2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process along with hosts Germany for the finals tournament. It was the second time that Germany staged the competition and the first as a unified country along with the former East Germany with Leipzig as a host city (the other was in 1974 in West Germany), and the 10th time that the tournament was held in Europe.
| FIFA Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft Deutschland 2006 | |
|---|---|
Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden (A time to make friends) | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Germany |
| Dates | 9 June – 9 July |
| Teams | 32 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 12 (in 12 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Italy (4th title) |
| Runners-up | France |
| Third place | Germany |
| Fourth place | Portugal |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 64 |
| Goals scored | 147 (2.3 per match) |
| Attendance | 3,359,439 (52,491 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Miroslav Klose (5 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Zinedine Zidane |
| Best young player | Lukas Podolski |
| Best goalkeeper | Gianluigi Buffon |
| Fair play award | Brazil Spain |
← 2002 2010 → | |
Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title, defeating France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out in the final after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place. Angola, Ukraine, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Trinidad and Tobago and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. It was also the only appearance of Serbia and Montenegro under that name; they had previously appeared in 1998 as Yugoslavia. In late May 2006, immediately prior to the tournament, Montenegro voted in a referendum to become an independent nation and dissolve the loose confederacy then existing between it and Serbia; Serbia recognised the results of the referendum in early June. Due to time constraints, FIFA had Serbia and Montenegro play in the World Cup tournament as one team, marking the first instance of multiple sovereign nations competing as one team in a major football tournament since UEFA Euro 1992.
The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion times viewed compiled over the course of the tournament. The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people.[1]
Host selection
The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich, Switzerland. It involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier: Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco.[2] Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the fewest votes. The first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000, and the final round was held on 7 July 2000, which Germany won over South Africa.
| Voting results[3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
| Germany | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| South Africa | 6 | 11 | 11 |
| England | 5 | 2 | – |
| Morocco | 3 | – | – |
Bribery and corruption allegations
Accusations of bribery and corruption had marred the success of Germany's bid from the very beginning. On the very day of the vote, a hoax bribery affair was made public, leading to calls for a re-vote.[4] On the night before the vote, German satirical magazine Titanic sent letters to FIFA representatives, offering joke gifts like cuckoo clocks and Black Forest ham in exchange for their vote for Germany. Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey, who had initially backed England, had then been instructed to support South Africa following England's elimination. He abstained, citing "intolerable pressure" on the eve of the vote.[5] Had Dempsey voted as originally instructed, the vote would have resulted with a 12–12 tie, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who favoured the South African bid,[6] would have had to cast the deciding vote.[7]
More irregularities surfaced soon after, including, in the months leading up to the decision, the sudden interest of German politicians and major businesses in the four Asian countries whose delegates were decisive for the vote.[8] Just a week before the vote, the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia and agreed to send grenade launchers to the country. DaimlerChrysler invested several hundred million euros in Hyundai, where one of the sons of the company's founder was a member of FIFA's executive committee. Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea, whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi and Chung Mong-joon were possible voters for Germany.[8][9] Makudi additionally received a payment by a company of German media mogul Leo Kirch, who also paid millions for usually worthless TV rights for friendly matches of the Germany team and FC Bayern Munich.[8][9]
On 16 October 2015, German news magazine Der Spiegel alleged that a slush fund with money from then-Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus was used to influence the vote of four Asian members of the FIFA executive committee.[10] The sum of €6.7 million was later demanded back by Dreyfus. In order to retrieve the money, the Organising Committee paid an equivalent sum to FIFA, allegedly as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony, which never materialized.[8] Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German Football Association (DFB), denied the allegations on 17 October 2015, saying that "the World Cup was not bought" and that he could "absolutely and categorically rule out the existence of a slush fund". The DFB announced they would consider seeking legal action against Der Spiegel.[11] During a press conference on 22 October 2015, Niersbach repeated his stance, emphasising that the €6.7 million was used in 2002 to secure a subsidy by FIFA.[12] According to Niersbach, the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter, with the money being provided by Dreyfus. On the same day, FIFA contradicted Niersbach's statement, saying: "By our current state of knowledge, no such payment of 10 million francs was registered by FIFA in 2002."[13] The following day, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying, saying: "It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application". According to Zwanziger, the €6.7 million went to Mohamed Bin Hammam, who at the time was supporting Blatter's campaign for president against Issa Hayatou.[14]
On 22 March 2016, it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid.[15][16][17]
Qualification
198 teams attempted to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.[18] Germany, the host nation, was granted automatic qualification, with the remaining 31 finals places divided among the continental confederations. Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), five by CAF teams (Africa), four by CONMEBOL teams (South America), four by AFC teams (Asia), and three by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC (Oceania).
Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time: Angola, Czech Republic, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, and Serbia and Montenegro. Czech Republic and Ukraine were making their first appearance as independent nations, but had previously been represented as part of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union respectively; Serbia and Montenegro had competed as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1998, as well as making up part of Yugoslav teams from 1930 to 1990. As of 2022, this was the last time Togo, Angola, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, and the last time Uruguay failed to qualify.
Australia qualified for the first time since 1974. Among the teams who failed to qualify were 2002 third-placed team Turkey, quarter-finalists Senegal, Euro 2004 winners Greece and 2006 Africa Cup of Nations winners Egypt. Additionally, Belgium failed to qualify for the first time since 1978 and Cameroon failed to qualify for the first time since 1986. The other notable qualifying streaks broken were for Nigeria, who had made the previous three tournaments, and Denmark and South Africa, who had both qualified for the previous two. France had their first successful qualifying campaign since 1986, as they did not qualify for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, in 1998 they were automatically qualified as hosts and in 2002 as defending champions.
For the first time since the 1982 World Cup, all six confederations were represented at the finals tournament.
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro dissolved prior to the start of the World Cup, on 3 June 2006, with Serbia and Montenegro becoming independent countries; their team competed at the World Cup unaffected. Their involvement in the competition became similar to the Commonwealth of Independent States that appeared at UEFA Euro 1992, a team formed to take the Soviet Union's place following dissolution, that multiple sovereign states had been represented in the finals of a major footballing tournament by a single team and the only occurrence in the World Cup finals to date. The highest ranked team not to qualify was Denmark (ranked 11th), while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was Togo (ranked 61st).
List of qualified teams
The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings,[19] qualified for the finals tournament:
|
|
| Countries qualified for World Cup Country did not qualify Countries that did not enter World Cup Country not a FIFA member
|
| Teams listed by FIFA ranking as of May 2006[19] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Confederation | Rank | |
| 1 | Brazil | CONMEBOL | 1 |
| 2 | Czech Republic | UEFA | 2 |
| 3 | Netherlands | UEFA | 3 |
| 4 | Mexico | CONCACAF | 4 |
| 5 | United States | CONCACAF | 5 |
| Spain | UEFA | 5 | |
| 7 | Portugal | UEFA | 7 |
| 8 | France | UEFA | 8 |
| 9 | Argentina | CONMEBOL | 9 |
| 10 | England | UEFA | 10 |
| 11 | Italy | UEFA | 13 |
| 12 | Sweden | UEFA | 16 |
| 13 | Japan | AFC | 18 |
| 14 | Germany | UEFA | 19 |
| 15 | Tunisia | CAF | 21 |
| 16 | Iran | AFC | 23 |
| Croatia | UEFA | 23 | |
| 18 | Costa Rica | CONCACAF | 25 |
| 19 | South Korea | AFC | 29 |
| Poland | UEFA | 29 | |
| 21 | Ivory Coast | CAF | 32 |
| 22 | Paraguay | CONMEBOL | 33 |
| 23 | Saudi Arabia | AFC | 34 |
| 24 | Switzerland | UEFA | 35 |
| 25 | Ecuador | CONMEBOL | 39 |
| 26 | Australia | OFC | 42 |
| 27 | Serbia and Montenegro | UEFA | 44 |
| 28 | Ukraine | UEFA | 45 |
| 29 | Trinidad and Tobago | CONCACAF | 47 |
| 30 | Ghana | CAF | 48 |
| 31 | Angola | CAF | 57 |
| 32 | Togo | CAF | 61 |
Venues
In 2006, Germany had a plethora of football stadia that satisfied FIFA's minimum capacity of 40,000 seats for World Cup matches. The outdated and still-standing Olympiastadion in Munich (69,250), the venue for the 1974 final match was not used for the tournament, even though FIFA's regulations allow one city to use two stadia. Düsseldorf's LTU Arena (51,500), Bremen's Weserstadion (43,000) and Mönchengladbach's Borussia-Park (46,249) were also not used.
