2010 FIFA World Cup Group C

The group consisted of national association football teams from England, the United States, Algeria and Slovenia.

[4] The pot 3 team was Algeria who qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1986 thanks to a one-off play-off win against Egypt.

[5] The play-off tie was played in Khartoum after the two sides finished level with each other in Group C.[5] Post-match, a diplomatic spat occurred between the two nations with Egypt later threatening to quit international football for two years due to the alleged behaviour of Algerian fans.

[16] The United States equalised in the 40th minute when a seemingly harmless pot shot by Clint Dempsey was mishandled by England goalkeeper Robert Green and rolled into the net.

[20] Man of the Match: Tim Howard (United States) Assistant referees: Altemir Hausmann (Brazil)[21] Roberto Braatz (Brazil)[21] Fourth official: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)[21] Fifth official: Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon)[21] The following day, Algeria met Slovenia in Polokwane.

[23] Man of the Match: Robert Koren (Slovenia) Assistant referees: Leonel Leal (Costa Rica)[24] Carlos Pastrana (Honduras)[24] Fourth official: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)[21] Fifth official: Brent Best (New Zealand)[21] In the second round of matches, Slovenia met the U.S. in Johannesburg.

[26] In the opening stages of the second half, the United States halved the deficit via Landon Donovan after Boštjan Cesar had missed the flight of a long ball; Donovan then managed to collect the ball and hit his shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

[26] With eight minutes remaining, a long ball for the U.S. was knocked down by Joze Altidore to the oncoming Michael Bradley who finished past Samir Handanović on the half-volley to equalise the match at 2–2.

[27] Man of the Match: Landon Donovan (United States) Assistant referees: Redouane Achik (Morocco)[28] Inácio Cândido (Angola)[28] Fourth official: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)[28] Fifth official: Jeffrey Goh Gek Pheng (Singapore)[28] Prior to the match, England manager Fabio Capello took the decision to drop goalkeeper Rob Green following his high-profile error against the United States, replacing him with David James.

[30] Man of the Match: Ashley Cole (England) Assistant referees: Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)[28] Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan)[28] Fourth official: Michael Hester (New Zealand)[28] Fifth official: Jan Hendrik Hintz (New Zealand)[28] Jermain Defoe's 23rd-minute goal allowed England to claim the win and progress to the knockout stage of the competition.

Man of the Match: James Milner (England) Assistant referees: Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany) Mike Pickel (Germany) Fourth official: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Fifth official: William Torres (El Salvador) Early in the game, the United States nearly allowed another early goal as an Algerian shot hit the crossbar.

Throughout the remainder of the game, the United States had a number of good chances against a solid Algerian defence that allowed just one goal from two games; striker Jozy Altidore volleyed wide of an open net, while Clint Dempsey had a goal disallowed for a controversial offside call and later hit the crossbar on a shot and missed an empty net on the rebound.

The late goal not only saved the United States from elimination but also allowed them to win their group for the first time since 1930, advancing to play Ghana in the round of 16.