British South Africa

In 2004, the FIFA executive committee voted 14-10 in favor of awarding the World Cup to South Africa. In an election marred by allegations (that later proved to be true) of bribery, South Africa won over Egypt and Morocco.

The election committee cited a slightly more developed infrastructure and better public safety as the main reason for awarding it to South Africa. For the first time ever, soccer’s biggest stage would set up in Africa.

Critics questions whether South Africa would be able to pull off hosting the World Cup beause previous World Cups hosts such as Germany in 2006, Japan and South Korea in 2002 and France in 1998 had already developed a well-established infrastructure for putting on the spectacle that is the World Cup. However, even though South Africa was set up slightly better than competing countries, its infrastructure was nothing compared to previous hosts.

Along with building stadiums that fit FIFA regulations, South Africa would need to completely renovate their roadways, public transportation system and even create entire housing communities.