Twelve stadia were selected to host the World Cup matches. During the tournament, many of them were known by different names, as FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadia unless the stadium sponsors are also official FIFA sponsors.[20] For example, the Allianz Arena in Munich was known during the competition as FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich (German: FIFA WM-Stadion München), and even the letters of the company Allianz were removed or covered.[20] Some of the stadia also had a lower capacity for the World Cup, as FIFA regulations ban standing room; nonetheless, this was accommodated as several stadia had a UEFA five-star ranking. The stadia in Berlin, Munich, Dortmund and Stuttgart hosted six matches each, whilst the other eight stadia hosted five matches each.
- A cross denotes an indoor stadium.
Team base camps
Base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team.[33]
| National squads' base camps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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Match officials
| Confederation | Referee | Assistants |
|---|---|---|
| AFC | Toru Kamikawa (Japan) | Yoshikazu Hiroshima (Japan) Kim Dae-Young (South Korea) |
| Shamsul Maidin (Singapore) | Prachya Permpanich (Thailand) Eisa Ghoulom (United Arab Emirates) | |
| CAF | Coffi Codjia (Benin) | Aboudou Aderodjou (Benin) Célestin Ntagungira (Rwanda) |
| Essam Abdel-Fatah (Egypt) | Dramane Dante (Mali) Mamadou N'Doye (Senegal) | |
| CONCACAF | Benito Archundia (Mexico) | José Ramírez (Mexico) Héctor Vergara (Canada) |
| Marco Rodríguez (Mexico) | José Luis Camargo (Mexico) Leonel Leal (Costa Rica) | |
| CONMEBOL | Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) | Darío García (Argentina) Rodolfo Otero (Argentina) |
| Carlos Simon (Brazil) | Aristeu Tavares (Brazil) Ednílson Corona (Brazil) | |
| Óscar Ruiz (Colombia) | José Navia (Colombia) Fernando Tamayo (Ecuador) | |
| Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay) | Amelio Andino (Paraguay) Manuel Bernal (Paraguay) | |
| Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) | Wálter Rial (Uruguay) Pablo Fandiño (Uruguay) | |
| OFC | Mark Shield (Australia) | Nathan Gibson (Australia) Ben Wilson (Australia) |
| UEFA | Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) | Peter Hermans (Belgium) Walter Vromans (Belgium) |
| Graham Poll (England) | Philip Sharp (England) Glenn Turner (England) | |
| Éric Poulat (France) | Lionel Dagorne (France) Vincent Texier (France) | |
| Markus Merk (Germany) | Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany) Christian Schräer (Germany) | |
| Roberto Rosetti (Italy) | Alessandro Stagnelli (Italy) Cristiano Copelli (Italy) | |
| Valentin Ivanov (Russia) | Nikolay Golubev (Russia) Evgueni Volnin (Russia) | |
| Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia) | Roman Slyško (Slovakia) Martin Balko (Slovakia) | |
| Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain) | Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco (Spain) Pedro Medina Hernández (Spain) | |
| Massimo Busacca (Switzerland) | Francesco Buragina (Switzerland) Matthias Arnet (Switzerland) |
Squads
Squads for the 2006 World Cup consisted of 23 players, as in the previous tournament in 2002. Each participating national association had to confirm its 23-player squad by 15 May 2006.[35]
Groups
Seeds
The eight seeded teams for the tournament were announced on 6 December 2005 and placed into Pot A for the draw. Pot B contained the unseeded qualifiers from South America, Africa and Oceania; Pot C contained eight of the nine remaining European teams, excluding Serbia and Montenegro. Pot D contained unseeded teams from the CONCACAF region and Asia. To ensure that no group contained three European teams, Serbia and Montenegro was placed in a special pot, as they were the lowest ranked qualified team from Europe on the latest FIFA World Ranking; while it was deemed of less importance they had been seeded higher than Switzerland and Ukraine by the 2006 World Cup seeding tool.[36] Serbia and Montenegro was drawn first, then their group was drawn from the three seeded non-European nations, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
FIFA predetermined that, hosts, Germany would be placed in Group A, thus being assured of the venues of their group matches in advance of the draw. They also announced, in advance, that Brazil (the defending champion) would be allocated to Group F.
|
|
| Team | Points | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Serbia and Montenegro | 15.7 | 24 |
The group stage draw was held in Leipzig on 9 December 2005, and the group assignments and order of matches were determined. After the draw was completed, commentators remarked that Group C appeared to be the group of death, while others suggested Group E.[37][38] Argentina and the Netherlands both qualified with a game to spare with wins over Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro respectively.
Group system
The first round, or group stage, saw the 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group was a round-robin of three games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams coming first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16.
Ranking criteria
If teams were level on points, they were ranked on the following criteria in order:
- Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches
- Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches
- If teams remained level after those criteria, a mini-group would be formed from those teams, who would be ranked on:
- Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie
- Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie
- Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie
- If teams remained level after all these criteria, FIFA would hold a drawing of lots
In the original version of the rules for the finals tournament, the ranking criteria were in a different order, with head-to-head results taking precedence over total goal difference. The rules were changed to the above in advance of the tournament, but older versions were still available on the FIFA and UEFA websites, causing some confusion among those trying to identify the correct criteria.[39] In any event, the finals tournament saw only two pairs of teams level on points: Argentina and the Netherlands at 7 points in Group C; Tunisia and Saudi Arabia at 1 point in Group H. Both of these ties were resolved on total goal difference. Also, in both cases the teams had tied their match, so the order of ranking criteria made no difference.
Finals tournament
The finals tournament of the 2006 World Cup began on 9 June. The 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four teams each, within which the teams competed in a round-robin tournament to determine which two of those four teams would advance to the sixteen-team knock-out stage, which started on 24 June. In total, 64 games were played.
Hosting
Although Germany failed to win the Cup, the tournament was considered a great success for Germany in general. Germany also experienced a sudden increase in patriotic spirit with flags waving, traditionally frowned upon by German society since World War II whenever the German team played.[40] For the closing ceremonies, Matthias Keller composed a work performed simultaneously by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra with conductors Christian Thielemann, Zubin Mehta and Mariss Jansons, and soloists Diana Damrau, Plácido Domingo and Lang Lang.
Traditional powers dominate
Despite early success by Australia, Ecuador, and Ghana, the tournament marked a return to dominance of traditional football powers. Four years after the 2002 tournament, in which teams from North America (the United States), Africa (Senegal) and Asia (South Korea) made it deep into the knockout stages and Turkey finished third, all eight seeded teams progressed to the knockout stages and no quarter-finalists were from outside Europe or South America. Six former champions took part in the quarter-finals, with Ukraine and Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal as the only relative outsiders.[41] Argentina and Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals, leaving an all-European final four for only the fourth time (after the 1934, 1966, and 1982 tournaments).
Scoring
Despite the early goals that flooded the group stages, the knock-out phase had a much lower goals per match ratio. A prime example of the dearth of goals was Portugal, which only scored in the 23rd minute of the round of 16, and did not score again until the 88th minute of the third place play-off. No player managed to score a hat-trick in this tournament. Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and France were the only teams to score more than one goal in a knockout match. Germany was one of the exceptions, tending to play an attacking style of football throughout the knock-out stage, which was reflected by the fact that they scored the most goals (14), with players from all three outfield positions (defence, midfield and forward) making the scoresheet.
