Scary post from futbol y más regarding the history of World Cups and the host nation. As you know, the opening match of the FIFA World Cup is Mexico vs. host South Africa. As the table below shows, the host nation has never lost their first match, and they have always qualified to the second round. If this holds true for the 2010 edition, this means that Mexico will not win their first game and since only two of four teams qualify, they’d be fighting for that other spot against France and Uruguay.
| Year | Host | 1st match win? | 2nd round? | # won | # tied | # lost | Group rank |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1934 | Italy | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1938 | France | Yes | Yes | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1950 | Brazil | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1954 | Switzerland | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1958 | Sweden | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962 | Chile | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1966 | England | Draw | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1970 | Mexico | Draw | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1974 | W. Germany | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1978 | Argentina | Yes | Yes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1982 | Spain | Yes | Yes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1986 | Mexico | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1990 | Italy | Yes | Yes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1994 | U.S.A. | Draw | Yes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 1998 | France | Yes | Yes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2002 | Korea | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2002 | Japan | Yes | Yes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2006 | Germany | Yes | Yes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Lo interesante sería ver cómo les fue a los equipos que jugaron contra los de casa.