FIFA World Cup 2006

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was played in Germany between June 9th and July 9th of that year. It was the 18th edition of the World Cup in which 32 countries, divided in 8 groups battled for the title.

The national teams were placed into the following Groups for the first stage of the 2006 World Cup tournament:
Group A - Germany / Ecuador / Poland / Costa Rica
Group B - England / Paraguay / Sweden / Trinidad & Tobago
Group C - Argentina / Netherlands / Cote d'Ivoire / Serbia and Montenegro
Group D - Portugal / Mexico / Iran / Angola
Group E - Italy / USA / Czech Republic / Ghana
Group F - Brazil / Croatia / Japan / Australia
Group G - France / South Korea / Switzerland / Togo
Group H - Spain / Saudi Arabia / Ukraine / Tunisia

More than 3 million spectators went to the 12 venues across Germany to watch the World Cup 2006 with an attendance average of more than 52 thousand per match. Hundreds of millions watched it on TV sets all over the planet. It was the second time the competition was played in German ground. The first one happened in 1974 and in that opportunity the Germans made good use of the home advantage and claimed the title.

A total of 147 goals were scored in the 64 matches of the Germany World Cup 2006. Miroslav Klose scored 5 goals to become the competition's top scorer. Another German player, Lukas Podolski, was elected the best young player of the tournament and Zinedine Zidane received the Golden Ball as best player.

Brazil and Argentina landed in the old continent as favourites to win. Both countries had on their squads the finest talent of the world of football. But neither Kaka, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo nor Riquelme, Mascherano and Messi were able to take their countries past the quarterfinals. Four European nations reached the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup: Italy, France, Portugal and Germany.

On July 9th, Italy and France played in front of more than 69,000 fans in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The match ended 1-1 after extra time and the FIFA World Cup 2006 was decided in the penalty shootout.

Italy won the crown for the fourth time since the tournament was first held in 1930. The 5-3 victory in the penalty shootout was not the only unforgettable moment of that final match. Zinedine Zidane, the French hero of the 1998 World Cup, saw a red card after butt heading the Italian defender Marco Materazzi. Germany finished in third place after beating Portugal 3-1.