Germany's Miroslav Klose scored five goals to claim the Golden Boot, the lowest total to win the prize since 1962. No other player scored more than three goals. No player from the winning Italian squad scored more than two goals, though ten players had scored for the team, tying France's record in 1982 for the most goalscorers from any one team.
For the first time ever in the FIFA World Cup, the first and last goals of the tournament were scored by defenders. German left-back Philipp Lahm scored the opener against Costa Rica after only 5 minutes of the opening match. In the final, Italian centre-back Marco Materazzi out-jumped Patrick Vieira and headed in the last goal of the 2006 World Cup. In addition, Fabio Grosso clinched the cup for Italy with the decisive spot kick in the penalty shootout.
Unprecedented number of cards
The tournament had a record number of yellow and red cards, breaking the previous record set by the 1998 World Cup. Players received a record-breaking 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards, with Russian referee Valentin Ivanov handing out 16 yellow and 4 red cards in the round of 16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands in a match known as the Battle of Nuremberg. Portugal had two players suspended for each of the quarter-final and semi-final matches respectively. FIFA President Sepp Blatter hinted that he may allow some rule changes for future tournaments so that earlier accumulated bookings will not force players to miss the final, should their teams make it that far. The tournament also saw English referee Graham Poll mistakenly hand out three yellow cards to Croatia's Josip Šimunić in their match against Australia.
The high number of yellow and red cards shown also prompted discussion about the tournament's referees. FIFA officials and President Sepp Blatter received criticism for allegedly making rules too rigid and taking discretion away from referees.[42]
Group stage
All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).
In the following tables:
- Pld = total games played
- W = total games won
- D = total games drawn (tied)
- L = total games lost
- GF = total goals scored (goals for)
- GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
- GD = goal difference (GF−GA)
- Pts = total points accumulated
Group A
In the opening match of the tournament, Germany and Costa Rica played a game which ended 4–2 for the host in the highest scoring opening match in the tournament's history. Germany went on to win the Group A after edging Poland and breezing past Ecuador 3–0. Despite the defeat, Ecuador had already joined the host in the Round of 16 having beaten Poland and Costa Rica 2–0 and 3–0, respectively.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Ecuador | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Poland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Costa Rica | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 0 |
| Poland | 0–2 | Ecuador |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Ecuador | 3–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Costa Rica | 1–2 | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Group B
In Group B, England and Sweden pushed Paraguay into third place after narrow victories over the South Americans. Trinidad and Tobago earned some international respect after a draw with Sweden in their opening game and managing to hold England scoreless for 83 minutes, until goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard sealed a 2–0 win for the Three Lions. Sweden qualified for the knockout rounds after drawing 2–2 with England to maintain their 38-year unbeaten record against them.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | Paraguay | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0–0 | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| England | 2–0 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Paraguay | 2–0 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Group C
Both Argentina and Netherlands qualified from Group C with a game remaining. Argentina topped the group on goal difference, having hammered Serbia and Montenegro 6–0 and beaten Ivory Coast 2–1. The Dutch picked up 1–0 and 2–1 victories over Serbia and Montenegro and Ivory Coast, respectively. Ivory Coast defeated Serbia and Montenegro 3–2 in their final game, in Serbia and Montenegro's last international as the country had dissolved 18 days earlier.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | |
| 3 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Serbia and Montenegro | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
| Argentina | 2–1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Serbia and Montenegro | 0–1 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Argentina | 6–0 | Serbia and Montenegro |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Netherlands | 2–1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Netherlands | 0–0 | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Ivory Coast | 3–2 | Serbia and Montenegro |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Group D
Portugal coasted through in Group D, picking up the maximum number of points, with Mexico qualifying in second. Iran missed chances against Mexico in their opening 1–3 defeat and were eliminated in their match against Portugal. They fought hard against the Portuguese, but lost 2–0. Their last game against Angola ended in 1–1 draw. The Africans had a respectable first World Cup tournament after earning draws with Mexico (0–0) and Iran.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Mexico | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Angola | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Iran | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
| Mexico | 3–1 | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Iran | 1–1 | Angola |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Group E
In Group E, Italy went through to the Round of 16 conceding just one goal (an own goal) by Cristian Zaccardo in the group phase against the United States. The US bowed out of the tournament after disappointing results against the Czech Republic and Ghana, 0–3 and 1–2, respectively, despite a 1–1 draw (finishing with 9 vs 10 men) against Italy. Tournament debutant Ghana joined Italy in the round of 16, following victories over the Czech Republic and the United States. Daniele De Rossi was suspended for 4 games following his sending-off against the United States.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Ghana | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | United States | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
| United States | 0–3 | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Czech Republic | 0–2 | Ghana |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Italy | 1–1 | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Czech Republic | 0–2 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Group F
Group F included the reigning World Champions Brazil, Croatia, Japan, and Australia. Playing in their first World Cup for 32 years, Australia came from behind to defeat Japan 3–1, and, despite losing 0–2 to Brazil, a 2–2 draw with Croatia was enough to give the Australians a place in the Round of 16 in a game where two players were sent-off for second bookings and one, erroneously, for a third booking by English referee Graham Poll. The Brazilians won all three games to qualify first in the group. Their 1–0 win against Croatia was through a goal late in the first-half by Kaká. Croatia and Japan went out of the tournament without a single win.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Croatia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Japan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
Group G
France only managed a scoreless draw against Switzerland and a 1–1 draw against South Korea. With captain Zinedine Zidane suspended, their 2–0 win against Togo was enough for them to advance to the knockout round. They were joined by the group winners, Switzerland, who defeated South Korea 2–0, and did not concede a goal in the tournament. South Korea won their first World Cup finals match outside their own country in defeating Togo, but four points were not enough to see them through to the round of 16 (the only team for which this was the case), while Togo exited without a point.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | France | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 | |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Togo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
