2006 FIFA World Cup qualification Information & 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification Links at HealthHaven.com

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:

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 or 5 places
Asia - the AFC : 39 teams, 4 or 5 places
North, Central American and Caribbean - CONCACAF : 34 teams, 3 or 4 places
Oceania - the OFC : 12 teams, 0 or 1 place (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).

[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

Qualifying countries

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⁽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.

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 presumably 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.

[edit] Qualification Groups

[edit] Europe (UEFA)

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (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. 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.

[edit] South American (CONMEBOL)

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (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

Argentina qualified for the 2006 World Cup on June 8, 2005.

Brazil qualified on September 4, 2005.

Paraguay and Ecuador got their ticket on October 8, 2005

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)

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (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)

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (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)

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

(4 berths, after losing a playoff to CONCACAF)

Teams that have clinched berths for 2006 are bolded.

Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea and Iran all qualified on June 8, 2005.

Teams that have clinched a play-off place are in italics.

Uzbekistan and Bahrain clinched play-off berths on August 17, 2005.

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)

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (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. United States

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.)