At least 12 British nationals were arrested in South Africa during the World Cup, Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said.
None of the arrests were for football-related violence, he told Tory Gareth Johnson (Dartford) in a written Commons reply.
Mr Browne said the Foreign Office was aware of 12 arrests but that there may have been others, including of dual nationals, that the department was not told about.
England fan Pavlos Joseph and Sunday Mirror journalist Simon Wright were among those arrested during the tournament, eventually won by Spain.
Mr Joseph was accused of trespassing after he wandered into the England dressing room following the team's 0-0 draw with Algeria. Charges against the 32-year-old mortgage adviser were dropped after he paid a 750 rand (£65) admission of guilt fine.
Mr Wright, who interviewed Mr Joseph about the incident, was arrested and charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice and fraud.
The charges against him were also dropped and he paid a 750 rand (£65) admission of guilt fine for a technical breach of the Immigration Act.
