2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup will be held in South Africa in June of 2009.
The FIFA Confederations Cup is held every four years and is a football (soccer) tournament for national teams. It is played by the winners of the six FIFA confederation championships along with the FIFA World Cup champion and the host country, making the total number of contenders to eight. If the World Cup winner is also the winner of one of the confederations, then the World Cup runner-up is also considered for the tournament.
The tournament was originally organized by and held in Saudi Arabia and was called the King Fahd Cup, contested in 1992 and 1995. It was only after 1997 that FIFA took over the organization of the tournament and renamed it, allowing for it to be staged every 2 years. It was changed to once every four years, always one year prior to each World Cup in the host country of the forthcoming World Cup. The Confederations Cup is considered a dress-rehearsal for the World Cup held after it.