2006 FIFA World Cup | Football Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia 2006 FIFA World Cup Share Cup stub This article about 2006 FIFA World Cup is a stub , an article too short to provide more than rudimentary information about a subject. You can help The Football Wiki by expanding it . 2006 FIFA World Cup 2010 → The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup , the quadrennial international football world 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 a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place.

Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Trinidad & Tobago and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. 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. The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994 , 2002 , and 1990 . As the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup . Contents – – The success of Germany's bid was marred by a hoax bribery affair which even led to calls for a re-vote. 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. 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, would have had to cast the deciding vote. Qualification Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 198 teams attempted to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. 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 and OFC (Oceania). Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time: Angola , Czech Republic , Ghana , Ivory Coast , Togo , Trinidad and Tobago , Ukraine , and Serbia and 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 and Montenegro had competed as Yugoslavia in 1998, as well as making up part of Yugoslav teams from 1930 to 1990. As of 2014, this was the last time Tunisia , Saudi Arabia , Togo, Angola, Czech Republic, Poland , Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. Australia qualified for the first time since 1974. Among the teams who failed to qualify were 2002 third-placed team Turkey and Euro 2004 winners Greece . Additionally, 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.

List of qualified teams Countries that did not enter World Cup Country not a FIFA member 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. For example, the Allianz Arena in Munich was known during the competition as FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich (or in FIFA WM-Stadion München), and even the letters of the company Allianz were removed or covered.

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 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. Groups 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.

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 Serbia and Montenegro 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. Argentina and the Netherlands both qualified with a game to spare with wins over Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro respectively. 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.

Finals tournament 2006 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Munich 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. 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. 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, Plácido Domingo and Lang Lang. 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. 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). 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 five 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 France's record in 1982 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 German left 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.

Unprecedented number of cards Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup disciplinary record 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 , in a match known as 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 Blatter received criticism for allegedly making rules too rigid and taking discretion away from referees. Group stage All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

In the following tables: 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 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 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 United States. Team Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group F Group F included the reigning 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 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 Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage The knockout stage involved the sixteen teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament. There were four rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round. The successive rounds were: round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final. There was also a play-off to decide third/fourth place. For each game in the knockout stage, a draw was followed by thirty minutes of extra time (two 15-minute halves); if scores were still level there would be a penalty shoot-out (at least five penalties each, and more if necessary) to determine who progressed to the next round. Scores after extra time are indicated by (aet), and penalty shoot-outs are indicated by (pen.). Round of 16 Round of 16 In the second round, conceding two early goals in the first twelve minutes to Germany effectively ended the Swedes' hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals.

Argentina struggled to get past Mexico until a Maxi Rodríguez goal in extra time put the Albiceleste in the quarter-finals. Australia's journey ended when Italians were awarded a controversial penalty deep into the remaining seconds of the match. The Italians had spent much of the game with only ten men on the field, following an equally controversial red card shown to centre back Marco Materazzi . In a 0–0 match, Switzerland failed to convert any of their three penalties in the penalty shoot-out against Ukraine to see them exit the competition with an unwanted new record in becoming the first team in a World Cup to fail to convert any penalties in a shootout. Their elimination also meant that they became the first nation to be eliminated from the World Cup without conceding any goals (and indeed the only nation ever to participate in a World Cup finals tournament without conceding a goal). England struggled past Ecuador but won 1–0 thanks to a David Beckham free kick. Brazil won 3–0 against Ghana, in a game which included Ronaldo 's record 15th World Cup goal. Der Spiegel reported that the match was influenced by an Asian betting syndicate. Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1–0.