| South Korea | 2–1 | Togo |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| France | 0–0 | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| France | 1–1 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Togo | 0–2 | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Switzerland | 2–0 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Group H
Spain dominated Group H, picking up the maximum number of points, scoring 8 goals, and conceding only 1. Ukraine, despite being beaten 4–0 by Spain in their first World Cup game, took advantage of the weaker opponents to beat Saudi Arabia 4–0 and scrape past Tunisia 1–0 thanks to a 70th-minute penalty by Andriy Shevchenko, to reach the Round of 16. Saudi Arabia and Tunisia went out of the tournament having 1 point each, thanks to a 2–2 draw against each other.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Ukraine | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Tunisia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 | |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
| Spain | 4–0 | Ukraine |
|---|---|---|
| 2006, fifa, world, 2006, world, redirects, here, other, uses, 2006, world, disambiguation, video, games, video, game, fifa, germany, 2006, redirects, here, events, 2006, germany, 2006, germany, 18th, fifa, world, quadrennial, international, football, world, ch. 2006 World Cup redirects here For other uses see 2006 World Cup disambiguation For the video games see 2006 FIFA World Cup video game and FIFA 06 Germany 2006 redirects here For the events in 2006 in Germany see 2006 in Germany The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup the quadrennial international football world championship tournament It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany which had won the right to host the event in July 2000 Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003 Thirty one teams qualified from this process along with hosts Germany for the finals tournament It was the second time that Germany staged the competition and the first as a unified country along with the former East Germany with Leipzig as a host city the other was in 1974 in West Germany and the 10th time that the tournament was held in Europe 2006 FIFA World CupFIFA Fussball WeltmeisterschaftDeutschland 2006Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden A time to make friends Tournament detailsHost countryGermanyDates9 June 9 JulyTeams32 from 6 confederations Venue s 12 in 12 host cities Final positionsChampions Italy 4th title Runners up FranceThird place GermanyFourth place PortugalTournament statisticsMatches played64Goals scored147 2 3 per match Attendance3 359 439 52 491 per match Top scorer s Miroslav Klose 5 goals Best player s Zinedine ZidaneBest young playerLukas PodolskiBest goalkeeperGianluigi BuffonFair play award Brazil Spain 20022010 Italy won the tournament claiming their fourth World Cup title defeating France 5 3 in a penalty shoot out in the final after extra time had finished in a 1 1 draw Germany defeated Portugal 3 1 to finish in third place Angola Ukraine Ghana the Ivory Coast Trinidad and Tobago and Togo made their first appearances in the finals It was also the only appearance of Serbia and Montenegro under that name they had previously appeared in 1998 as Yugoslavia In late May 2006 immediately prior to the tournament Montenegro voted in a referendum to become an independent nation and dissolve the loose confederacy then existing between it and Serbia Serbia recognised the results of the referendum in early June Due to time constraints FIFA had Serbia and Montenegro play in the World Cup tournament as one team marking the first instance of multiple sovereign nations competing as one team in a major football tournament since UEFA Euro 1992 The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history garnering an estimated 26 29 billion times viewed compiled over the course of the tournament The final attracted an estimated audience of 715 1 million people 1 Contents 1 Host selection 1 1 Bribery and corruption allegations 2 Qualification 2 1 List of qualified teams 3 Venues 3 1 Team base camps 4 Match officials 5 Squads 6 Groups 6 1 Seeds 6 2 Group system 6 2 1 Ranking criteria 7 Finals tournament 7 1 Hosting 7 2 Traditional powers dominate 7 3 Scoring 7 4 Unprecedented number of cards 8 Group stage 8 1 Group A 8 2 Group B 8 3 Group C 8 4 Group D 8 5 Group E 8 6 Group F 8 7 Group G 8 8 Group H 9 Knockout stage 9 1 Bracket 9 2 Round of 16 9 3 Quarter finals 9 4 Semi finals 9 5 Third place play off 9 6 Final 10 Statistics 10 1 Goalscorers 10 2 Awards 10 3 All star team 10 4 Prize money 10 5 Final standings 11 Fan Fests 11 1 Locations 12 Marketing 12 1 Sponsorship 13 Symbols 13 1 Mascot 13 2 Match ball 13 3 Music 14 Evaluation of Germany as host nation 15 See also 16 Footnotes 17 References 18 External linksHost selectionMain article FIFA World Cup hosts The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zurich Switzerland It involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier Germany South Africa England and Morocco 2 Three rounds of voting were required each round eliminating the nation with the fewest votes The first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000 and the final round was held on 7 July 2000 which Germany won over South Africa Voting results 3 Country Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Germany 10 11 12 South Africa 6 11 11 England 5 2 Morocco 3 Bribery and corruption allegations Accusations of bribery and corruption had marred the success of Germany s bid from the very beginning On the very day of the vote a hoax bribery affair was made public leading to calls for a re vote 4 On the night before the vote German satirical magazine Titanic sent letters to FIFA representatives offering joke gifts like cuckoo clocks and Black Forest ham in exchange for their vote for Germany Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey who had initially backed England had then been instructed to support South Africa following England s elimination He abstained citing intolerable pressure on the eve of the vote 5 Had Dempsey voted as originally instructed the vote would have resulted with a 12 12 tie and FIFA president Sepp Blatter who favoured the South African bid 6 would have had to cast the deciding vote 7 More irregularities surfaced soon after including in the months leading up to the decision the sudden interest of German politicians and major businesses in the four Asian countries whose delegates were decisive for the vote 8 Just a week before the vote the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schroder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia and agreed to send grenade launchers to the country DaimlerChrysler invested several hundred million euros in Hyundai where one of the sons of the company s founder was a member of FIFA s executive committee Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi and Chung Mong joon were possible voters for Germany 8 9 Makudi additionally received a payment by a company of German media mogul Leo Kirch who also paid millions for usually worthless TV rights for friendly matches of the Germany team and FC Bayern Munich 8 9 On 16 October 2015 German news magazine Der Spiegel alleged that a slush fund with money from then Adidas CEO Robert Louis Dreyfus was used to influence the vote of four Asian members of the FIFA executive committee 10 The sum of 6 7 million was later demanded back by Dreyfus In order to retrieve the money the Organising Committee paid an equivalent sum to FIFA allegedly as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony which never materialized 8 Wolfgang Niersbach president of the German Football Association DFB denied the allegations on 17 October 2015 saying that the World Cup was not bought and that he could absolutely and categorically rule out the existence of a slush fund The DFB announced they would consider seeking legal action against Der Spiegel 11 During a press conference on 22 October 2015 Niersbach repeated his stance emphasising that the 6 7 million was used in 2002 to secure a subsidy by FIFA 12 According to Niersbach the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter with the money being provided by Dreyfus On the same day FIFA contradicted Niersbach s