The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international footballworld championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which 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 the host nation,Germany, for the finals tournament.
Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title. They defeated France 5–3 in apenalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeatedPortugal 3–1 to finish third.
The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament. The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people.[1] The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994, 2002, and 1990.[2] As the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
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[edit]Host selection
Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts
The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich, Switzerland. It involved four bidding nations after Brazilhad withdrawn three days earlier: Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco.[3] Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the least 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[4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
 Germany | 10 | 11 | 12 |
 South Africa | 6 | 11 | 11 |
 England | 5 | 2 | - |
 Morocco | 3 | - | - |
The success of Germany's bid was marred by a hoax bribery affair which even led to calls for a re-vote.[5] 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.[6] 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,[7]would have had to cast the deciding vote.[8]
[edit]Qualification
Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
198 teams attempted to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.[9] 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 andOFC (Oceania).
Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time: Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Ghana, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine and Serbia & 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 & Montenegro had competed as Yugoslavia in 1998, as well as making up part of Yugoslav teams from 1930 to 1990.
Australia qualified for the first time since 1974. Among the teams who failed to qualify were 2002 third-placed team Turkey. Belgium failed to qualify for the first time since 1978, and Cameroon failed to qualify for the first time since 1986.
For the first time since the 1982 World Cup, all six confederations were represented at the finals tournament.
[edit]List of qualified teams
The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings,[10] qualified for the final tournament:
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[edit]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 still-standing Olympiastadion in Munich (69,250) was not used 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 unemployed during the tournament.
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 were also official FIFA sponsors.[11] For example, the Allianz Arena in Munichwas known during the competition as FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich (or in German: FIFA WM-Stadion München), and even the letters of the company Allianz were removed or covered.[11] 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 an UEFA 5-star ranking.
| Berlin | Dortmund | Munich | Stuttgart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympiastadion | Signal Iduna Park1 | Allianz Arena2 | Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion |
| 52°30′53″N 13°14′22″E | 51°29′33.25″N 7°27′6.63″E | 48°13′7.59″N 11°37′29.11″E | 48°47′32.17″N 9°13′55.31″E |
| Capacity: 74,176 | Capacity: 67,000 | Capacity: 66,016 | Capacity: 54,267 |
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| Gelsenkirchen | Hamburg | ||
| Veltins-Arena3 | AOL Arena4 | ||
| 51°33′16.21″N 7°4′3.32″E | 53°35′13.77″N 9°53′55.02″E | ||
| Capacity: 53,804 | Capacity: 51,055 | ||
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| Frankfurt | Cologne | ||
| Commerzbank Arena5 | RheinEnergie Stadion6 | ||
| 50°4′6.86″N 8°38′43.65″E | 50°56′0.59″N 6°52′29.99″E | ||
| Capacity: 48,132 | Capacity: 46,134 | ||
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| Hannover | Leipzig | Kaiserslautern | Nuremberg |
| AWD-Arena7 | Zentralstadion | Fritz Walter Stadion | EasyCredit-Stadion8 |
| 52°21′36.24″N 9°43′52.31″E | 51°20′44.86″N 12°20′53.59″E | 49°26′4.96″N 7°46′35.24″E | 49°25′34″N 11°7′33″E |
| Capacity: 44,652 | Capacity: 44,199 | Capacity: 43,450 | Capacity: 41,926 |
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Venue known during the tournament as:
[edit]Referees
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[edit]Squads
For more details on this topic, see 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.[12]
[edit]Groups
[edit]Seeds
Further information: 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding
The eight seeded teams for the 2006 tournament were announced on 6 December 2005. The seeds comprised Pot A in 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. A special pot contained Serbia and Montenegro: this was done to ensure that no group contained three European teams.[13] In the special pot, Serbia and Montenegro was drawn first, then their group was drawn from the three seeded non-European nations, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
It had been predetermined that, as the host, Germany would be placed in Group A, thus being assured of the venues of their group matches in advance of the draw. FIFA had also announced in advance that Brazil (the defending champion) would be allocated to Group F.
| Pot A | Pot B | Pot C | Pot D | Special Pot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
On 9 December 2005 the draw was held, 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.[14][15] Argentina and the Netherlands both qualified with a game to spare with wins over Côte d'Ivoire and Serbia and Montenegro respectively.
[edit]Group system
The first round, or group stage, saw the thirty-two 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.
[edit]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 final 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.[16]
In any event, the final 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.
[edit]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.
[edit]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 flag waving, traditionally frowned upon by German society since World War II, whenever the German team played.[17] 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.
