid losing its third final without a win, surpassing the record it currently shares with Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Overall, Germany leads with four final losses. The winner will become just the eighth country to have won the World Cup, joining England and France as nations who have won it just once.
Before the match Spain had an Elo rating of 2111 points and the Netherlands a rating of 2100 points. Thus, the finalists combined for 4211 points, by far the highest for any international football match ever played, besting the previous record of 4161 combined points for the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final between Hungary and West Germany.
World Cup firsts
It is the first time since the 1978 final, when Argentina beat the Netherlands, that neither of the finalists has previously won the World Cup. It is the first World Cup final not to feature at least one of Brazil, Italy, Germany or Argentina;[2] these are historically the top four teams in terms of World Cup final appearances.
In another first for the World Cup, neither team that contested the previous final in 2006 reached the knock-out stages of the tournament. Defending champions Italy and runners-up France both finished last in Group F and Group A respectively. It is the second consecutive final which will not feature Germany or Brazil, and the third time overall since 1954, the other being 1978.
With two European finalists, it will be the first time a European team has won the World Cup when it has been hosted outside of Europe. It will also see Europe reach ten World Cup titles, surpassing South America's nine titles. It is the second consecutive all-European final since the 2006 final, meaning the trophy will have been won by a European team in consecutive World Cups for just the second time, the other time being when Italy won back to back in 1934 and 1938.
Route to the final
Spain entered the 2010 World Cup as the reigning UEFA European Football Champions, having won UEFA Euro 2008, and as the shared holders of the international football record of consecutive unbeaten games for a national team, spanning 35 matches from 2007 to 2009. The Netherlands entered the World Cup having won all eight matches in their UEFA Group 9qualifying campaign.
Once at the finals in South Africa, the Netherlands reached the knockout stage as winners of Group E, with three wins out of three against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, conceding only one goal. In the knockout stage, they beat World Cup debutants Slovakia, five-time champions Brazil and two-time champions Uruguay. The Netherlands reached the Final in a 25-match unbeaten streak since September 2008.
In Group H, Spain recovered from a loss to Switzerland in their opening game to beat Honduras and then Chile, finishing top of the group ahead of Chile on goal difference. In the knockout stage, they then beat their Iberian neighbours Portugal, quarter-final debutants Paraguay and three-time World Cup winners Germany. The semi-final was a repeat of the match up for theUEFA Euro 2008 Final, and again saw Spain beat Germany, who were the top scorers of the 2010 tournament up to that point.
In the six games both teams played in South Africa to reach the final, the Netherlands scored a total of twelve goals and conceded five, while Spain scored seven and conceded two. Going into the final, Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and David Villa of Spain were tied as the top scorers with five goals each; Arjen Robben of the Netherlands with two is the only other player in the finalists' squads with more than one goal in the tournament.
Notable attendees
The match will have the attendance of the Dutch Royal Family,[3] the Spanish Royal Family, Rafael Nadal, Pau Gasol,[4] Jacob Zuma (President of South Africa) and Nelson Mandela(former President of South Africa).[5]
Match ball
The match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, revealed on 20 April 2010, will be the Adidas Jo'bulani, a gold version of the Adidas Jabulaniball used for every other match in the tournament.[6] The name of the ball is a portmanteau of "Jabulani" – which means "to celebrate" inisiZulu[7] – and "Johannesburg", the match venue; "Jo'bulani" is also reminiscent of "Jo'burg", a common nickname for the city.[6] As well as recognising the colour of the FIFA World Cup Trophy, the gold design of the ball echoes another of Johannesburg's nicknames: "the City of Gold".[6] The Jo'bulani is the second ball to be specifically produced for the FIFA World Cup Final, after the Teamgeist Berlin was used for the2006 final.[6]
Like the Jabulani, the Jo'bulani is composed of eight thermally bonded panels, each moulded to form a perfectly spherical ball. The surface of the ball also features Adidas's "Grip'n'Groove" texture, which Adidas claims improves the stability of its flight and the players' grip when striking it.[6]
Squads
All but three members of the Spanish squad play for clubs in Spain; the other three are based in England. The Netherlands squad draws its players from clubs in five European countries, with just nine based in the Netherlands; six play in Germany, five in England, two in Italy and one in Spain.
Match officials
The referee for the final is to be Howard Webb, representing The Football Association of England.[1] He will be assisted by fellow Englishmen Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey. Webb is the first Englishman to referee a World Cup final since Jack Taylor officiated the 1974 final between the Netherlands and West Germany.
A former police officer from Rotherham, 38-year-old Webb is one of the English Select Group Referees, and has officiated Premier League matches since 2003. He was appointed to the FIFA list of international match referees in 2005, and before the World Cup, he had taken charge of the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final and the 2009 FA Cup Final.
At the 2010 World Cup, Webb refereed three games, all with Cann and Mullarkey as his assistants. In the group stage, he refereed the Spain–Switzerland and Slovakia–Italy games, and then took charge of the Brazil–Chile match in the Round of 16.[1] In those three games, he never showed a red card or awarded a penalty, but he did issue the second highest number ofyellow cards in the tournament, an average of 5.67 bookings per game.
Match details
References
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