statement saying By our current state of knowledge no such payment of 10 million francs was registered by FIFA in 2002 13 The following day former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying saying It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application According to Zwanziger the 6 7 million went to Mohamed Bin Hammam who at the time was supporting Blatter s campaign for president against Issa Hayatou 14 On 22 March 2016 it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid 15 16 17 QualificationMain article 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 198 teams attempted to qualify for the 2006 World Cup 18 Germany the host nation was granted automatic qualification with the remaining 31 finals places divided among the continental confederations Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams Europe five by CAF teams Africa four by CONMEBOL teams South America four by AFC teams Asia and three by CONCACAF teams North and Central America and Caribbean The remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC Oceania Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time Angola Czech Republic Ghana Ivory Coast Togo Trinidad and Tobago Ukraine and Serbia and Montenegro Czech Republic and Ukraine were making their first appearance as independent nations but had previously been represented as part of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union respectively Serbia and Montenegro had competed as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1998 as well as making up part of Yugoslav teams from 1930 to 1990 As of 2022 this was the last time Togo Angola Czech Republic Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals and the last time Uruguay failed to qualify Australia qualified for the first time since 1974 Among the teams who failed to qualify were 2002 third placed team Turkey quarter finalists Senegal Euro 2004 winners Greece and 2006 Africa Cup of Nations winners Egypt Additionally Belgium failed to qualify for the first time since 1978 and Cameroon failed to qualify for the first time since 1986 The other notable qualifying streaks broken were for Nigeria who had made the previous three tournaments and Denmark and South Africa who had both qualified for the previous two France had their first successful qualifying campaign since 1986 as they did not qualify for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups in 1998 they were automatically qualified as hosts and in 2002 as defending champions For the first time since the 1982 World Cup all six confederations were represented at the finals tournament The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro dissolved prior to the start of the World Cup on 3 June 2006 with Serbia and Montenegro becoming independent countries their team competed at the World Cup unaffected Their involvement in the competition became similar to the Commonwealth of Independent States that appeared at UEFA Euro 1992 a team formed to take the Soviet Union s place following dissolution that multiple sovereign states had been represented in the finals of a major footballing tournament by a single team and the only occurrence in the World Cup finals to date The highest ranked team not to qualify was Denmark ranked 11th while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was Togo ranked 61st List of qualified teams The following 32 teams shown with final pre tournament rankings 19 qualified for the finals tournament AFC 4 nbsp Iran 23 nbsp Japan 18 nbsp Saudi Arabia 34 nbsp South Korea 29 CAF 5 nbsp Angola 57 nbsp Ghana 48 nbsp Ivory Coast 32 nbsp Togo 61 nbsp Tunisia 21 CONCACAF 4 nbsp Costa Rica 26 nbsp Mexico 4 nbsp Trinidad and Tobago 47 nbsp United States 5 CONMEBOL 4 nbsp Argentina 9 nbsp Brazil 1 nbsp Ecuador 39 nbsp Paraguay 33 OFC 1 nbsp Australia 42 UEFA 14 nbsp Croatia 23 nbsp Czech Republic 2 nbsp England 10 nbsp France 8 nbsp Germany 19 hosts nbsp Italy 13 nbsp Netherlands 3 nbsp Poland 29 nbsp Portugal 7 nbsp Serbia and Montenegro 44 nbsp Spain 5 nbsp Sweden 16 nbsp Switzerland 35 nbsp Ukraine 45 nbsp Countries qualified for World Cup Country did not qualify Countries that did not enter World Cup Country not a FIFA member Teams listed by FIFA ranking as of May 2006 19 Country Confederation Rank 1 nbsp Brazil CONMEBOL 1 2 nbsp Czech Republic UEFA 2 3 nbsp Netherlands UEFA 3 4 nbsp Mexico CONCACAF 4 5 nbsp United States CONCACAF 5 nbsp Spain UEFA 5 7 nbsp Portugal UEFA 7 8 nbsp France UEFA 8 9 nbsp Argentina CONMEBOL 9 10 nbsp England UEFA 10 11 nbsp Italy UEFA 13 12 nbsp Sweden UEFA 16 13 nbsp Japan AFC 18 14 nbsp Germany UEFA 19 15 nbsp Tunisia CAF 21 16 nbsp Iran AFC 23 nbsp Croatia UEFA 23 18 nbsp Costa Rica CONCACAF 25 19 nbsp South Korea AFC 29 nbsp Poland UEFA 29 21 nbsp Ivory Coast CAF 32 22 nbsp Paraguay CONMEBOL 33 23 nbsp Saudi Arabia AFC 34 24 nbsp Switzerland UEFA 35 25 nbsp Ecuador CONMEBOL 39 26 nbsp Australia OFC 42 27 nbsp Serbia and Montenegro UEFA 44 28 nbsp Ukraine UEFA 45 29 nbsp Trinidad and Tobago CONCACAF 47 30 nbsp Ghana CAF 48 31 nbsp Angola CAF 57 32 nbsp Togo CAF 61VenuesIn 2006 Germany had a plethora of football stadia that satisfied FIFA s minimum capacity of 40 000 seats for World Cup matches The outdated and still standing Olympiastadion in Munich 69 250 the venue for the 1974 final match was not used for the tournament even though FIFA s regulations allow one city to use two stadia Dusseldorf s LTU Arena 51 500 Bremen s Weserstadion 43 000 and Monchengladbach s Borussia Park 46 249 were also not used Twelve stadia were selected to host the World Cup matches During the tournament many of them were known by different names as FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadia unless the stadium sponsors are also official FIFA sponsors 20 For example the Allianz Arena in Munich was known during the competition as FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich German FIFA WM Stadion Munchen and even the letters of the company Allianz were removed or covered 20 Some of the stadia also had a lower capacity for the World Cup as FIFA regulations ban standing room nonetheless this was accommodated as several stadia had a UEFA five star ranking The stadia in Berlin Munich Dortmund and Stuttgart hosted six matches each whilst the other eight stadia hosted five matches each A cross denotes an indoor stadium Berlin Munich Bavaria Dortmund North Rhine Westphalia Stuttgart Baden Wurttemberg Olympiastadion Allianz Arena FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich Signal Iduna Park FIFA World Cup Stadium Dortmund Gottlieb Daimler Stadion 52 30 53 N 13 14 22 E 52 51472 N 13 23944 E 52 51472 13 23944 Olympiastadion Berlin 48 13 7 59 N 11 37 29 11 E 48 2187750 N 11 6247528 E 48 2187750 11 6247528 Allianz Arena 51 29 33 25 N 7 27 6 63 E 51 4925694 N 7 4518417 E 51 4925694 7 4518417 Signal Iduna Park 48 47 32 17 N 9 13 55 31 E 48 7922694 N 9 2320306 E 48 7922694 9 2320306 Gottlieb Daimler Stadion Capacity 72 000 21 Capacity 66 000 22 Capacity 65 000 23 Capacity 52 000 24 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Gelsenkirchen North Rhine Westphalia nbsp nbsp Berlin nbsp Dortmund nbsp Munich nbsp Stuttgart nbsp Gelsenkirchen nbsp Hamburg nbsp Frankfurt nbsp Cologne nbsp Hanover nbsp Leipzig nbsp Kaiserslautern nbsp Nuremberg2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Hamburg Arena AufSchalke FIFA World Cup Stadium Gelsenkirchen AOL Arena FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg 51 33 16 21 N 7 4 3 32 E 51 5545028 N 7 0675889 E 51 5545028 7 0675889 Arena AufSchalke 53 35 13 77 N 9 53 55 02 E 53 5871583 N 9 8986167 E 53 5871583 9 8986167 AOL Arena Capacity 52 000 25 Capacity 50 000 26 nbsp nbsp Frankfurt Hesse Kaiserslautern Rhineland Palatinate Commerzbank Arena FIFA World Cup Stadium Frankfurt Fritz Walter Stadion 50 4 6 86 N 8 38 43 65 E 50 0685722 N 8 6454583 E 50 0685722 8 6454583 Commerzbank Arena 49 26 4 96 N 7 46 35 24 E 49 4347111 N 7 7764556 E 49 4347111 7 7764556 Fritz Walter Stadion Capacity 48 000 27 Capacity 46 000 28 nbsp nbsp Cologne North Rhine Westphalia Hanover Lower Saxony Leipzig Saxony Nuremberg Bavaria RheinEnergieStadion FIFA World Cup Stadium Cologne AWD Arena FIFA World Cup Stadium Hanover Zentralstadion easyCredit Stadion Frankenstadion 50 56 0 59 N 6 52 29 99 E 50 9334972 N 6 8749972 E 50 9334972 6 8749972 RheinEnergie Stadion 52 21 36 24 N 9 43 52 31 E 52 3600667 N 9 7311972 E 52 3600667 9 7311972 AWD Arena 51 20 44 86 N 12 20 53 