So do you think that South Africa was a good choice for the World Cup games? Yes or no?
Sure.
I don't assess the quality or validity of events based on number of participants. If that were my only criteria, I would be forced to concede that every single World Cup should be held in New York or London.
The greatest growth in the game of soccer (participation, financially, success) is in Africa right now. Having the WC there will legitimize that and grow it even further. Many of the people who will attend the games in person would never have had the opportunity otherwise.
And at the end of the day, the people who perhaps would have been able to attend had it been held in say, Europe, but who cannot because of its current location represent about 0.02% of the total "watching population" of this event. So not only is your argument stupid, it's statistically insignificant.
By your metric of determining a "joke", the following make the list:
The Utah Jazz, having failed to sell out a majority of their games. Also, 25 other NBA teams.
The NCAA tournament, having failed to sell out a majority of their games.
Every World Cup
The Olympics, none of which have ever sold out their events.
The only successes in your mind:
The Super Bowl, consistently sold out.
LDS General Conference
Blink-182, selling out for over a decade.