After Van der Sar's retirement from the national team, Stekelenburg became the Netherlands' first-choice goalkeeper under manager Bert van Marwijk. Stekelenburg was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, Van Marwijk announced he would be part of the final 23-man squad participating in the competition. Stekelenburg helped the Netherlands reach the final of the competition against Spain by making key saves throughout the tournament, most notably from Kaká in the Netherlands' 2–1 victory against Brazil in the quarter-finals. He conceded six goals in the whole tournament, two of them being penalty kicks. Despite making a number of saves in the final, he ended up on the losing side, conceding the match's only goal to Andrés Iniesta in the 116th minute.