by Zoumana Coulibaly

Created on: May 15, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Since the creation of the World Cup in 1930, the tournament has always been won by either a European country or a South American country. Moreover, in 18 editions, 9 took place in Europe, and 8 times a European nation won it except in 1966. 6 times, it took place in South America and was always won by a South American country. Only twice, so far, the competition took place outside of Europe or South America and, in both cases, was won by Brazil.

Another thing is that since 1966 and Brazil's triumph, the winner of the competition has been an alternation of European and South American countries.
In December of 2005, on my blog, i predicted that Brazil nor Argentina would win the title but a European country would and my prediction was correct. For sure, i can say that no European nation will win the title in 2010 due in part to the unfavorable climate. Definitely this is the chance for an African nation to finally reach the roof of the soccer world and be crowned world champion.
With that in mind, i make the prediction that Either an African or a South American nation will win it in 2010.

Now here are the arguments for my previous prediction.
1-The climate: even though many South Americans players now play in Europe, lots of them started in their native South America which has a climate comparable to Africa. Sure, South Africa does not have a full tropical weather but the period during which the tournament will take place will be favorable to the Africans and the South Americans due to their ability to adapt to climate change(many of them migrate to Europe to play not the reverse)

2-The support of the African public in general and the South Africans in particular: Many people in Africa are unofficial fans of the Brazilian team. Assuming that Brazil qualifies for the finals along side the African nations, i expect a fervor around them which will surely transcend the Brazilians and Africans and push them to perform well on the field.

3-There will be many more mature and talented African players, and i believe that nations such as the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon among others will learn from their mistakes and provide a favorable environment for their players to show what they can do on the fields. Organization is also very important. This aspect can be noticed by the Ivorian soccer federation which hired coach Halilodzic who is known for the rigor and discipline he brings everywhere he goes.

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