59 E 51 3457944 N 12 3482194 E 51 3457944 12 3482194 Zentralstadion 49 25 34 N 11 7 33 E 49 42611 N 11 12583 E 49 42611 11 12583 EasyCredit Stadion Capacity 45 000 29 Capacity 43 000 30 Capacity 43 000 31 Capacity 41 000 32 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Team base camps Base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team 33 National squads base camps Team City Angola Celle Argentina Herzogenaurach Australia Zweiflingen 34 Brazil Bergisch Gladbach Costa Rica Walldorf Croatia Bad Bruckenau Czech Republic Westerburg Ecuador Bad Kissingen England Baden Baden France Aerzen Germany Berlin Ghana Wurzburg Iran Friedrichshafen Italy Duisburg Ivory Coast Niederkassel Japan BonnTeam City Mexico Gottingen Netherlands Hinterzarten Paraguay Oberhaching Poland Barsinghausen Portugal Marienfeld Saudi Arabia Bad Nauheim Serbia and Montenegro Billerbeck Spain Kamen South Korea Bergisch Gladbach Sweden Bremen Switzerland Bad Bertrich Togo Wangen im Allgau Trinidad and Tobago Rotenburg an der Wumme Tunisia Schweinfurt Ukraine Potsdam United States HamburgMatch officialsConfederation Referee Assistants AFC Toru Kamikawa Japan Yoshikazu Hiroshima Japan Kim Dae Young South Korea Shamsul Maidin Singapore Prachya Permpanich Thailand Eisa Ghoulom United Arab Emirates CAF Coffi Codjia Benin Aboudou Aderodjou Benin Celestin Ntagungira Rwanda Essam Abdel Fatah Egypt Dramane Dante Mali Mamadou N Doye Senegal CONCACAF Benito Archundia Mexico Jose Ramirez Mexico Hector Vergara Canada Marco Rodriguez Mexico Jose Luis Camargo Mexico Leonel Leal Costa Rica CONMEBOL Horacio Elizondo Argentina Dario Garcia Argentina Rodolfo Otero Argentina Carlos Simon Brazil Aristeu Tavares Brazil Ednilson Corona Brazil oscar Ruiz Colombia Jose Navia Colombia Fernando Tamayo Ecuador Carlos Amarilla Paraguay Amelio Andino Paraguay Manuel Bernal Paraguay Jorge Larrionda Uruguay Walter Rial Uruguay Pablo Fandino Uruguay OFC Mark Shield Australia Nathan Gibson Australia Ben Wilson Australia UEFA Frank De Bleeckere Belgium Peter Hermans Belgium Walter Vromans Belgium Graham Poll England Philip Sharp England Glenn Turner England Eric Poulat France Lionel Dagorne France Vincent Texier France Markus Merk Germany Jan Hendrik Salver Germany Christian Schraer Germany Roberto Rosetti Italy Alessandro Stagnelli Italy Cristiano Copelli Italy Valentin Ivanov Russia Nikolay Golubev Russia Evgueni Volnin Russia Ľubos Micheľ Slovakia Roman Slysko Slovakia Martin Balko Slovakia Luis Medina Cantalejo Spain Victoriano Giraldez Carrasco Spain Pedro Medina Hernandez Spain Massimo Busacca Switzerland Francesco Buragina Switzerland Matthias Arnet Switzerland SquadsFurther information 2006 FIFA World Cup squads Squads for the 2006 World Cup consisted of 23 players as in the previous tournament in 2002 Each participating national association had to confirm its 23 player squad by 15 May 2006 35 GroupsSeeds Further information 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding The eight seeded teams for the tournament were announced on 6 December 2005 and placed into Pot A for the draw Pot B contained the unseeded qualifiers from South America Africa and Oceania Pot C contained eight of the nine remaining European teams excluding Serbia and Montenegro Pot D contained unseeded teams from the CONCACAF region and Asia To ensure that no group contained three European teams Serbia and Montenegro was placed in a special pot as they were the lowest ranked qualified team from Europe on the latest FIFA World Ranking while it was deemed of less importance they had been seeded higher than Switzerland and Ukraine by the 2006 World Cup seeding tool 36 Serbia and Montenegro was drawn first then their group was drawn from the three seeded non European nations Argentina Brazil and Mexico FIFA predetermined that hosts Germany would be placed in Group A thus being assured of the venues of their group matches in advance of the draw They also announced in advance that Brazil the defending champion would be allocated to Group F Pot A Team Points Rank nbsp Germany a 49 3 4 nbsp Brazil 63 7 1 nbsp England 50 7 2 nbsp Spain 50 0 3 nbsp Mexico 47 3 5 nbsp France 46 0 6 nbsp Italy 44 3 7 nbsp Argentina 44 0 8 Pot B Team Points Rank nbsp Paraguay 31 3 15 nbsp Tunisia 19 0 22 nbsp Ecuador 16 0 23 nbsp Ivory Coast 7 0 27 nbsp Australia 4 3 28 nbsp Ghana 3 3 30 nbsp Angola 2 0 31 nbsp Togo 1 3 32 Pot C Team Points Rank nbsp Netherlands 38 3 10 nbsp Sweden 33 7 13 nbsp Croatia 33 0 14 nbsp Czech Republic 29 0 16 nbsp Portugal 28 7 17 nbsp Poland 20 3 20 nbsp Switzerland 8 7 25 nbsp Ukraine 7 0 26 Pot D Team Points Rank nbsp United States 42 7 9 nbsp South Korea 37 3 11 nbsp Japan 36 0 12 nbsp Costa Rica 22 7 18 nbsp Saudi Arabia 20 7 19 nbsp Iran 19 3 21 nbsp Trinidad and Tobago 4 3 29 Special Pot Team Points Rank nbsp Serbia and Montenegro 15 7 24 The group stage draw was held in Leipzig on 9 December 2005 and the group assignments and order of matches were determined After the draw was completed commentators remarked that Group C appeared to be the group of death while others suggested Group E 37 38 Argentina and the Netherlands both qualified with a game to spare with wins over Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro respectively Group system The first round or group stage saw the 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams Each group was a round robin of three games where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group Teams were awarded three points for a win one point for a draw and none for a defeat The teams coming first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16 Ranking criteria If teams were level on points they were ranked on the following criteria in order Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches If teams remained level after those criteria a mini group would be formed from those teams who would be ranked on Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie If teams remained level after all these criteria FIFA would hold a drawing of lots In the original version of the rules for the finals tournament the ranking criteria were in a different order with head to head results taking precedence over total goal difference The rules were changed to the above in advance of the tournament but older versions were still available on the FIFA and UEFA websites causing some confusion among those trying to identify the correct criteria 39 In any event the finals tournament saw only two pairs of teams level on points Argentina and the Netherlands at 7 points in Group C Tunisia and Saudi Arabia at 1 point in Group H Both of these ties were resolved on total goal difference Also in both cases the teams had tied their match so the order of ranking criteria made no difference Finals tournamentThe finals tournament of the 2006 World Cup began on 9 June The 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four teams each within which the teams competed in a round robin tournament to determine which two of those four teams would advance to the sixteen team knock out stage which started on 24 June In total 64 games were played Hosting Although Germany failed to win the Cup the tournament was considered a great success for Germany in general Germany also experienced a sudden increase in patriotic spirit with flags waving traditionally frowned upon by German society since World War II whenever the German team played 40 For the closing ceremonies Matthias Keller composed a work performed simultaneously by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra with conductors Christian Thielemann Zubin Mehta and Mariss Jansons and soloists Diana Damrau Placido Domingo and Lang Lang Traditional powers dominate Despite early success by Australia Ecuador and Ghana the tournament marked a return to dominance of traditional football powers Four years after the 2002 tournament in which teams from North America the United States Africa Senegal and Asia South Korea made it deep into the knockout stages and Turkey finished third all eight seeded teams progressed to the knockout stages and no quarter finalists were from outside Europe or South America Six former champions took part in the quarter finals with Ukraine and Euro 2004 runners up Portugal as the only relative outsiders 41 Argentina and Brazil were eliminated in the quarter finals leaving an all European final four for only the fourth time after the 1934 1966 and 1982 tournaments Scoring Despite the early goals that flooded