South Africa will be the first African country to host the World Cup

Fifa has named the 10 stadiums which will host the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The stadiums will be located in nine cities around the country.

Four new stadiums will be built for the event - Greenpoint Stadium (Cape Town), Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Port Elizabeth), King's Park Stadium (Durban) and Mbombela Stadium (Nelspruit).

A further six will be upgraded - Royal Bafokeng Stadium (Rustenburg), Free State Stadium (Bloemfontein), Loftus Versfeld Stadium (Pretoria), Peter Mokaba Stadium (Polokwane), Soccer City and Ellis Park (both Johannesburg).

The venues were approved by Fifa's executive committee at a meeting on Friday.

The early announcement of the venues is intended to help the cities to learn from their German counterparts at this year's tournament.

The early choice of venues for the 2010 tournament was proposed by the South African local organising committee, SALCO.

"The announcement of the host cities in South Africa is the first concrete step taken in the delivery of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, said SALCO chief executive Danny Jordaan.