The only goal came courtesy of a Maniche strike in an acrimonious match , which marked a new World Cup record with 16 yellow cards (Portugal: 9, the Netherlands: 7) and 4 players being sent off for a second bookable offence. France came from behind to defeat Spain 3–1 thanks to goals from Franck Ribéry , Patrick Vieira , and Zinedine Zidane . 24 June 2006 90+2' Quarter-finals Germany and Argentina ended 1–1 after extra time; the hosts edged out the Argentinians 4–2 on penalties to go through to the semifinals (this was the first time Argentina had lost a World Cup penalty shootout: up until this match, both Argentina and Germany had participated in three penalty shootouts, winning all of them).

In Gelsenkirchen , when England faced Portugal, Wayne Rooney was sent off, and Portugal won the penalty shoot-out 3–1 after a 0–0 draw to reach their first World Cup semi-final since the days of Eusébio 40 years earlier, and ensure manager Luiz Felipe Scolari 's third consecutive tournament quarter-final win over Sven-Göran Eriksson 's England. Italy defeated quarter-final debutants Ukraine 3–0. France eliminated Brazil 1–0 to advance into the semi-finals. Brazil only managed one shot on goal, while Zinedine Zidane 's dribbling earned him Man of the Match and his free-kick to Thierry Henry resulted in the winning goal. 30 June 2006 57' Semi-finals With Argentina and Brazil eliminated in the quarter-finals, an all-European semi-final line up was completed for only the fourth time (after the 1934 , 1966 and 1982 tournaments).

The semi-final between Germany and Italy produced an extra time period that went scoreless until the 118th minute, when Italy scored twice through Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero , putting an end to Germany's undefeated record in Dortmund. With this win, Italy continued their dominance over Germany. In the second semi-final, Portugal lost to France 1–0 in Munich . In a repeat of the Euro 1984 and Euro 2000 semi-finals, Portugal were defeated by France, with the decisive goal being a penalty scored by France captain Zinedine Zidane. 4 July 2006 33' (pen.) Third place play-off The hosts got three goals in 20 minutes in the second half with the help of 21-year-old left midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger . His first goal beat the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo with pace over his head. Only 4 minutes later, Schweinsteiger's free kick 30 metres from the left of the penalty box, driven low across goal, was connected with Petit 's knee to become an own goal for Portugal.

The German did not stop, and netted his second goal, which swerved away to the keeper's left, in the 78th minute. Portugal were strong in possession but lacked punch in attack; unable to convert 57% possession into goals. Pauleta had two clear chances from 15 metres, but both times hit tame shots that did not trouble keeper Oliver Kahn , who was playing in his last match for the German national team. Portugal got a consolation goal with the help of substitute Luís Figo (also playing the final international game of his career), who almost immediately provided the precise distribution needed to unlock the German defence. A cross from the right wing on 88 minutes found fellow substitute Nuno Gomes at the far post, who dived in for the goal. The game ended 3–1, a result which gave the tournament hosts the bronze medals and left Portugal in fourth place. 8 July 2006 Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Final The final started with each side scoring within the first 20 minutes. Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring by converting a controversial seventh-minute penalty kick, which glanced off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal...

before bouncing back up, hitting the crossbar again and bounced out of the goal. Marco Materazzi then levelled the scores in the 19th minute following an Andrea Pirlo corner. Both teams had chances to score the winning goal in normal time: Luca Toni hit the crossbar in the 35th minute for Italy (he later had a header disallowed for offside), while France were not awarded a possible second penalty in the 53rd minute when Florent Malouda went down in the box after a tackle from Gianluca Zambrotta . At the end of the regulation 90 minutes, the score was still level at 1–1, and the match was forced into extra time. Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a potentially game-saving save in extra time when he tipped a Zidane header over the crossbar. Further controversy ensued near the end of extra time, when Zidane head-butted Materazzi in the chest in an off-the-ball incident and was sent off. Extra time produced no further goals and a penalty shootout followed, which Italy won 5–3.

