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ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup from South Africa continues this week with four games each day Tuesday, June 22, through Friday, June 25, as all 32 teams compete in their final matches of pool play. Match coverage begins each day at 9:30 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. on both ESPN and ESPN2. ESPN commentator assignment highlights for this week:

• Ian Darke and John Harkes will call the pivotal United States vs. Algeria match Wednesday, June 23, at 9:30 a.m. (ESPN) from Pretoria. Studio host Chris Fowler and analyst Alexi Lalas will also be on-site for pre, halftime and postmatch coverage;
• Also in Group C, Martin Tyler and Efan Ekoku will call the England-Slovenia match from Port Elizabeth at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN2;
• Tyler will team with Harkes on a pair of crucial matches that will determine group winners — Tuesday, June 22: Mexico-Uruguay in Group A (9:30 a.m./ESPN), and Friday, June 25: Portugal-Brazil in Group G (9:30 a.m./ESPN);
• Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe will call the Ghana-Germany match in Group D from Soccer City in Johannesburg Wednesday, June 23, at 2 p.m. (ESPN);
• Jim Proudfoot, the longtime English football commentator who joined ESPN in July 2009, to cover the Bundesliga, Serie A and other European football, will call the Paraguay-New Zealand match with World Cup studio analyst Roberto Martinez in Polokwane Thursday, June 24, on ESPN2 at 9:30 a.m. Proudfoot was the lead 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup commentator for national radio station talkSPORT in the UK;
• On ESPN Radio, the lead broadcast team of JP Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth will call matches daily all week, including: Mexico-Uruguay, U.S.-Algeria, Slovakia-Italy and Portugal-Brazil;

ESPN’s 2010 FIFA World Cup match commentators include: play-by-play voices — Darke, Adrian Healey, Proudfoot (one match), Rae and Tyler; and analysts – Ekoku, Harkes, Ally McCoist and Mustoe. ESPN Radio’s commentator teams include: Dellacamera and Smyth; Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino; and Ross Dyer and Shep Messing.

The top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 16, which begins Saturday, June 26, with the winner of Group A playing the Group B runner-up at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN. Commentator assignments for the start of the knockout round will be announced later this week.

ESPN at the 2010 FIFA World Cup

South Africa 2010 will be ESPN’s seventh FIFA World Cup and coverage of the event promises to be the most comprehensive in company history.  ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will air all 64 matches live and in high definition, and more than 50 matches will be televised live in Portuguese on ESPN Deportes. Additionally,  ESPN3.com, ESPN’s signature broadband network, will offer simulcasts of all matches on ESPN and ESPN2; ESPN 3D, which launches June 11, will televise 25 matches; ESPN Radio will broadcast all 64 matches in English and provide additional multi-language match coverage; and ESPN’s mobile platforms will provide coverage of all 64 matches. ESPN will present 2010 FIFA World Cup television studio programming from site in South Africa, offering U.S. sports fans the most comprehensive news and information coverage throughout the month-long soccer showcase.  Studio coverage will include SportsCenter segments, a nightly World Cup Live program, and pre, halftime and post-match shows, with additional studio programming and World Cup-branded segments, totaling more than 65 hours of coverage, originating from two sets in and around Johannesburg. ESPN International is also a FIFA World Cup rights-holder in Brazil and in the Indian Sub-continent and will provide extensive news and information coverage around the world. 

2010 FIFA World Cup schedule (June 22-25):

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