| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 197 (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 847 |
| Goals scored | 2464 (2.91 per match) |
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← 2002
2010 →
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A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition. The final distribution was as follows:
Each .5 indicates a place in inter-confederation matchups for the last two spots, namely playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC.
A total of 194 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 847 qualifying matches were played, and 2464 goals were scored (an average of 2.91 per match).
Contents |
For the first time ever, the defending champion (Brazil) did not qualify automatically. The hosts (Germany) retained their automatic spot. In 1934, the defending champions (Uruguay) declined to participate and the hosts (Italy) had to qualify, but in the tournaments between 1938 and 2002 (inclusive), the hosts and the defending champions had automatic berths.
The original distribution of places between the six confederations called for Oceania to be given one full spot in the final 32; this idea was seen as virtually guaranteeing a place in the finals to Australia, by far the strongest footballing nation in the region. This decision was reconsidered in June 2003 and the previous distribution of places between Oceania and South America was restored.
The draw for five of the six qualification tournaments took place on December 5, 2003 in Frankfurt, whilst all of the members of the South American federation (CONMEBOL) competed in a single group. Qualification itself began in January 2004.
| Team | Finals Appearance | Streak | Last Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | 1st | 1 | – |
| Argentina | 14th | 9 | 2002 |
| Australia | 2nd | 1 | 1974 |
| Brazil | 18th | 18 | 2002 |
| Costa Rica | 3rd | 2 | 2002 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 1st | 1 | – |
| Croatia | 3rd | 3 | 2002 |
| Czech Republic | 1st(1) | 1 | –(1) |
| Ecuador | 2nd | 2 | 2002 |
| England | 12th | 3 | 2002 |
| France | 12th | 3 | 2002 |
| Germany (h) | 16th(2) | 14(2) | 2002 |
| Ghana | 1st | 1 | – |
| Iran | 3rd | 1 | 1998 |
| Italy | 16th | 12 | 2002 |
| Japan | 3rd | 3 | 2002 |
| South Korea | 7th | 6 | 2002 |
| Mexico | 13th | 4 | 2002 |
| Netherlands | 8th | 1 | 1998 |
| Paraguay | 7th | 3 | 2002 |
| Poland | 7th | 2 | 2002 |
| Portugal | 4th | 2 | 2002 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4th | 4 | 2002 |
| Serbia and Montenegro | 2nd(4) | 1 | 1998 |
| Spain | 12th | 8 | 2002 |
| Sweden | 11th | 2 | 2002 |
| Switzerland | 8th | 1 | 1994 |
| Togo | 1st | 1 | – |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1st | 1 | – |
| Tunisia | 4th | 3 | 2002 |
| Ukraine | 1st(3) | 1(3) | – |
| United States | 8th | 5 | 2002 |
(h) - qualified automatically as hosts
1Excludes appearances by Czechoslovakia. If those are counted together, this is their 9th appearance, and their previous appearance was in 1990.
2Includes 10 appearances by DFB representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990. Excludes 1 appearance by DVF representing East Germany between 1954 and 1990.
3Excludes appearances by pre-division Soviet Union. If those are counted together, this is their 8th appearance.
4Excludes appearances by pre-division Yugoslavia. If those are counted together, this is their 10th appearance. This is also their first and\ last appearance under this name; at the previous qualifying tournament they had competed as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the two parts of the country finally split in June 2006.
13 of the 32 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 2010 finals: Saudi Arabia (whose streak of 4 tournaments ended in 2006); Croatia and Tunisia (both 3); Costa Rica, Ecuador, Poland and Sweden (2); Angola, Czech Republic, Iran, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine (1).
(14 berths, including Germany as host)
The ten teams in bold qualified for the Football World Cup 2006.
The three teams in bold italics qualified for the Football World Cup 2006 through a single-pairing home-and-away playoff.
The three teams in italics qualified for the playoff, but did not qualify for the World Cup.
Group standings:
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Netherlands | 1. Ukraine | 1. Portugal | 1. France |
| 2. Czech Republic | 2. Turkey | 2. Slovakia | 2. Switzerland |
| 3. Romania | 3. Denmark | 3. Russia | 3. Israel |
| 4. Finland | 4. Greece | 4. Estonia | 4. Republic of Ireland |
| 5. Macedonia | 5. Albania | 5. Latvia | 5. Cyprus |
| 6. Armenia | 6. Georgia | 6. Liechtenstein | 6. Faroe Islands |
| 7. Andorra | 7. Kazakhstan | 7. Luxembourg | |
| Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8 |
| 1. Italy | 1. England | 1. Serbia and Montenegro | 1. Croatia |
| 2. Norway | 2. Poland | 2. Spain | 2. Sweden |
| 3. Scotland | 3. Austria | 3. Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3. Bulgaria |
| 4. Slovenia | 4. Northern Ireland | 4. Belgium | 4. Hungary |
| 5. Belarus | 5. Wales | 5. Lithuania | 5. Iceland |
| 6. Moldova | 6. Azerbaijan | 6. San Marino | 6. Malta |
The draw for the playoffs was made on October 14, 2005.