France's David Trezeguet , the man who scored the golden goal against Italy in Euro 2000, was the only player not to score his penalty; his spot kick hit the crossbar, landed on the goal line and went out. It was the first all-European final since Italy's triumph over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup , and the second final, after 1994 , to be decided on penalties. It was also Italy's first world title in 24 years, and their fourth overall, making them the second most successful World Cup team ever. The victory also helped Italy top the FIFA World Rankings in February 2007 for the first time since November 1993. 9 July 2006 FIFA's Technical Study Group (TSG) also granted a Man of the Match award to one player in each match. Italy's Andrea Pirlo won the most Man of the Match awards, with three in total. Miroslav Klose , Agustin Delgado , Arjen Robben , Zé Roberto , Alexander Frei , Michael Ballack , and Patrick Vieira each received two awards.

All-star team The All-star team is a squad consisting of the 23 most impressive players at the 2006 World Cup, as selected by FIFA's Technical Study Group. The team was chosen from a shortlist of over 50 players, and was selected based on performances from the second round onwards. Goalkeepers BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Zidane off as Italy win World Cup By Jonathan Stevenson Italy are now one World Cup win short of Brazil's tally Italy beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after an absorbing 1-1 draw in Berlin. Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty after France's David Trezeguet missed. Playing his last game before retiring, Zinedine Zidane's career ended in disgrace after he was sent off for crazily headbutting Marco Materazzi. Zidane had put France ahead early on with a coolly-taken chipped penalty, before Materazzi levelled with a header from an Andrea Pirlo corner. The result caps an incredible period for Italian football, with the domestic game embroiled in a corruption scandal similar to 1982 when they last won the World Cup.

They have now won the competition four times, one fewer than Brazil, and it was the first time they managed to win a World Cup match on penalties after three failed attempts. DID YOU KNOW? Only four men have scored three goals in World Cup final matches - Geoff Hurst (England), Vava (Brazil), Pele (Brazil) and now Zinedine Zidane (France) But France legend Zidane may forever be haunted by the moment of madness which cost him a second World Cup title. Only Zidane knows why he chose to shove his head into Materazzi's chest after the two had exchanged words with 10 minutes left of extra-time. He had started so well, too, with a goal after six minutes that meant Zidane, who scored twice in the 1998 final, became the fourth man to score in two World Cup finals after Brazilians Vava and Pele and Germany's Paul Breitner. He casually chipped a penalty in off the crossbar after Florent Malouda had won the spot-kick with a fall when Materazzi appeared to catch his foot as he came across to challenge.

606 VIEW World Cup 2006 | Football | The Guardian World Cup 2006 Switzerland has stepped up house searches in German-speaking parts of the country, looking for evidence of 2006 World Cup payments linked to the former Fifa general secretary Urs Linsi Published: 30 Nov 2016 It took 25 passes for Argentina to score their second in a memorable World Cup 2006 win but for José Pékerman it was the realisation of years of work Published: 28 Oct 2016 The Fifa ethics committee has opened an investigation into Franz Beckenbauer and Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid Published: 22 Mar 2016 The law firm commissioned by the German Football Assocation to investigate the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany said: ‘We have no proof of vote buying’ Published: 4 Mar 2016 The German football association president Wolfgang Niersbach has resigned over a 2006 World Cup scandal Published: 9 Nov 2015 The former German football federation president Theo Zwanziger has attacked his successor for denying knowledge of a slush

 fund to buy Fifa votes for hosting the 2006 World Cup Published: 23 Oct 2015 Wolfgang Niersbach has insisted the 2006 World Cup committee acted fairly and legally, and that Franz Beckenbauer offered to pay out of his pocket for the bid Published: 22 Oct 2015 Franz Beckenbauer, who headed the organising committee for the 2006 soccer World Cup, on Sunday rejected claims that a slush fund had been set up to buy votes and bring the tournament to Germany back in 2000 Published: 18 Oct 2015 The German FA has responded to allegations that the World Cup bidding committee for the 2006 World Cup likely used a slush fund to buy votes Published: 16 Oct 2015 Nick Miller: Our series remembering special goals recalls the moment a journeyman player scored one of Italy’s most famous strikes Published: 3 Apr 2015 Ian McCourt: In dragging France to the 2006 World Cup final Zinedine Zidane hinted at immortality and, once they got there, he proved his mortality Published: 11 Mar

