FIFA World Cup Finals 2010 Match by Match (Knock Out Stages)
Match by Match Reports
Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H | Knock Out Stages
2006 | World Cup Index | 2014
Second Round
date Saturday 26 June 3pm BST
date Saturday 26 June 7.30pm BST
date Sunday 27 June 7.30pm BST
date Sunday 27 June 3pm BST
date Monday 28 June 3pm BST
date Monday 28 June 7.30pm BST
date Tuesday 29 June 3pm BST
date Tuesday 29 June 7.30pm BST
Quarter-Finals
date Friday 2 July 7.30pm BST
date Saturday 3 July 3pm BST
date Friday 2 July 3pm BST
date Saturday 3 July 7.30pm BST
Semi-Finals
date Tuesday 6 July 7.30pm BST
date Wednesday 7 July 7.30pm BST
3rd Place Play-Off
date Saturday 10 July 7.30pm BST
FINAL
date Sunday 11 July 7.30pm BST
Uruguay
Korea Republic
Uruguay 2 v 1 Korea Republic (SR1)
venue Port Elizabeth (30,597)date Saturday 26 June 3pm BST
An early goal from Suarez after the Korean goalkeeper was stranded in no-man's land gave Uruguay the initiative in a closely contested match. The South Americans then sat back, inviting Korea to come on to them and in the 68th minute, Lee Chung-Yong equalised after the Uruguayan goalkeeper failed to reach a high ball. With fifteen minutes left the heavens opened and in the downpour, Suarez received the ball on the left hand corner of the Korean penalty area and looped a magnificent shot into the far corner of the net. Korea might have equalised with three minutes left when Lee Dong-Gook found himself free in the box but he scuffed his shot and it was scrambled away.
USA
Ghana
USA 1 v 2 Ghana (extra time played) (SR2)
venue Rustenburg (34,976)date Saturday 26 June 7.30pm BST
Not for the first time in the competition, the USA showed resilience and determination after falling behind to a fifth minute goal by Kevin-Prince Boateng. Ghana then sought to defend their lead and catch the USA on the break but their strikers too often shot wildly from distance rather than work for each other. After Mensah brought Clint Dempsey down in the box, Landon Donovan coolly sent the keeper the wrong way with his penalty kick to level the scores. In the third minute of extra-time, Asamoah Gyan got onto the end of a long ball, shrugged off a challenge and slotted home what proved to be the decisive goal.
Argentina
Mexico
Argentina 3 v 1 Mexico (SR3)
venue Johannesburg SC (84,377)date Sunday 27 June 7.30pm BST
An appalling error by match officials allowed Argentina to take the lead after Carlos Tevez, standing in a clearly offside position, headed home on 25 minutes. Gonzalo Higuain extended the lead eight minutes later after Mexico conceded possession and Tevez added a third early in the second half, a sensational thunderbolt from long range. Mexico clawed one back after 70 minutes.
(Marcelo Viana)
Germany
England
Germany 4 v 1 England (SR4)
venue Bloemfontein (40,510)date Sunday 27 June 3pm BST
The first half was full of drama, as Germany's fast forwards shredded the English defence, giving them a two goal lead after half an hour. A galvanised England struck back, Upson scoring with a majestic header in the 37th minute and less than 60 seconds later, Lampard's shot struck the underside of the bar, landing fully a yard over the line before it bounced back into the goalkeepers' arms. Inexplicably, the match officials failed to award the goal. England pressed after the interval, Lampard hitting the bar with a fierce 52nd minute free-kick but after that, their inability to retain possession in attack and or to defend against fast breakaways saw them concede two sucker-punch goals.
Netherlands
Slovakia
Netherlands 2 v 1 Slovakia (SR5)
venue Durban (61,962)date Monday 28 June 3pm BST
Arjen Robben gave the Netherlands the lead after 18 minutes, finishing off a sweeping move from deep in the Dutch half with a fine strike. Despite dominating the game, the Netherlands could not extend their advantage until Sneijder made the game safe with six minutes of normal time left. Vittek scored from the penalty spot for Slovakia with the last kick of the game.
Brazil
Chile
Brazil 3 v 0 Chile (SR6)
venue Johannesburg EP (54,096)date Monday 28 June 7.30pm BST
Brazil swept the Chilean team aside, two goals in four minutes just after the half-hour mark, laying the foundations for a comfortable victory. Robinho added a third after 58 minutes.
Paraguay
Japan
Paraguay 0 v 0 Japan (Paraguay won 5-3 on penalties (SR7)
venue Pretoria (36,742)date Tuesday 29 June 3pm BST
Paraguay had marginally more possession in a disappointing game that ended goal-less after extra time. For the first time in this tournament, the decision came down to penalty kicks: Paraguay scored with all five of their attempts but when Yuichi Komano's effort grazed the top of the crossbar it proved decisive. Paraguay go into the last eight for the first time in their history.
Spain
Portugal
Spain 1 v 0 Portugal (SR8)
venue Cape Town (62,955)date Tuesday 29 June 7.30pm BST
A goal from Villa in the 63rd minute was enough for Spain to overcome a stiff challenge from their Iberian neighbours and book a place in the last eight. Portugal missed several chances but after Spain went ahead, playing slick, passing football, they rarely looked threatened.
