Johannesburg, South Africa is playing host to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The city is so incredibly humbled by this honor that they’ve renamed their FNB Stadium in Soweto and are now calling it Soccer City. Unlike most of the usual sports stadiums around the globe, football (soccer) stadiums are a bit larger – Soccer City in particular seating 94,700 fans.

Soccer City is a beautiful stadium and up to par in terms of being football-ready. However, it wasn’t always suited to play host to the world’s biggest sporting event. In order to provide a home to the World Cup, FNB needed an extreme makeover. To consummate proud football fans, South Africa’s authorities sprung into action quickly to revamp the stadium.

Basically, FNB Stadium was transformed from the ground up to become Soccer City. The stadium is an extremely important landmark to the South African people. It’s where Nelson Mandela first gave a public speech after his release from prison, and also where Chris Hani’s funeral took place.

The South African people wanted to show the world that their country could host such an event – and since the stadium needed to be upgraded, they thought it the perfect opportunity to show off their culture. The stadium upgrade was inspired by centuries-old African pottery, and the end result is a bowl-shaped structure that’s beautifully patterned on the exterior to resemble clay.

The design of this was thought up by the Populous sports facilities group, and the construction began immediately. The upper tier was expanded enormously in order to fit over 94,000 football fans. The number of suites was increased, too - now 195, with 99 being executive suites. The construction of the stadium was finished in late 2009.

Even before the upgrade took place, the old FNB Stadium still seated around 80,000. It wasn’t a small structure by any stretch of the imagination. However, to host the FIFA World Cup, a much bigger and up-to-date stadium was needed. The concessions and dressing rooms were also revamped in the effort.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will bring in millions of tourists and offer a huge boost for the South African economy. 1.5 billion Rand was invested in order to build Soccer City, and equally large amounts of money were being spent around the entire country to prepare for the event. It’s a big investment that all South Africans hope will pay off with billions in tourism dollars.

No one would go through the trouble to build a “soccer city” unless the event was going to be huge. The FIFA World Cup is a month-long event, starting on June 11 and ending July 11. This means the upkeep on the stadium in between the many matches is going to be incredibly hectic. Security will also be a huge concern across the entire area.

Even still, South Africa is confident that Soccer City is a stadium that will make every soccer fan in the world proud, and that the event will go off without a major hitch.