 2014 Hannah Jane Parkinson: After Howard Webb denied Liverpool at Arsenal in the FA Cup, we look at 10 far more dubious penalty decisions Published: 18 Feb 2014 Paolo Bandini: Andrea Pirlo swept home a sumptuous free-kick from 25 yards in the Confederations Cup game against Mexico – then made it sound like business as usual Published: 17 Jun 2013 Jack Warner faces the embarrassment of a high- court judgment over his broken promises to T&T's 2006 World Cup squad Published: 29 Nov 2010 Today's questions are reeling and a-rocking ...

Published: 23 Jun 2010 Photographer Michael Donald tracks down the men who have lived every boy's dream – to score in the World Cup final. Introduction by Richard Williams Published: 28 May 2010 The former France captain has announced that he will never say sorry for his World Cup final headbutt Published: 1 Mar 2010 The decade in sport: From Brazil's 2002 World Cup win to Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona with a whole lot of talking points in between.

Words: Kevin McCarra Published: 31 Dec 2009 Frank Lampard has admitted that he is still haunted by his below-par performance at the 2006 World Cup Published: 4 Dec 2009 Trinidad & Tobago's 2006 World Cup squad have still not received money they claim they are owed by their federation Published: 10 Nov 2009 The former England manager said the idea the players' wives and girlfriends had been a distraction in Baden-Baden was 'a stupid excuse' Published: 5 Oct 2009 Richard Williams: Just about the only words Marco Materazzi hasn't had tattooed on his body are the ones he spoke in the 109th minute of the 2006 World Cup final Published: 16 May 2009 Newcastle striker Michael Owen believes his ability to adapt will maintain his scoring record Published: 19 Mar 2009 Marco Materazzi has successfully sued the Sun over reports he called Zinedine Zidane 'the son of a terrorist whore' Published: 6 Feb 2009 The Daily Mail is to pay 'substantial' damages to Italian footballer Marco

 Materazzi for alleging he racially abused Zinedine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup final.

By Owen Gibson Published: 3 Nov 2008 The FA was offered the chance to buy votes for its 2006 World Cup bid, according to former executive director David Davies Published: 2 Oct 2008 In the summer of 2006, French football international Vikash Dhorasoo endured a miserable World Cup - and made a film about it Published: 12 May 2008 German politicians have been trying to improve the nation's flagging birthrate for years. The answer, it seems, lies not in childcare subsidies or school places but in a successfully staged World Cup, with a bit of good weather thrown in. Published: 27 Apr 2007 1 July: As England lose out in another World Cup penalty shoot-out, it's time to bid farewell to Berlin. Nick Greenslade looks back in anger. Published: 23 Dec 2006 8am: The World Cup has been hailed as a digital triumph with record numbers watching matches on new media platforms, but many people believe TV still cannot be beaten for quality - yet. By Mark Sweney.

Published: 18 Jul 2006 Chronicle of a disgrace foretold Jason Solomons and Andrew Hussey The act of rage that brought Zinedine Zidane's career to a shocking finale was foreshadowed in a remarkable new film. Jason Solomons hails a unique portrait of the French footballing icon, while Observer writer Andrew Hussey, who has interviewed Zidane remembers the pride and intensity that marked the essence of his character. Published: 16 Jul 2006 FIFA.com - FIFA World Cup™ FIFA World Cup™ You're logging in with Facebook You're logging in with Twitter You're logging in with Google+ Connect Login Error The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first. The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first. This Facebook account is already present Your Club account has been locked due to a breach of our Terms of Service. Please set up a new account in line with the Club rules. Review the Club Rules .