Uruguay
Ghana
Uruguay 1 v 1 Ghana (Uruguay won 4-2 on penalties) (QF1)
venue Johannesburg SC (84,017)date Friday 2 July 7.30pm BST
The last African side in the tournament were eliminated in the cruellest possible fashion. Muntari gave Ghana the lead in the last seconds of injury time at the end of the first half but Uruguay equalised ten minutes after the interval. Then, in a dramatic final few seconds at the end of extra-time, Ghana seemed certain to go through after Luis Suarez was dismissed for deliberately handling the ball on the goal line immediately after he had blocked a shot on the line with his knee. However, Asamoah Gyan's penalty grazed the top of the crossbar. Gyan showed enormous courage by converting the first kick in the penalty competition but two lame efforts by his colleagues were easily saved. An unrepentant Suarez, who will miss the semi-final but could play in the final if his team qualify, later claimed that "the hand of God" was now his.
Argentina
Germany
Argentina 0 v 4 Germany (QF2)
venue Cape Town (64,100)date Saturday 3 July 3pm BST
For the third time in the competition, the fluent German team scored four goals to completely outclass Maradona's Argentina. Muller gave Germany an early lead and with the score still 1-0 at half time it did appear that the South Americans were still in the game. In the second half, however, Germany tore Argentina apart with a devastating display of attacking football.
For those who have been following FIFA's inconsistent approach to kit clashes, it can be noted that both teams were allowed to wear black shorts.
(Marcelo Viana)
Netherlands
Brazil
Netherlands 2 v 1 Brazil (QF3)
venue Port Elizabeth (40,186)date Friday 2 July 3pm BST
In a stunning second-half comeback, the Netherlands came from behind to knock the five times world champions out of the World Cup. Robinho gave Brazil an early lead and could have had more but for some brilliant saves by the Dutch goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg. An awful defensive mix up saw Felipe Melo glance the ball away from his goalkeeper and into his own net shortly after half-time. Soon afterwards, Wesley Sneijder headed the Dutch into the lead. The Brazilians lost their composure and Melo (it really wasn't his day) was sent off for stamping on Robben.
Paraguay
Spain
Paraguay 0 v 1 Spain (QF4)
venue Johannesburg EP (55,359)date Saturday 3 July 7.30pm BST
A late goal by Villa took Spain into the semi-finals for the first time in a dull match that had some moments of high drama. After 57 minutes, Paraguay should have taken the lead from a penalty but Oscar Cardozo's spot-kick was saved by Iker Casillas. Spain immediately took the ball into the Paraguayan goal mouth and were awarded a penalty in turn. Xabi Alonso scored from the kick but was ordered to retake it after Spanish players encroached. Goalkeeper Justo Villar saved the retake and immediately afterwards brought down Cesc Fabregas as he scrambled for the rebound but the referee clearly thought to award yet another penalty would have been a step too far. Villa's decisive goal was almost as dramatic, striking the post and then rolling along the line before bouncing off the other post and into the goal.
Uruguay
Netherlands
Uruguay 2 v 3 Netherlands
venue Cape Town (62,479)date Tuesday 6 July 7.30pm BST
Two goals in three minutes mid way through the second half were enough to see the Netherlands through to their third World Cup final. With the score level at half-time, the Dutch were under pressure for long periods from a resolute Uruguayan team until Sneijder and then Robben put them two up. Uruguay fought back, pulling one back in the second minute of injury time but it was too late to affect the result.
Germany
Spain
Germany 0 v 1 Spain
venue Durban (60,960)date Wednesday 7 July 7.30pm BST
For most of the game, Spain dominated possession with their usual flowing passing football but their forwards seemed reluctant to get into the German penalty area in numbers. Germany played with patience, looking to counter-attack but on this occasion the Spanish defenders denied them the space to create chances. In the end Carles Puyol scored the decisive goal in the 73rd minute. Germany threw everything they had into the attack in the final quarter of an hour but Spain never really looked likely to surrender their lead.
Uruguay
Germany
Uruguay 2 v 3 Germany
venue Port Elizabeth (36,007)date Saturday 10 July 7.30pm BST
The play-off for third place usually produces an open contest between teams under no pressure and this match did not disappoint. Thomas Müller gave Germany the lead after 18 minutes but Uruguay forced their way back into the game, taking the lead through the excellent Diego Forlán six minutes into the second half. Jansen then equalised just five minutes later and, as play flowed from end to end, Khedira headed the winner with eight minutes remaining.
Netherlands
Spain
Netherlands 0 v 1 Spain (extra time played)
venue Johannesburg SC (84,490)date Sunday 11 July 7.30pm BST
Spain gradually took a grip on a tense and often ill-tempered match that saw 14 yellow cards and Johnny Heitinga sent off in extra-time. The Dutch tactics were to disrupt Spain's passing game with aggressive, often brutal tackling and de Jong was fortunate not to have been sent off after he planted his foot on Xabi Alonso's chest. Both teams had chances but it was not until deep into extra-time that Spain swept up the pitch and Iniesta planted the ball in the Dutch net for the winner.
A nice touch came at the end when the Spanish team were decked out in traditional red shirts to accept the World Cup trophy: each shirt was embroidered with a single gold star above the crest to signify their historic achievement.
Match by Match Reports
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