World Cup Football

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Germany, 2006

Schedule | Groups | Seeding | Stadia | Results | Goal Scorers

The 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament in Germany was an outstanding success, with excellent football being played, culminating with an action packed final with Italy defeating France in a penalty shootout.

The decision to award the 2006 World Cup to Germany was controversial, since it was widely expected that the tournament would take place in South Africa. The final tally was 12 votes to 11 in favor of Germany. The current title holders, Brazil, will defend their title in 2006 in Germany (see the complete list of previous winners). The Finals will be held between June 9 and July 9, 2006.

Qualifiers

• The Global Soccer Federations will be represented by the following qualifiers:
  
  • Europe (UEFA) 14 (including Germany the hosts)
    
  • Asia (AFC) 4.5 (play-offs against CONCACAF)
    
  • South America (CONMEBOL) 4.5 (play-offs against OCEANIA)
    
  • Oceania (OFC) 0.5 (play-offs against CONMEBOL)
    
  • Africa (CAF) 5
    
  • North, Central America Caribbean (CONCACAF) 3.5 (playoffs against AFC)

Tournament

• The opening match of World Cup 2006 took place on 9th June in Munich - with the final one month later in Berlin.

• Twelve cities hosted the Finals - Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt/Main, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hannover, Kaiserslautern, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. See more on stadiums.

Participants

The following countries, listed alphabetically, qualified for the World Cup 2006. Click on each name for more information about their 2006 campaign and previous history at the World Cup. See also tournament seeding and groups.

World Cup Firsts

(more Firsts)

• The first Game of the Germany '06 tournament was between the host Germany and Costa Rica. This is the first time the Cup holders did not open the tournament.

• The first goal scored in Germany 2006 Finals was by the German player Lahm.