Opening weekend - 2010 World Cup
15 Juni 2010
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The 2010 FIFA World Cup opened last Friday in South Africa, after years of preparation, with an Opening Ceremony at Soccer City Stadium - the first matches taking place over the weekend. Thousands attended the opening concerts and matches in person, while tens of millions watched events unfold on screens large and small across the world. Collected here are some scenes from the opening ceremonies, the first several matches, and fans young and old around the world riding emotional rollercoasters while watching the 2010 World Cup. (42 photos total)
A South African flag incorporating the flags of each nation at the tournament is waved at the Opening Ceremony ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group A match between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City Stadium on June 11, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Clive Rose/Getty Images) #
Schoolchildren watch the World Cup opening match between South Africa and Mexico in San Jose, Costa Rica on June 11, 2010. Costa Rica's Education Minister Leonardo Garnier authorised all schools across the country to have a television in their classrooms to watch the World Cup matches. (REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate ) #
Uruguay's Diego Lugano, center, and France's Jeremy Toulalan, second from right, argue as referee Yuichi Nishimura of Japan, second from left, and France's Sidney Govou, right, intervene during the World Cup group A soccer match between Uruguay and France in Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday, June 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) #
Palestinians and foreigners watch the World Cup game between Germany and Australia projected onto a screen on the separation barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Sunday June 13, 2010. The wall that separates this biblical town in the West Bank from nearby Jerusalem has recently been bringing an international crowd together to watch the World Cup games. Every night, local restaurant owner and avid soccer fan Joseph Hasboun has been projecting games of the World Cup onto the wall facing his eatery, the Bahamas Sea Food Restaurant. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi) #