Alternatively, you can email us by completing our contact form . Please enter a valid email address The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first. Log-in unsuccessful FIFA World Cup™ © Foto-net The FIFA World Cup™ is the biggest single-event sporting competition in the world and is contested by the senior men's national teams from the 208 Member Associations of FIFA. The competition has been played every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. It fulfils FIFA’s objectives to touch the world, develop the game, and build a better future through a variety of ways. Tournament format The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of one month – this phase is often called the Final Competition. A qualification phase, the Preliminary Competition which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

The preliminary competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ sees a total of 204 entries across six continents competing for 31 available spots. For the last FIFA World Cup, 200 teams played a total of 853 matches as 31 teams qualified for South Africa. Both the preliminary and final competitions act as a massive promotion for the game of football and for the host nation(s) and are therefore wonderful opportunities to help promote values of respect, fair play and discipline to the watching world. Understandably, the organisation of such an event is a huge task for FIFA and the Local Organising Committee and is therefore one of the main activities of FIFA over a four-year period. Facts and figures The 19 FIFA World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other winners are Italy, with four titles; Germany, with three wins; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two; and England, France, and Spain, with one title each.

The FIFA World Cup is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany and the 2010 event in South Africa was broadcast to 204 countries on 245 different channels. Inside the stadiums, a total of 3,170,856 spectators attended the 64 matches an average of 49,670 per match and the third highest aggregate attendance behind USA 1994 and Germany 2006. There were also over six million people who attended public viewing events in 16 sites across the world: ten within South Africa and a further six across the globe in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. A total of 350,000 fans attended the International FIFA Fan Fest in Berlin for the semi-final match between Germany and Spain. 177,853 accreditations for the last FIFA World Cup were printed, while the hospitality programme attracted almost a quarter of a million guests.

Over three quarters of a million litres of beer were sold in the stadiums and 390,600 hot dogs were sold in the public catering concessions; many to the half a million international visitors who descended on South Africa. The FIFA World Cup brings in much needed resources from partners and the TV rights which allows FIFA to invest in social activities related to the tournament. For South Africa 2010, the 20 Centres for 2010 campaign was launched, aiming promote public health, education and football in disadvantaged communities across Africa. A FIFA World Cup also creates resources for many extra development programmes which proved to be beneficial for member associations of FIFA throughout the course of the four-year cycle. The next three World Cups will be hosted by Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022.

Fifa opens investigation into Franz Beckenbauer and Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid | Football | The Guardian Fifa opens investigation into Franz Beckenbauer and Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid • Five other officials connected with bid being investigated • Body looking into ‘possible undue payments and contracts’ Franz Beckenbauer is being investigated under the Fifa code of ethics. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP Tuesday 22 March 2016 10.16 EDT Last modified on Monday 4 April 2016 06.51 EDT Close This article is 10 months old The former Germany captain and coach Franz Beckenbauer is one of four officials to be investigated by Fifa following “possible undue payments and contracts” relating to the awarding of the 2006 World Cup tournament. Germany beat South Africa to win the rights to the tournament in 2000 but reports in October last year claimed a slush fund of 10.3 million Swiss francs (£4.8m) had been set up to buy votes .

The German Football Association (DFB) denied this but Fifa’s ethics committee has opened formal proceedings against six officials in total after examining a report commissioned by the DFB. Beckenbauer, the former DFB president Theo Zwanziger, the former secretary general Horst Schmidt and former chief finance officer Stefan Hans will be investigated by Fifa. All were involved in Germany’s World Cup local organising committee, of which Beckenbauer was president. Fifa’s investigatory chamber will also open proceedings against Wolfgang Niersbach, the former president of the DFB and current member of the Fifa and Uefa executive committees, and the former DFB secretary general Helmut Sandrock. The pair will be investigated for a “possible failure to report a breach” of the ethics code. Niersbach, who stepped down as president of the DFB in November, has previously insisted that the organising committee had acted both “fairly” and “legally”, saying: “The World Cup was not bought. What was a summer fairytale remains a summer fairytale.” However, Zwanziger later stated that a slush fund had existed.

