After 1,021 days and 853 qualifying games... The World Cup finally begins for Sportsworld

Today is the day!

After all the preparations, South Africa is ready to stage the biggest football tournament on earth, which gets under way this afternoon in Johannesburg.

It is the 19th edition of the showpiece event and will be the first time it has taken place in the continent of Africa. Johannesburg's 94,000-capacity Soccer City hosts the opening ceremony which starts at 1300 BST, with South Africa facing Mexico at 1500 BST.

The festivities began in earnest last night, where Shakira, among other artists, performed at a vast pre-tournament concert in Soweto.

Today is also a big day for Sportsworld! A year of World Cup preparations finally come to fruition with the proud hosting of over 1, 200 corporate clients and discerning guests during the course of the month-long tournament. A vast network of Sportsworld staff will be seamlessly operating a full ground programme of airport and match-day transfers, well-placed accommodation and ticket distribution so guests can enjoy world class football, exclusive match-day hospitality and all the delights that South Africa has to offer.

Since it was chosen as the first African host of the World Cup in 2004, South Africa has spent about 40bn rand (£3.55bn) on stadiums, transport infrastructure and upgrading airports.

The tournament, which is made up of 32 nations, could add as much as 0.5% to the country's GDP in 2010 and will bring in an estimated 370,000 foreign visitors.

Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the local organising committee, said: "For me it will be a dream come true. It's a great moment in the World Cup's 80-year history. People said no African country could ever deliver this event. But we are showing that we can't just match what others have done but that we can do even better. Now the doubters are the believers."

As thousands of England supporters pour into the country for Saturday's World Cup opener against the USA, there are signs that South Africans are uniting as never before to welcome them. Among rich and poor, black and white, there is a common euphoria and common sound: the ubiquitous vuvuzela.

The national fervour carries the weight of a mass movement. "The last time South Africa partied like we are partying now, Nelson Mandela had just been released from 27 years in prison," journalist Charles Mogale observed.

A riot of colour and cacophony of sound greeted England fans flying into Johannesburg's OR Tambo airport. "We arrived to a small group of people with vuvuzelas and it was almost a clarion call for people to gather," said fan Ian Hart.

"This amazing scene developed with cleaners, customs officers, people in suits, people in casual wear all singing and dancing. It was deafening, like a mad spontaneous party that went on for an hour and a half."

Video source: The BBC