Although this site primarily focuses on the Barclays English Premier League, we occasionally look at other football topics as well. With the South Africa World Cup coming up next year, and with our sister site being Vuvezela SA 2010, we’ve decided to look at how to go about purchasing tickets. South Africa looks set to become a hot destination quite soon, so, in future articles, we will also be looking at South Africa accommodation, news South Africa, various cities around the country like south Cape Town, Johannesburg Africa, Durban, and a whole lot more…

A lot has been said about the recent process for the South Africa 2010 soccer world cup tickets that was implemented a few days ago. From a user perspective it seems pretty unfriendly, so we’ve taken the liberty of doing some research and applying for a few tickets online.

Here then is a detailed process, along with screenshots to assist you in applying for football tickets for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in SA:

1 - Navigate to the following location at FIFA.com and register or login:
South Africa 2010 World Cup Tickets

The Welcome screen allows you to select your country of residence:

2 - The second screen lets you choose what ticket options you can apply for. You also need to accept the terms and conditions for the Ticket Application Form on this page.

3 - Screen 3 lets you choose your match requests. You need to select the venue, match, seat category, and ticket quantity. There are 4 seat categories, varying from most expensive at 1 to least expensive at 4. Only South African residents can apply for category 4 tickets.

You can apply for a maximum of 4 tickets per match, for up to 7 matches. Note that it is not possible to select tickets for multiple matches that are being played on the same day.

4 - After you’ve selected the tickets for the matches that you would like to attend, the next screen displays a summary of your current ticket requests:

5 - On the next screen you, as the applicant, need to enter your personal details. Note, as the ticket applicant, you must attend each match you have requested tickets for.

6 - The guest details fields are on the same screen as the applicant details (5), and you will need to enter the personal details of any guests that you have requested tickets for.

7 - The following screen allows you to review your requests. This is a final check before payment details are taken. Check your details carefully before continuing. On this page you may also select the option to accept a lower category. By doing this you consent to the possibility of being allocated a lower category if the requested category is not available.

8 - The following screen allows you to enter your payment details. You may register to pay with either Visa or Mastercard. The registered payment card details must belong to the main applicant.

Note that all tickets purchased by the general public will be made available for collection in South Africa. Payment will only be processed if your application is successful. This means that your credit card will not be debited after completing this application, but only once your application has been confirmed as successful.

9 - The next screen allows you to confirm your ticket application for 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, and submit your request. It is recommended that you check the summary carefully and print the page prior to submission, in order to retain a hard copy for your records.

10 - You are now allocated a Ticket Application Identification number. This number must be quoted when contacting the 2010 FIFA World Cup Ticketing Centre (FWCTC) with any queries. Shortly after this, you will receive a notification email confirming receipt of your application. Note that completion and submission of the Ticket Application Form does not guarantee the availability of tickets.

All successful applicants will be notified of their success via email within 3 to 5 days after the draw.

You have the ability to view the status of your application at any time within your customer account.

Conclusion: All-in-all, we found this quite a painless process, and credit needs to go to FIFA for this. Where things will get interesting though, will be after the actual draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is made, and the time comes for World Cup tickets to be allocated.

Here’s wishing Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and the rest of the cities in South Africa a successful football World Cup in 2010!

* This article is also posted on our sister site, Vuvuzela SA 2010.