A Fifa statement read : “In the cases of Messrs Niersbach and Sandrock, the investigatory chamber will investigate a possible failure to report a breach of the Fifa code of ethics, which could constitute a breach of art. 13 (General rules of conduct), art. 15 (Loyalty), art. 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperating and reporting) and art. 19 (Conflicts of interest) of the FCE. “In the cases of Mr Beckenbauer, Dr Zwanziger, Mr Schmidt and Mr Hans, the investigatory chamber will investigate possible undue payments and contracts to gain an advantage in the 2006 Fifa World Cup host selection and the associated funding, which could constitute a breach of arts 13, 15, 18 and 19 as well as art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) and art. 21 (Bribery and corruption) of the Fifa code of ethics.” In October, Beckenbauer, 70, rejected allegations of corruption , saying: “I never gave money to anyone in order to acquire votes so that Germany is awarded the 2006 World Cup.

And I am certain that no other member of the bid committee did something like that.” In November, German police raided the Frankfurt headquarters of the DFB and searched the homes of officials on suspicion of tax evasion linked to the awarding of the tournament, with documents and hard drives seized according to the German news agency DPA. Last month the Swiss-Italian football administrator Gianni Infantino was elected as Fifa’s new president, beating Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa in the race to succeed Sepp Blatter as head of the maligned world governing body. 2006 FIFA World Cup Final | Football Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia 2006 FIFA World Cup Final 10,147pages on 2010 → The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was a match that took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion , Berlin to determine the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup . Italy beat France on penalties after the match finished 1-1 after extra time. Zinedine Zidane was sent off in his last ever match, for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi .

Contents Portugal 1–0 Build-up The opening performance was by singers Shakira and Wyclef Jean, who performed a special version of "Hips Don't Lie" called The Bamboo Version. Match summary The final started with each side scoring within the first 20 minutes. Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring by converting a controversial seventh-minute penalty kick, conceded by Marco Materazzi , which glanced off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal. Materazzi then levelled the scores in the 19th minute, a header from six yards following an Andrea Pirlo corner from the right. Both teams had chances to score the winning goal in normal time: Luca Toni hit the crossbar in the 35th minute for Italy, later having a header disallowed for offside, while France were not granted a possible second penalty in the 53rd minute when Florent Malouda went down in the box after a cover tackle from Gianluca Zambrotta . France appeared to be the side with better chances to win because of the higher number of shots on goal. They were unable to capitalise, however, and the score remained at one goal each.

At the end of the regulation 90 minutes, the score was still level at 1–1, and the match was forced into extra time. Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon made a potentially game-saving save in extra time when he tipped a Zidane header over the crossbar. Zidane sending off As Zidane and Materazzi were jogging up the pitch close to each other, they briefly exchanged words after Materazzi was seen tugging at Zidane's jersey before Zidane began to walk away from him. Moments later, Zidane suddenly stopped, turned around and head-butted Materazzi's chest, knocking him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports, fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his headset. After consulting his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a red card in the 110th minute. It marked the 14th overall expulsion of Zidane's career, and joined him with Cameroon 's Rigobert Song as the only players ever to be sent off during two separate World Cup tournaments.

He also became the fourth player red-carded in a World Cup final, in addition to being the first sent off in extra time. Penalty shoot-out Extra time produced no further goals and a penalty shoot-out followed, which Italy won 5–3. France's David Trezeguet , the man who scored the golden goal against Italy in the Euro 2000 final , was the only player not to score his penalty; his spot kick hit the crossbar, leaving Fabio Grosso – who scored Italy's first goal in the semi-final against Germany – to score the winning penalty. Aftermath Provocation of Zidane After video evidence suggested that Materazzi had verbally provoked Zidane, three British media newspapers claimed to have hired lip readers to determine what Materazzi had said, with The Times, The Sun and Daily Star claiming that Materazzi called Zidane "the son of a terrorist whore". In 2008, The Sun and Daily Star made public apologies to Materazzi, and Materazzi won libel damages from all three British newspapers. Zidane only partly explained that repeated harsh insults about his mother had caused him to react.

