Spain are crowned champions
The first world cup to be held in Africa has been a roaring success (and that's not just the noise of the vuvuzelas). After some tentative performances in the early group matches the tournament really came alive, and the knockout phase was as exciting as ever. While special mentions must go to Ghana for carrying the African flag into the quarter-finals, Uruguay for rekindling memories of 1930 and 1950 and going farther than any other American side and also to the Netherlands for not having an almighty team bust-up this time around, Spain are worthy winners and have become the first team to win the World Cup after losing their first match.
See you in 2014 in Rio!
Coverage
All of the BBC's allocated matches were shown on BBC1. The channels showing the matches allocated to ITV were decided as the tournament progressed and were shown on either ITV1 or ITV4.
All matches had radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live or 5 Live Sports Extra.
Latest News From FIFA
UEFA.com - FIFA World Cup - News
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Poland striker Robert Lewandowski finished top scorer in the European Qualifiers with a record 16 goals ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen. - Buffon announces retirement with European caps record
Gianluigi Buffon won his 175th and final Italy cap on Monday, a record for a European. Could that soon be under threat, though? We check out the top ten. - Where to watch the World Cup play-offs
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Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Republic of Ireland and Greece are in Europe's FIFA World Cup play-offs – UEFA.com looks at their credentials. - Israel call time on Elisha Levy's reign
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The draw for the FIFA World Cup play-offs has been made: Northern Ireland v Switzerland, Croatia v Greece, Denmark v Republic of Ireland, Sweden v Italy. - Goal records tumble in World Cup qualifiers
These European Qualifiers set new records for overall goals scored in FIFA World Cup preliminaries and for the highest-scoring individual and team campaigns. - European Qualifiers for World Cup: who is through?
Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Spain have won their groups to join Russia in the finals, with the eight play-off teams now also confirmed.
Flags courtesy of ITA's Flags of All Countries used with permission.