(4 berths, after losing a playoff against Oceania)
This zone is played as a league system on a home-and-away basis involving all 10 teams in a tournament which began in September 2003. The top 4 teams qualify automatically for the 2006 World Cup Finals; the fifth-placed team played off with Oceania.
Final standings:
| 1. Brazil |
| 2. Argentina |
| 3. Ecuador |
| 4. Paraguay |
| 5. Uruguay |
| 6. Colombia |
| 7. Chile |
| 8. Venezuela |
| 9. Peru |
| 10. Bolivia |
(5 berths)
Group standings of the Final Round:
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Togo | 1. Ghana | 1. Côte d'Ivoire | 1. Angola | 1. Tunisia |
| 2. Senegal | 2. Congo DR | 2. Cameroon | 2. Nigeria | 2. Morocco |
| 3. Zambia | 3. South Africa | 3. Egypt | 3. Zimbabwe | 3. Guinea |
| 4. Congo | 4. Burkina Faso | 4. Libya | 4. Gabon | 4. Kenya |
| 5. Mali | 5. Cape Verde | 5. Sudan | 5. Algeria | 5. Botswana |
| 6. Liberia | 6. Uganda | 6. Benin | 6. Rwanda | 6. Malawi |
(1 berth after winning a playoff with South America)
The top two teams in Oceania played against each other to earn the right to compete against the fifth-placed team from South America.
Group standings of the Final Round:
| 1. Australia |
| 2. Solomon Islands |
| 3. New Zealand |
| 4. Fiji |
| 5. Tahiti |
| 6. Vanuatu |
Australia then beat Solomon Islands 9-1 on aggregate. (1st leg: 7-0 on September 3, 2005; 2nd leg: 2-1 on September 6, 2005), and won the right to compete in the playoff against the fifth placed South American team. Their opponent was Uruguay, as they qualified in 5th place on October 12, 2005. Australia finally prevailed 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after both play-off matches had ended 1-0 for the home team.
(4 berths, after losing a playoff to CONCACAF)
Group standings of the Final Round:
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
| 1. Saudi Arabia | 1. Japan |
| 2. South Korea | 2. Iran |
| 3. Uzbekistan | 3. Bahrain |
| 4. Kuwait | 4. North Korea |
Uzbekistan and Bahrain (the 3rd place teams in each group) played a home-and-away match to determine Asia's representative in a playoff against CONCACAF's 4th place team, and are displayed in italics. On September 3, 2005, Uzbekistan won the first game 1-0, but FIFA decided that the match was to be declared void and ordered a replay following a refereeing blunder. The referee awarded Uzbekistan a penalty kick in the 38th minute. The penalty kick was successful but the referee deemed that a Uzbekistani player had entered the box prematurely. Rather than ordering Uzbekistan to retake the penalty as he should have done, the referee awarded Bahrain a free kick. Uzbekistan protested the game and argued that the game should be replayed from the point the penalty kick was awarded. FIFA accepted their protest, but ordered the whole game be replayed. Uzbekistan felt that this ruling was unfair since it punished them even though the referee's mistake benefited their opposition.
The playoffs were postponed to October 8, 2005 in Uzbekistan and October 12, 2005 in Bahrain. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw, and the 2nd leg match was a 0-0 draw. Bahrain, having scored one away goal to Uzbekistan's zero, advanced to the playoff. Trinidad and Tobago defeated Bahrain, 2-1 aggregate, to advance to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
(4 berths by winning a playoff with Asia)
Group standings of the Final Round:
| 1. United States |
| 2. Mexico |
| 3. Costa Rica |
| 4. Trinidad and Tobago |
| 5. Guatemala |
| 6. Panama |
On November 12 and November 16, 2005, five two-legged playoffs were conducted, with the winners earning the last five places in the World Cup:
The teams that were involved in the playoffs are listed below. Qualifying countries shown in bold.
Included goals in the Inter-confederation play-offs.
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