2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup started with the preliminary draw held in Zurich in December 2003, 197 teams from the six FIFA confederations were allocated a share of the 31 spots available on the basis of the strength of their teams. The final distribution was as follows:
- Europe - represented by UEFA : 51 teams competing for 13 places (Germany qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 14 places)
- Africa - the CAF : 51 teams, 5 places
- South America - CONMEBOL : 10 teams, 4.5 places
- Asia - the AFC : 39 teams, 4.5 places
- North, Central American and Caribbean - CONCACAF : 34 teams, 3.5 places
- Oceania - the OFC : 12 teams, 0.5 places (not guaranteed a position).
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 |
[edit] Notes on qualification
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; however, this idea was seen as giving Australia a virtually certain place in the finals, being by far the strongest footballing nation in their 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.
[edit] Qualified teams
| 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 |
 Korea Republic |
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(3) | 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 | 1 | - |
 USA |
8th | 5 | 2002 |
(h) - qualified automatically as hosts
[edit] Qualification Groups
[edit] Europe (UEFA)
(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.
- Ukraine qualified for the 2006 World Cup on September 3, 2005.
- Croatia, England, Italy, Poland, Netherlands and Portugal qualified on October 8, 2005.
- France, Sweden and Serbia and Montenegro qualified on October 12, 2005.
- Czech Republic, Spain and Switzerland qualified through the playoffs on November 16, 2005
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.  FYR 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. .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} 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.
[edit] South American (CONMEBOL)
(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.
- In bold: The 4 teams that clinched World Cup berths
- In italics: Qualified for a play-off against Australia.
- Uruguay had a home-and-away playoff against Oceania winner Australia on 12 and 16 November, having secured 5th place on October 12, 2005. The play-offs ended in a 1-0 victory for each home team, and Australia won the penalty shootout 4-2.
Final standings:
| 1. Brazil |
| 2. Argentina |
| 3. Ecuador |
| 4. Paraguay |
5.  Uruguay |
6.  Colombia |
7.  Chile |
8.  Venezuela |
9.  Peru |
10.  Bolivia |
[edit] Africa (CAF)
(5 berths)
- Teams that have clinched a spot in the World Cup are in bold.
- Togo qualified with a 3-2 win over Congo on 8 October 2005.
- Ghana wins their group with the South Africa-Congo DR 2-2 draw on 8 October 2005.
- Cote d'Ivoire clinched their berth with the Cameroon-Egypt 1-1 draw, on 8 October 2005.
- Angola qualified for the 2006 World Cup with a 1-0 win over Rwanda on 8 October 2005.
- Tunisia qualified on 8 October 2005 with a 2-2 tie against Morocco.
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 |
[edit] Oceania (OFC)
(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.
[edit] Asia (AFC)
(4 berths, after losing a playoff to CONCACAF)
- Teams that have clinched berths for 2006 are bolded.
- Teams that have clinched a play-off place are in italics.
Group standings of the Final Round:
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
| 1. Saudi Arabia |
1. Japan |
| 2. Korea Republic |
2. Iran |
3.  Uzbekistan |
3.  Bahrain |
4.  Kuwait |
4.  Korea DPR |
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 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.
[edit] North America, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)
(4 berths by winning a playoff with Asia)
- Teams that have clinched berths for 2006 are bolded.
- United States clinched the first berth to Germany with a 2-0 win over Mexico on September 3, 2005.
- Mexico clinched the second of the three guaranteed berths on September 7, 2005 with a 5-0 win over Panama.
- Costa Rica clinched the final automatic berth on October 8, 2005 with a 3-0 win over the United States.
- Trinidad and Tobago, earned a playoff with the Asian 5th-place winner Bahrain with a 2-1 victory over Mexico on October 12, 2005. They subsequently won the playoff on November 16, 2005 on aggregate 2-1, clinching a 2006 berth. They are in bold italics.
Group standings of the Final Round:
| 1. USA |
| 2. Mexico |
| 3. Costa Rica |
| 4. Trinidad and Tobago |
5.  Guatemala |
6.  Panama |
[edit] Playoffs
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 six second-place teams from Europe that did not automatically qualify were drawn into three playoff matches. Full details of these playoffs can be found at 2006 FIFA World Cup - European Qualification Playoffs.
- Australia won the Oceania-South America Qualification Playoff penalty shootout 4-2 after both games were won 1:0 by the home team. Full details of this playoff can be found at 2006 FIFA World Cup - Oceania-South America Qualification Playoff.
- Trinidad and Tobago won the Asia-CONCACAF Qualification Playoff with an aggregate score of 2-1. Full details of this playoff can be found at 2006 FIFA World Cup - Asia-CONCACAF Qualification Playoff.
[edit] Summary
The teams that were involved in the playoffs are listed below. Qualifying countries shown in bold.
- Europe (UEFA)
- Norway vs Czech Republic (aggregate score 0-2)
- Spain vs Slovakia (aggregate score 6-2)
- Switzerland vs Turkey (aggregate score 4-4, Switzerland won on away goals)
- (Czech Republic, Turkey, and Spain were seeded because they were the three highest placed according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for September 2005.)
- Asia (AFC) vs North America, Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF)
- Trinidad and Tobago vs Bahrain (aggregate score 2-1)
