on 16 june 2010, during uruguay's second group game in the 2010 world cup against south africa, forlán opened the scoring with a right footed long range effort. later in the game, forlán scored from the penalty spot, shooting high into the net for his second and also had a hand in uruguay's third, in a 3–0 win over the host nation. on 2 july 2010, forlán scored a free kick against ghana to equalise in the quarter-final. the game ended 1–1 and uruguay advanced to the semi-finals after defeating ghana 4–2 in the penalty shootout. on 6 july 2010, forlán scored another long range goal, this time with his left foot to equalise against the netherlands in the semi-final. despite a half-time score of 1–1, uruguay eventually lost 3–2 as the dutch advanced to the final. forlán became the first player since lothar matthäus in 1990 to score three goals from outside the penalty area in one tournament. on 10 july 2010, forlán scored for the final time in the tournament as he netted a well-executed volley from the edge of the area to give uruguay the lead. this goal, from a pass by egidio arévalo ríos, was selected by fifa as the goal of the tournament. forlán then hit the crossbar with the final kick of the game from a free kick as they lost to germany 3–2 in the third place play-off. forlán was awarded the golden ball as the tournament's best player. he was also picked for the team of the tournament, and was the joint top scorer at the world cup with five goals.