Route to Final World Cup 2010 South Africa

Spain entered the 2010 World Cup as the reigning UEFA European Football Champions having won UEFA Euro 2008, and as the holders of the international football record of consecutive unbeaten games for a national team, spanning 35 matches from 2007 to 2009. The Netherlands entered the World Cup having not lost a single match in their UEFA Group 9 qualifying campaign, winning 8 matches out of 8.
Once at the finals in South Africa, the Netherlands reached the knock-out stages having finished top of Group E with a perfect record of three wins, against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, conceding only one goal. In the knock-out stages, they beat World Cup débutantes Slovakia, 5 time champions Brazil and 2 time champions Uruguay.
Spain reached the knock-out stages having finished top of Group H, recovering from an initial loss to Switzerland to beat Honduras and then Chile, tying with Chile on points but qualifying top of the group on goal difference. In the knock-out stages, they then beat their Iberian neighbours Portugal, quarter final débutantes Paraguay and three time winners Germany. The semi-final was a repeat of the match up for the UEFA Euro 2008 Final, and again saw Spain beat Germany, who were the top scorers of the 2010 tournament up to that point.

In the six games both teams played in South Africa to reach the final, the Netherlands scored a total of 12 goals and conceded 5, while Spain scored 7 and conceded 2. The top goalscorer in the tournament receives the World Cup Golden Boot. Going into the final both Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and David Villa of Spain were tied as the top scorers, while Arjen Robben of the Netherlands is the only other player in the finalists squads with more than one goal in the tournament so far.

Netherlands		Round	Spain
Detail Match on Group E: 2010 FIFA World Cup: Group E Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Netherlands 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4 9  Japan 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6  Denmark 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3  Cameroon 3 0 0 3 2 5 −3 0		Group stage	Detail Match on Group H: 2010 FIFA World Cup: Group H Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Spain 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6  Chile 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1 6  Switzerland 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4  Honduras 3 0 1 2 0 3 −3 1
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Slovakia	2–1	Round of 16	Portugal	1–0
Brazil	2–1	Quarter-finals	Paraguay	1–0
Uruguay	3–2	Semifinals	Germany	1–0