<P> The winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich ; in the first round of voting , South Africa received 14 votes , Morocco received 10 votes and Egypt no votes . South Africa , which had narrowly failed to win the right to host the 2006 event , was thus awarded the right to host the tournament . Campaigning for South Africa to be granted host status , Nelson Mandela had previously spoken of the importance of football in his life , stating that while incarcerated in Robben Island prison playing football `` made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in '' . With South Africa winning their bid , an emotional Mandela raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy . </P>
the bidding process for the 2010 world cup involved three african countries they were south africa
Morocco Egypt South Africa