the group stages the knock out phase had a much lower goals per match ratio A prime example of the dearth of goals was Portugal which only scored in the 23rd minute of the round of 16 and did not score again until the 88th minute of the third place play off No player managed to score a hat trick in this tournament Italy Germany Argentina Brazil and France were the only teams to score more than one goal in a knockout match Germany was one of the exceptions tending to play an attacking style of football throughout the knock out stage which was reflected by the fact that they scored the most goals 14 with players from all three outfield positions defence midfield and forward making the scoresheet Germany s Miroslav Klose scored five goals to claim the Golden Boot the lowest total to win the prize since 1962 No other player scored more than three goals No player from the winning Italian squad scored more than two goals though ten players had scored for the team tying France s record in 1982 for the most goalscorers from any one team For the first time ever in the FIFA World Cup the first and last goals of the tournament were scored by defenders German left back Philipp Lahm scored the opener against Costa Rica after only 5 minutes of the opening match In the final Italian centre back Marco Materazzi out jumped Patrick Vieira and headed in the last goal of the 2006 World Cup In addition Fabio Grosso clinched the cup for Italy with the decisive spot kick in the penalty shootout Unprecedented number of cards The tournament had a record number of yellow and red cards breaking the previous record set by the 1998 World Cup Players received a record breaking 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards with Russian referee Valentin Ivanov handing out 16 yellow and 4 red cards in the round of 16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands in a match known as the Battle of Nuremberg Portugal had two players suspended for each of the quarter final and semi final matches respectively FIFA President Sepp Blatter hinted that he may allow some rule changes for future tournaments so that earlier accumulated bookings will not force players to miss the final should their teams make it that far The tournament also saw English referee Graham Poll mistakenly hand out three yellow cards to Croatia s Josip Simunic in their match against Australia The high number of yellow and red cards shown also prompted discussion about the tournament s referees FIFA officials and President Sepp Blatter received criticism for allegedly making rules too rigid and taking discretion away from referees 42 Group stage nbsp Champion Runner up Third place Fourth place Quarter finals Round of 16 Group stage All times are Central European Summer Time UTC 2 In the following tables Pld total games played W total games won D total games drawn tied L total games lost GF total goals scored goals for GA total goals conceded goals against GD goal difference GF GA Pts total points accumulated Group A Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group A In the opening match of the tournament Germany and Costa Rica played a game which ended 4 2 for the host in the highest scoring opening match in the tournament s history Germany went on to win the Group A after edging Poland and breezing past Ecuador 3 0 Despite the defeat Ecuador had already joined the host in the Round of 16 having beaten Poland and Costa Rica 2 0 and 3 0 respectively Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Germany H 3 3 0 0 8 2 6 9 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Ecuador 3 2 0 1 5 3 2 6 3 nbsp Poland 3 1 0 2 2 4 2 3 4 nbsp Costa Rica 3 0 0 3 3 9 6 0Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria H Hosts 9 June 200618 00Germany nbsp 4 2 nbsp Costa RicaLahm nbsp 6 Klose nbsp 17 61 Frings nbsp 87 Report Wanchope nbsp 12 73 Allianz Arena MunichAttendance 66 000Referee Horacio Elizondo Argentina 9 June 200621 00Poland nbsp 0 2 nbsp EcuadorReport C Tenorio nbsp 24 Delgado nbsp 80 Arena AufSchalke GelsenkirchenAttendance 52 000Referee Toru Kamikawa Japan 14 June 200621 00Germany nbsp 1 0 nbsp PolandNeuville nbsp 90 1 ReportWestfalenstadion DortmundAttendance 65 000Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo Spain 15 June 200615 00Ecuador nbsp 3 0 nbsp Costa RicaC Tenorio nbsp 8 Delgado nbsp 54 Kaviedes nbsp 90 2 ReportVolksparkstadion HamburgAttendance 50 000Referee Coffi Codjia Benin 20 June 200616 00Ecuador nbsp 0 3 nbsp GermanyReport Klose nbsp 4 44 Podolski nbsp 57 Olympiastadion BerlinAttendance 72 000Referee Valentin Ivanov Russia 20 June 200616 00Costa Rica nbsp 1 2 nbsp PolandGomez nbsp 25 Report Bosacki nbsp 33 65 Niedersachsenstadion HanoverAttendance 43 000Referee Shamsul Maidin Singapore Group B Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group B In Group B England and Sweden pushed Paraguay into third place after narrow victories over the South Americans Trinidad and Tobago earned some international respect after a draw with Sweden in their opening game and managing to hold England scoreless for 83 minutes until goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard sealed a 2 0 win for the Three Lions Sweden qualified for the knockout rounds after drawing 2 2 with England to maintain their 38 year unbeaten record against them Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp England 3 2 1 0 5 2 3 7 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Sweden 3 1 2 0 3 2 1 5 3 nbsp Paraguay 3 1 0 2 2 2 0 3 4 nbsp Trinidad and Tobago 3 0 1 2 0 4 4 1Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 10 June 200615 00England nbsp 1 0 nbsp ParaguayGamarra nbsp 4 o g ReportWaldstadion FrankfurtAttendance 48 000Referee Marco Rodriguez Mexico 10 June 200618 00Trinidad and Tobago nbsp 0 0 nbsp SwedenReportWestfalenstadion DortmundAttendance 62 959Referee Shamsul Maidin Singapore 15 June 200618 00England nbsp 2 0 nbsp Trinidad and TobagoCrouch nbsp 83 Gerrard nbsp 90 1 ReportFrankenstadion NurembergAttendance 41 000Referee Toru Kamikawa Japan 15 June 200621 00Sweden nbsp 1 0 nbsp ParaguayLjungberg nbsp 89 ReportOlympiastadion BerlinAttendance 72 000Referee Ľubos Micheľ Slovakia 20 June 200621 00Sweden nbsp 2 2 nbsp EnglandAllback nbsp 51 Larsson nbsp 90 Report J Cole nbsp 34 Gerrard nbsp 85 RheinEnergieStadion CologneAttendance 45 000Referee Massimo Busacca Switzerland 20 June 200621 00Paraguay nbsp 2 0 nbsp Trinidad and TobagoSancho nbsp 25 o g Cuevas nbsp 86 ReportFritz Walter Stadion KaiserslauternAttendance 46 000Referee Roberto Rosetti Italy Group C Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group C Both Argentina and Netherlands qualified from Group C with a game remaining Argentina topped the group on goal difference having hammered Serbia and Montenegro 6 0 and beaten Ivory Coast 2 1 The Dutch picked up 1 0 and 2 1 victories over Serbia and Montenegro and Ivory Coast respectively Ivory Coast defeated Serbia and Montenegro 3 2 in their final game in Serbia and Montenegro s last international as the country had dissolved 18 days earlier Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Argentina 3 2 1 0 8 1 7 7 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Netherlands 3 2 1 0 3 1 2 7 3 nbsp Ivory Coast 3 1 0 2 5 6 1 3 4 nbsp Serbia and Montenegro 3 0 0 3 2 10 8 0Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 10 June 200621 00Argentina nbsp 2 1 nbsp Ivory CoastCrespo nbsp 24 Saviola nbsp 38 Report Drogba nbsp 82 Volksparkstadion HamburgAttendance 49 480Referee Frank De Bleeckere Belgium 11 June 200615 00Serbia and Montenegro nbsp 0 1 nbsp NetherlandsReport Robben nbsp 18 Zentralstadion LeipzigAttendance 43 000Referee Markus Merk Germany 16 June 200615 00Argentina nbsp 6 0 nbsp Serbia and MontenegroRodriguez nbsp 6 41 Cambiasso nbsp 31 Crespo nbsp 78 Tevez nbsp 84 Messi nbsp 88 ReportArena AufSchalke GelsenkirchenAttendance 52 000Referee Roberto Rosetti Italy 16 June 200618 00Netherlands nbsp 2 1 nbsp Ivory Coastvan Persie nbsp 23 van Nistelrooy nbsp 27 Report B Kone nbsp 38 Gottlieb Daimler Stadion StuttgartAttendance 52 000Referee oscar Ruiz Colombia 21 June 200621 00Netherlands nbsp 0 0 nbsp ArgentinaReportWaldstadion FrankfurtAttendance 48 000Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo Spain 21 June 200621 00Ivory Coast nbsp 3 2 nbsp Serbia and MontenegroDindane nbsp 37 pen 67 Kalou nbsp 86 pen Report Zigic nbsp 10 Ilic nbsp 20 Allianz Arena MunichAttendance 66 000Referee Marco Rodriguez Mexico Group D Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group D Portugal coasted through in Group D picking up the maximum number of points with Mexico qualifying in second Iran missed chances against Mexico in their opening 1 3 defeat and were eliminated in their match against Portugal They fought hard against the Portuguese but lost 2 0 Their last game against Angola ended in 1 1 draw The Africans had a respectable first World Cup tournament after earning draws with Mexico 0 0 and Iran Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Portugal 3 3 0 0 5 1 4 9 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Mexico 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 4 3 nbsp Angola 3 0 2 1 1 2 1 2 4 nbsp Iran 3 0 1 2 2 6 4 1Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 11 June 200618 00Mexico nbsp 3 1 nbsp IranBravo nbsp 28 76 Sinha nbsp 79 Report Golmohammadi nbsp 36 Frankenstadion NurembergAttendance 41 000Referee Roberto Rosetti Italy 11 June 200621 00Angola nbsp 0 1 nbsp PortugalReport Pauleta nbsp 4 RheinEnergieStadion CologneAttendance 45 000Referee Jorge Larrionda Uruguay 16 June 200621 00Mexico nbsp 0 0 nbsp AngolaReportNiedersachsenstadion HanoverAttendance 43 000Referee Shamsul Maidin Singapore 17 June 200615 00Portugal nbsp 2 0 nbsp IranDeco nbsp 63 Ronaldo nbsp 80 pen ReportWaldstadion FrankfurtAttendance 48 000Referee Eric Poulat France 21 June 200616 00Portugal nbsp 2 1 nbsp MexicoManiche nbsp 6 Simao nbsp 24 pen Report Fonseca nbsp 29 Arena AufSchalke GelsenkirchenAttendance 52 000Referee Ľubos Micheľ Slovakia 21 June 200616 00Iran nbsp 1 1 nbsp AngolaBakhtiarizadeh nbsp 75 Report Flavio nbsp 60 Zentralstadion LeipzigAttendance 38 000Referee Mark Shield Australia Group E Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group E In Group E Italy went through to the Round of 16 conceding just one goal an own goal by Cristian Zaccardo in the group phase against the United States The US bowed out of the tournament after disappointing results against the Czech Republic and Ghana 0 3 and 1 2 respectively despite a 1 1 draw finishing with 9 vs 10 men against Italy Tournament debutant Ghana joined Italy in the round of 16 following victories over the Czech Republic and the United States Daniele De Rossi was suspended for 4 games following his sending off against the United States Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Italy 3 2 1 0 5 1 4 7 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Ghana 3 2 0 1 4 3 1 6 3 nbsp Czech Republic 3 1 0 2 3 4 1 3 4 nbsp United States 3 0 1 2 2 6 4 1Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 12 June 200618 00United States nbsp 0 3 nbsp Czech RepublicReport Koller nbsp 5 Rosicky nbsp 36 76 Arena AufSchalke GelsenkirchenAttendance 52 000Referee Carlos Amarilla Paraguay 12 June 200621 00Italy nbsp 2 0 nbsp GhanaPirlo nbsp 40 Iaquinta nbsp 83 ReportNiedersachsenstadion HanoverAttendance 43 000Referee Carlos Simon Brazil 17 June 200618 00Czech Republic nbsp 0 2 nbsp GhanaReport Gyan nbsp 2 Muntari nbsp 82 RheinEnergieStadion CologneAttendance 45 000Referee Horacio Elizondo Argentina 17 June 200621 00Italy nbsp 1 1 nbsp United StatesGilardino nbsp 22 Report Zaccardo nbsp 27 o g Fritz Walter Stadion KaiserslauternAttendance 46 000Referee Jorge Larrionda Uruguay 22 June 200616 00Czech Republic nbsp 0 2 nbsp ItalyReport Materazzi nbsp 26 Inzaghi nbsp 87 Volksparkstadion HamburgAttendance 50 000Referee Benito Archundia Mexico 22 June 200616 00Ghana nbsp 2 1 nbsp United StatesDraman nbsp 22 Appiah nbsp 45 2 pen Report Dempsey nbsp 43 Frankenstadion NurembergAttendance 41 000Referee Markus Merk Germany Group F Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group F Group F included the reigning World Champions Brazil Croatia Japan and Australia Playing in their first World Cup for 32 years Australia came from behind to defeat Japan 3 1 and despite losing 0 2 to Brazil a 2 2 draw with Croatia was enough to give the Australians a place in the Round of 16 in a game where two players were sent off for second bookings and one erroneously for a third booking by English referee Graham Poll The Brazilians won all three games to qualify first in the group Their 1 0 win against Croatia was through a goal late in the first half by Kaka Croatia and Japan went out of the tournament without a single win Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Brazil 3 3 0 0 7 1 6 9 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Australia 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4 3 nbsp Croatia 3 0 2 1 2 3 1 2 4 nbsp Japan 3 0 1 2 2 7 5 1Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 12 June 200615 00Australia nbsp 3 1 nbsp JapanCahill nbsp 84 89 Aloisi nbsp 90 2 Report Nakamura nbsp 26 Fritz Walter Stadion KaiserslauternAttendance 46 000Referee Essam Abd El Fatah Egypt 13 June 200621 00Brazil nbsp 1 0 nbsp CroatiaKaka nbsp 44 ReportOlympiastadion BerlinAttendance 72 000Referee Benito Archundia Mexico 18 June 200615 00Japan nbsp 0 0 nbsp CroatiaReportFrankenstadion NurembergAttendance 41 000Referee Frank De Bleeckere Belgium 18 June 200618 00Brazil nbsp 2 0 nbsp AustraliaAdriano nbsp 49 Fred nbsp 90 ReportAllianz Arena MunichAttendance 66 000Referee Markus Merk Germany 22 June 200621 00Japan nbsp 1 4 nbsp BrazilTamada nbsp 34 Report Ronaldo nbsp 45 1 81 Juninho nbsp 53 Gilberto nbsp 59 Westfalenstadion DortmundAttendance 65 000Referee Eric Poulat France 22 June 200621 00Croatia nbsp 2 2 nbsp AustraliaSrna nbsp 2 N Kovac nbsp 56 Report Moore nbsp 38 pen Kewell nbsp 79 Gottlieb Daimler Stadion StuttgartAttendance 52 000Referee Graham Poll England Group G Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group G France only managed a scoreless draw against Switzerland and a 1 1 draw against South Korea With captain Zinedine Zidane suspended their 2 0 win against Togo was enough for them to advance to the knockout round They were joined by the group winners Switzerland who defeated South Korea 2 0 and did not concede a goal in the tournament South Korea won their first World Cup finals match outside their own country in defeating Togo but four points were not enough to see them through to the round of 16 the only team for which this was the case while Togo exited without a point Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Switzerland 3 2 1 0 4 0 4 7 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp France 3 1 2 0 3 1 2 5 3 nbsp South Korea 3 1 1 1 3 4 1 4 4 nbsp Togo 3 0 0 3 1 6 5 0Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 13 June 200615 00South Korea nbsp 2 1 nbsp TogoLee Chun soo nbsp 54 Ahn Jung hwan nbsp 72 Report Kader nbsp 31 Waldstadion FrankfurtAttendance 48 000Referee Graham Poll England 13 June 200618 00France nbsp 0 0 nbsp SwitzerlandReportGottlieb Daimler Stadion StuttgartAttendance 52 000Referee Valentin Ivanov Russia 18 June 200621 00France nbsp 1 1 nbsp South KoreaHenry nbsp 9 Report Park Ji sung nbsp 81 Zentralstadion LeipzigAttendance 43 000Referee Benito Archundia Mexico 19 June 200615 00Togo nbsp 0 2 nbsp SwitzerlandReport Frei nbsp 16 Barnetta nbsp 88 Westfalenstadion DortmundAttendance 65 000Referee Carlos Amarilla Paraguay 23 June 200621 00Togo nbsp 0 2 nbsp FranceReport Vieira nbsp 55 Henry nbsp 61 RheinEnergieStadion CologneAttendance 45 000Referee Jorge Larrionda Uruguay 23 June 200621 00Switzerland nbsp 2 0 nbsp South KoreaSenderos nbsp 23 Frei nbsp 77 ReportNiedersachsenstadion HanoverAttendance 43 000Referee Horacio Elizondo Argentina Group H Main article 2006 FIFA World Cup Group H Spain dominated Group H picking up the maximum number of points scoring 8 goals and conceding only 1 Ukraine despite being beaten 4 0 by Spain in their first World Cup game took advantage of the weaker opponents to beat Saudi Arabia 4 0 and scrape past Tunisia 1 0 thanks to a 70th minute penalty by Andriy Shevchenko to reach the Round of 16 Saudi Arabia and Tunisia went out of the tournament having 1 point each thanks to a 2 2 draw against each other Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Spain 3 3 0 0 8 1 7 9 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Ukraine 3 2 0 1 5 4 1 6 3 nbsp Tunisia 3 0 1 2 3 6 3 1 4 nbsp Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 2 7 5 1Source FIFARules for classification Tie breaking criteria 14 June 200615 00Spain nbsp 4 0 nbsp UkraineAlonso nbsp 13 Villa link, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library, article, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games. |