In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of twelve venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to the ten venues[14] that were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006.
It is claimed that the altitude of several venues will affect the motion of the ball[15] and impact player performance,[16] although FIFA's medical chief has denied this.[17] Six of the ten venues are over 1200m above sea level, with the two Johannesburg stadia (Soccer City and Ellis Park) the highest at approximately 1750m.[18][19] The stadia in order of altitude are: Soccer City and Ellis Park Stadium, 1753m; Royal Bafokeng Stadium, 1500m; Free State Stadium, 1400m; Peter Mokaba Stadium, 1310m; Loftus Versfeld Stadium, 1214m; Mbombela Stadium, 660m; Cape Town Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium near sea level.[18][19]
| Johannesburg | Durban | Cape Town | Johannesburg | Pretoria |
| Soccer City | Moses Mabhida Stadium1 | Cape Town Stadium2 | Ellis Park Stadium | Loftus Versfeld Stadium |
 26°14′5.27″S 27°58′56.47″E / 26.2347972°S 27.9823528°E / -26.2347972; 27.9823528 (Soccer City) | 29°49′46″S 31°01′49″E / 29.82944°S 31.03028°E / -29.82944; 31.03028 (Moses Mabhida Stadium) | 33°54′12.46″S 18°24′40.15″E / 33.9034611°S 18.4111528°E / -33.9034611; 18.4111528 (Cape Town Stadium) | 26°11′51.07″S 28°3′38.76″E / 26.1975194°S 28.0607667°E / -26.1975194; 28.0607667 (Ellis Park Stadium) | 25°45′12″S 28°13′22″E / 25.75333°S 28.22278°E / -25.75333; 28.22278 (Loftus Versfeld Stadium) |
| Capacity: 88,460[20] | Capacity: 62,760[21] | Capacity: 64,100[22] | Capacity: 55,686[23] | Capacity: 42,858[24] |
 |  |  |  |  |
| Port Elizabeth | Bloemfontein | Polokwane | Rustenburg | Nelspruit |
| Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | Free State Stadium | Peter Mokaba Stadium | Royal Bafokeng Stadium | Mbombela Stadium |
| 33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E / 33.93778°S 25.59889°E / -33.93778; 25.59889 (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium) | 29°07′02.25″S 26°12′31.85″E / 29.1172917°S 26.2088472°E / -29.1172917; 26.2088472 (Free State Stadium) | 23°55′29″S 29°28′08″E / 23.924689°S 29.468765°E / -23.924689; 29.468765 (Peter Mokaba Stadium) | 25°34′43″S 27°09′39″E / 25.5786°S 27.1607°E / -25.5786; 27.1607 (Royal Bafokeng Stadium) | 25°27′42″S 30°55′47″E / 25.46172°S 30.929689°E / -25.46172; 30.929689 (Mbombela Stadium) |
| Capacity: 42,486[25] | Capacity: 40,911[26] | Capacity: 41,733[27] | Capacity: 38,646[28] | Capacity: 40,929[29] |
 |  |  |  |  |
- ^1 As Durban Stadium
- ^2 As Green Point Stadium
The following stadiums have all been upgraded to meet FIFA specification.
