Staged at 10 venues across South Africa between June 11 and July 11, 2010, the 2010 FIFA World Cup became synonymous with the sound of the vuvuzela, a mass-produced plastic horn which, when blown by thousands of fans simultaneously, produces a loud, monotonous, and sometimes overwhelming drone. Traditional musical accompaniment aside, the World Cup final, between the Netherlands and Spain, took place at the First National Bank (FNB) Stadium, also known a Soccer City, in Johannesburg and was won by Spain, 1-0, after extra time. Following the dismissal of Dutch centre-back John Heitinga in the second period of extra time, Spanish midfielder
Andrés Iniesta scored the latest winning goal ever recorded in a World Cup final, four minutes from time, to give La Roja their maiden world championship.
Drawn in Group H, alongside Switzerland, Chile and Honduras, Spain began their World Cup campaign badly, losing 1-0 to Switzerland at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in their opening group match. However, two David Villa goals, one in each half, were enough to see off Honduras at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg in their second and a narrow 2-1 victory over Chile at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, in which Chilean defender Marco Estrada was sent off in the first half, meant Spain topped their group on goal difference.
A series of 1-0 victories followed, over Portugal in Cape Town in the round of 16, over Paraguay in Johannesburg in the quarter-final and over Germany in Durban in the semi-final. David Villa was, once again, on the scoresheet against Portugal and Paraguay, while Carles Puyol scored against Germany. The World Cup final may have lacked goals, but was not short of incident. Aside from the sending off, English referee Howard Webb brandished a further 12 yellow cards, seven to the Netherlands and five to Spain, including to Iniesta for removing his shirt during his celebration of what turned out to be the winning goal. Including Heitinga, there were, in fact, 14 bookings in the match, setting, by far, a new record for bookings in a World Cup final.