216: Siphiwe Tshabalala, South Africa, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, England Collector Binder

Open wide for some soccer! Next year the FIFA World Cup will be held across sixteen venues in the USA, Canada and Mexico and, for no apparent reason, will feature a whopping 48 countries. Like several previous editions of the tournament there will be a huge opportunity for a narcissistic world leader to try and steal the limelight and, based on his performance at the risible Club World Cup earlier this year, potentially steal the actual trophy to add to his collection of gold shiny things. In keeping with the last two editions of the World Cup there will also be ample airtime for FIFA’s questionable president, Gianni Infantino, to do his bit for the host nations’ marginalised people by telling us that today he feels like a recently dismissed government worker who didn’t praise Elon Musk enough or Melania Trump.

A, frankly terrifying, fifteen years ago the World Cup was held on African soil for the first time with South Africa chosen ahead of Egypt and Morocco by FIFA officials it later transpired were bribed with astronomical sums. This took the gloss off what had appeared to be quite a wholesome decision from football’s powers that be with Nelson Mandela central to the South African bid noting the role of the beautiful game in providing solace during his incarceration on Robben Island during the country’s apartheid regime. As the tournament loomed several observers issued concerns over the nation’s capabilities to host but by June 2010 all was as good to go as could be and the world was ready for a month of blaring vuvuzelas, swirling footballs and the world’s best footballers descending on several shiny new stadia. Both Shakira and K’naan produced absolute bangers to herald the tournament which, just about, made up for Fabio Capello’s grumpiness about such things.

Egypt were the first African nation to compete at a World Cup in 1934 when qualification was simultaneously more simple and extremely complicated. Turkey withdrew before a ball was kicked meaning Egypt just had to get the better of Palestine, then a British mandate, and the 11-2 aggregate scoreline suggests how straightforward that was. As European empires collapsed following the Second World War FIFA were slow to appreciate the growth of football in Africa, despite impressive performances by the likes of Ghana and the United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria) in the 1964 Olympics, and all fifteen African nations withdrew from qualifying ahead of the 1966 World Cup when it was made clear they would face an inter-conference play-off against the victors of the Asia/Oceania group. In 1970 Morocco became the first African side to qualify for the World Cup finals since 1934, expansion in 1982 made two places available, three were made available in 1994, five in 1998 and in 2010 six African nations entered the group stage. The tournament opener saw hosts South Africa take on Mexico and, ten minutes after half-time, Siphiwe Tshabalala sent the home crowd into raptures.

Fulham midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi played a pinpoint pass through Mexico’s defence and Tshabalala took the ball in his stride before smashing it across Oscar Perez into the top corner. An iconic dance celebration to rival Bebeto and Papa Bouba Diop followed and, for just over twenty minutes, the Bafana Bafana faithful were in dreamland. Rafael Marquez levelled the scores and the game ended 1-1 and, despite a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Uruguay, South Africa still had the chance to reach the knockout stages with victory over France who were in the midst of eating themselves following a player mutiny against Raymond Domenech. The hosts did their part, scoring a famous 2-1 victory over Les Bleus, but a goal from a particularly bitey racist earned Uruguay a 1-0 win over Mexico and South Africa missed out on goal difference. Elsewhere in the tournament England drew 0-0 with Algeria in one of the worst games of football ever seen, the aforementioned bitey racist denied Ghana a place in the semi-finals with a cynical goal line handball and Spain passed the Netherlands into submission, despite the efforts of Nigel De Jong to bring the world of WWE to Xabi Alonso’s chest, to become simultaneous European and world champions.

While South Africa made an early exit from their home tournament they did so with their heads held high in both footballing and hosting terms. Siphiwe Tshabalala’s strike against Mexico was nominated for the 2010 Puskas Award for the best goal in the calendar year and he enjoyed a successful career at Kaizer Chiefs where his long-range goals helped the club collect all the domestic silverware. He currently sits third on the all-time list of South African caps with 90 appearances for Bafana Bafana and only called time on his playing career in 2021 after short spells with Erzurumspor and AmaZulu. The World Cup finals is due to return to the opposite end of the African continent in Morocco in 2030 as part of a joint hosting effort alongside Spain and Portugal providing that FIFA’s showpiece event survives to its centenary year. Much of that depends on how things go across the pond next summer. Unfortunately that responsibility rests with an egotistical buffoon with an alarming tendency to cause offence. And Donald Trump.