[edit]Traditional powers dominate
Despite early success by Australia, Ecuador and Ghana, the tournament marked a return to dominance of the traditional football powers. Four years after a 2002 tournament in which teams from North America (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 none of the quarter-finalists were from outside Europe or South America. Six former champions took part in the quarter-final round, with Ukraine and Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal as the only relative outsiders.[18] 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).
[edit]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 number of goals (14), with players from all three outfield positions (defence, midfield and forward) making the scoresheet.
Germany's Miroslav Klose scored 5 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 different players had scored for the team, tying the record 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. Philipp Lahm, the Germanleft wingback, scored the opener against Costa Rica after only 5 minutes of the opening match. In the final, Marco Materazzi, the Italian centre back, out-jumped Patrick Vieira and headed in the last goal of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
[edit]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 (see 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 referees. FIFA Officials and President Sepp Blatterreceived criticism for allegedly making rules too rigid and taking discretion away from referees.[19]
[edit]Results
All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).
[edit]Group stage
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
| Key to colours in group tables | |
|---|---|
| Group winners and runners-up advance to the Round of 16 | |
[edit]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.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 |
 Ecuador | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 |
 Poland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
 Costa Rica | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 0 |
| 9 June 2006 | ||
| Germany | 4 – 2 | Costa Rica |
| Poland | 0 – 2 | Ecuador |
| 14 June 2006 | ||
| Germany | 1 – 0 | Poland |
| 15 June 2006 | ||
| Ecuador | 3 – 0 | Costa Rica |
| 20 June 2006 | ||
| Ecuador | 0 – 3 | Germany |
| Costa Rica | 1 – 2 | Poland |
[edit]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 Tobagoearned 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.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 |
 Sweden | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
 Paraguay | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 1 |
| 10 June 2006 | ||
| England | 1 – 0 | Paraguay |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0 – 0 | Sweden |
| 15 June 2006 | ||
| England | 2 – 0 | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Sweden | 1 – 0 | Paraguay |
| 20 June 2006 | ||
| Sweden | 2 – 2 | England |
| Paraguay | 2 – 0 | Trinidad and Tobago |
[edit]Group C
Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group C
Both Argentina and Netherlands qualified from Group C with a game remaining, Argentina topping the group on goal difference having hammered Serbia and Montenegro 6–0 and beating Côte d'Ivoire 2–1. The Dutch picked up 1–0 and 2–1 victories over Serbia and Montenegro and Côte d'Ivoire, respectively. Côte d'Ivoire defeated Serbia and Montenegro 3–2 in their final game, in Serbia & Montenegro's last ever international before the break-up of the country.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 7 |
 Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 |
 Côte d'Ivoire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 |
 Serbia and Montenegro | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 |
| 10 June 2006 | ||
| Argentina | 2 – 1 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| 11 June 2006 | ||
| Serbia and Montenegro | 0 – 1 | Netherlands |
| 16 June 2006 | ||
| Argentina | 6 – 0 | Serbia and Montenegro |
| Netherlands | 2 – 1 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| 21 June 2006 | ||
| Netherlands | 0 – 0 | Argentina |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 3 – 2 | Serbia and Montenegro |
[edit]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 went down 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.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portugal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 |
 Mexico | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 |
 Angola | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
 Iran | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
| 11 June 2006 | ||
| Mexico | 3 – 1 | Iran |
| Angola | 0 – 1 | Portugal |
| 16 June 2006 | ||
| Mexico | 0 – 0 | Angola |
| 17 June 2006 | ||
| Portugal | 2 – 0 | Iran |
| 21 June 2006 | ||
| Portugal | 2 – 1 | Mexico |
| Iran | 1 – 1 | Angola |
[edit]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) 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 US.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Italy | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 |
 Ghana | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
 Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 |
 United States | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
| 12 June 2006 | ||
| United States | 0 – 3 | Czech Republic |
| Italy | 2 – 0 | Ghana |
| 17 June 2006 | ||
| Czech Republic | 0 – 2 | Ghana |
| Italy | 1 – 1 | United States |
| 22 June 2006 | ||
| Czech Republic | 0 – 2 | Italy |
| Ghana | 2 – 1 | United States |
[edit]Group F
Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group F
Group F included the 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 for a third booking by English referee Graham Poll. Australia became the first ever Oceanian team to reach the knockout stages. 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.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 9 |
 Australia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
 Croatia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 |
 Japan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
| 12 June 2006 | ||
| Australia | 3 – 1 | Japan |
| 13 June 2006 | ||
| Brazil | 1 – 0 | Croatia |
| 18 June 2006 | ||
| Japan | 0 – 0 | Croatia |
| Brazil | 2 – 0 | Australia |
| 22 June 2006 | ||
| Japan | 1 – 4 | Brazil |
| Croatia | 2 – 2 | Australia |
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