The countdown to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is ticking fast, with fewer than 500 days to go and tickets for FIFA 2010 going on sale this Friday. CapeTownMagazine.com looks forward to a fantastic African World Cup, and brings you the most essential, no-nonsense 2010 World Cup information.

10 Important Tips on Buying Tickets for FIFA 2010:

Tip 10: Put in your leave request early! The game schedule for each city has been finalised and you can now see which games are being played where. Orientate yourself with the 2010 World Cup game schedule.

Tip 9: Know when tickets for 2010 go on sale: Tickets for 2010 go on sale on Friday 20 February 2009 at 13h00 South African time. Fans applying for a ticket in this first of five ticket-sale phases (ending on 31 March 2009) will be entered into a draw that takes place on April 15. Within three days, they should be notified if they were successful. Find out more about hoe ticket sales work in our article on the ticket sales phases for 2010.

Tip 8:  Get tickets in your cities of preference:  A great experience can be to stay in one host city and thus buy tickets for games only in that city. Check out the match dates per city in the 2010 World Cup Match Schedule.

Tip 7:  Get tickets for your favourite team: You will have to wait for the final draw in December 2009 to know when and where your favourite teams will be playing. You can apply for up to four team-specific ticket series of up to seven games for a chosen team. For more information read, FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualification and Groups.

Tip 6: Budgeting: buy the right tickets for the right price: Decide how much you’re willing to spend on 2010 tickets and then choose, for example, a number of first-round matches, or just the final, or a mix. You can compare ticket prices for the various matches and categories in our article on 2010 Ticket Prices .

Tip 5: Get tickets for the right positions: Final seating plans are not yet known due to stadium construction not yet being complete, but in the meantime you can see how much the best seats in the house will cost by reading up on the 2010 ticket categories and prices.

Tip 4: Wait for the final draw (at your own risk!): You can buy venue-specific or team-specific tickets from 20 February 2009, or wait until the third phase of ticket sales from 5 December 2009 until 22 January once you know where and when your team will  be playing. The final groups and match schedules will be will be revealed on 4 December in the final draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Tip 3: Surprise your friends with 2010 Tickets: They’ll make the perfect gift for anyone even vaguely interested in soccer. You can apply for a maximum four tickets per match for up to seven matches. So if you are feeling generous why not act quickly to secure the perfect gift and apply for FIFA 2010 World Cup tickets.

Tip 2: Don't just buy tickets, know the lingo: Don’t know what a vuvuzela is? Don’t know what “laduuuma!” means? If you want to experience the real “Mzantsi” in 2010, best you find out right now by reading our conprehensive Guide to South African Local Lingo!

Tip 1: The big one: where to buy 2010 tickets: 20 February 2009 is the biggest date in the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ticket applications open on this day at 11h00 GMT (13h00 South African time), and to apply for them you can either visit any First National Bank branch in South Africa, or log onto the FIFA website.

Now that you know all there is to now about buying tickets for the 2010 World Cup, make sure you stay in tune with all the news on 2010 in South Africa with our ever popular Editor's Picks Newsletter.

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