Materazzi admitted talking trash to Zidane, but argued that Zidane's behaviour had been very arrogant and that the remarks were trivial. Materazzi also insisted that he did not insult Zidane's mother (who was ill at the time), claiming, "I didn't talk about his mother, either. I lost my mother when I was fifteen, and even now I still get emotional talking about it." Zidane later apologised but added that he did not regret his offence, because he felt that this would condone Materazzi's actions. Two months later, Materazzi offered his version of events, claiming that after he had grabbed Zidane's jersey, Zidane remarked, "If you want my shirt, I will give it to you afterwards", and he replied to Zidane that he would prefer his sister, but claimed during the interview that he was unaware Zidane even had a sister. Over a year after the incident, Materazzi confirmed that his precise words to Zidane were: "I prefer the whore that is your sister." Reactions After the final, then-President of France Jacques Chirac hailed Zidane as a "man of heart and conviction".

Chirac later added that he found the offence to be unacceptable, but he understood that Zidane had been provoked. However, French newspaper Le Figaro called the headbutt "odious" and "unacceptable". Time magazine regarded the incident as a symbol for Europe's "grappling with multi-culturalism". Despite the ongoing furore, Zidane's sponsors announced that they would stick with him. The incident was extensively lampooned on the Internet and in popular culture. Family Guy parodied it in the episode "Saving Private Brian", in which Zidane headbutts an old lady while delivering her a birthday cake. The Simpsons parodied it in the episode "Marge Gamer", in which Homer Simpson shouts "Zidane!", when headbutting the linesman. In addition to becoming a staple of parody via numerous online videos and GIFs, a novelty song titled Coup de Boule ("Headbutt") reached the top of the French charts. In light of Zidane's statements, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings to investigate the incident.

FIFA also affirmed the legality of Elizondo's decision to send Zidane off, rejecting claims that Cantalejo had illegally relied on video transmission to make a decision about handling Zidane's misconduct. FIFA issued a CHF 5,000 fine and a two-match ban against Materazzi, while Zidane received a three-match ban and a CHF 7,500 fine. Since Zidane had already retired, he voluntarily served three days of community service on FIFA's behalf as a substitute for the match ban. The Hidden Face of Zidane, written by journalist Besma Lahouri and published in September 2008, claimed that Zidane had expressed his regret for the incident during a conversation with his cousin. In October 2009, in an interview conducted on French radio station RTL, Zidane stated: "Let's not forget that provocation is a terrible thing. I have never been one to provoke; I have never done it.

It's terrible, and it is best not to react." Outcome It was the first final since 1978 in which neither Germany nor Brazil competed (and the second since 1938 ); it was also the first all-European final since Italy won the 1982 FIFA World Cup , and the second final to be decided on penalties ( 1994 was the first, with Italy losing on that occasion). It was also Italy's first world title in 24 years, and their fourth overall, putting them one ahead of Germany / West Germany and only one behind Brazil . The penalty shoot-out victory for Italy was that country's first in the World Cup Finals: Italy's three previous penalty shoot-out competitions (including the 1994 final) had all been lost. The victory also led to Italy topping the FIFA World Rankings in February 2007 for the first time since November 1993. Viewer figures According to FIFA, 715.1 million individuals globally watched the final match of this tournament. IPG's independent media agency Initiative Worldwide estimated an 260 million people viewership. The independent firm Initiative Futures Sport + Entertainment estimates it at 322 million viewers.

Match details 30 minutes of extra time if scores level Penalty shoot-out if scores still level 12 substitutes named, of which three may be used

Question: Who won the FIFA World Cup for Association Football in Germany in 2006?
Answer: Italy