"Croatia at the FIFA World Cup Croatia national football team have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on five occasions (in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018) since gaining independence in 1991. Before that, from 1930 to 1990 Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. Their best result thus far was silver position at the 2018 final, where they lost 4-2 to France. In the draw for the final tournament, held on 4 December 1997 at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, Croatia was drawn to play in Group H, along with two other teams which qualified for the World Cup for the first"
"people watching the 2006 tournament final. Czechoslovakia have been one of the better performing national teams in the history of the World Cup, having ended twice as runners-up, in 1934 and in 1962. Between 1930 and 1994 they qualified for 8 out of 13 World Cups they played qualifiers for, and did not enter in two other World Cups. After the political split-up into Czech Republic and Slovakia, the official successor football team Czech Republic has been less successful at the World Cup than Czechoslovakia, qualifying only for one out of five tournaments (the 2006 FIFA World Cup) without surviving"
"third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November. In late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong. Georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place. Tonga qualified through repechage after defeating Korea. The final spot went to Portugal, joining Pool C after beating Uruguay 24–23 on aggregate. Portugal's qualification was"
"2006 FIFA World Cup Group C Play in Group C of the 2006 FIFA World Cup began on 10 June and completed on 21 June 2006. Argentina won the group, and advanced to the second round, along with Netherlands. The two sides tied for points in the standings, but Argentina won the tie-break on goal difference, and so won the group with the Netherlands in second place. Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro failed to advance. Upon completion of the draw for the tournament, many football pundits remarked that this group appeared to be the group of death, despite the"
"considers Czech Republic as a successor of a team. ""13 of the 32 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 2010 finals: Angola, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Iran, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Ukraine."" 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. Starting with these qualifiers, the defending champion (Brazil) was not granted automatic qualification for the first time, as France's disappointing performance"
"in the United States (changed from China due to the SARS epidemic) and won by Germany, who defeated Sweden by 2–1 in extra time. Earlier in the semifinals they had disposed of the defending champions and hosts, the United States, 3–0. Germany hosted the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Thirty-two nations competed in the tournament, with matches played in a dozen cities ranging from Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south; Leipzig was the only former East city to hold matches (the matches at Berlin were held at former West Berliner territory). The opening match (Germany vs Costa Rica)"
"and the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title. They defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out 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, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. It was also the first appearance of Serbia and Montenegro under that name; they had previously appeared in 1998 as Yugoslavia. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television"
"fact that only one side – Argentina – had qualified for the previous World Cup. ""All times local (CEST/UTC+2)"" 2006 FIFA World Cup Group C Play in Group C of the 2006 FIFA World Cup began on 10 June and completed on 21 June 2006. Argentina won the group, and advanced to the second round, along with Netherlands. The two sides tied for points in the standings, but Argentina won the tie-break on goal difference, and so won the group with the Netherlands in second place. Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro failed to advance. Upon completion of the draw"
"though it does not directly affect the Bundesliga. The Australian A-League is launched in replacement of the NSL to improve the quality of the game in the country. The 2006 World Cup is held in Germany and won by Italy on a penalty kick shootout over France, and Zinedine Zidane plays his last professional game in the final captaining France only to be sent off in extra time. A major match-fixing scandal erupts in Italy, with five Serie A teams implicated. Egypt record victory for the fifth time in the African Cup of Nations. Brazil wins the 42nd edition of"
"match ever. The tournament was a successful one for teams traditionally regarded as minnows, with South Korea, Senegal and the United States all reaching the last eight. Brazil beat Germany 2–0 in the final for their fifth title. The Turkish Hakan Sukur made history by scoring the earliest World Cup goal of all time against South Korea at only 11 seconds. The 2006 World Cup was held in Germany. It was the first World Cup for which the previous winner had to qualify; the host nation(s) continue to receive an automatic berth. Four African teams also made their debut in"
"two titles each; and England and Spain with one title each. The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; the cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet. 17 countries have hosted the World Cup. Brazil, France, Italy, Germany and Mexico have each hosted twice, while Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden,"
"end=b4 /> The two teams had met twice, most recently in a group stage game in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, won by Portugal 2–0. In the 45 minute, Ricardo Quaresma cut in from the right before scoring with a curling shot off the outside of his right foot that looped over Alireza Beiranvand into the top-left corner. Saeid Ezatolahi's foul on Cristiano Ronaldo won Portugal a penalty, which Ronaldo shot low into the right, enabling Beiranvand to get down and make a stop. Iran then managed to get a penalty in stoppage time after referee used VAR to determine"
"Defending world champions Brazil went out in the quarter-finals after Zinedine Zidane found an unmarked Thierry Henry from a free kick, the striker having been given a free run at the ball after his marker, Roberto Carlos, stopped to tie his shoe. 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the knockout stage was the second and final stage of the World Cup, following the group stage. The top two teams from each group (16 total) advance to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. A match was played between the two losing"
"prior to the start of the World Cup, on 3 June 2006, with Serbia and Montenegro becoming independent countries; their team competed at the World Cup unaffected. Their involvement in the competition became the first time since the Commonwealth of Independent States appeared at UEFA Euro 1992, a team formed to take the Soviet Union's place following dissolution, that multiple sovereign states had been represented in the finals of a major footballing tournament by a single team and the only occurrence in the World Cup finals to date. The highest ranked team not to qualify was Denmark (ranked 11th), while"
"2006 FIFA World Cup Group E Play in Group E of the 2006 FIFA World Cup began on 12 June and completed on 22 June 2006. Italy won the group, and advanced to the second round, along with Ghana. The Czech Republic and the United States failed to advance. ""All times local (CEST/UTC+2)"" Tomáš Ujfaluši was sent off in the 65th minute after tripping Matthew Amoah in the penalty box from behind. Asamoah Gyan took the penalty kick but struck the post, and then received a yellow card for taking the shot without the referee's permission. Italy midfielder Daniele De"
"Patenaude; however, in 2006 FIFA announced that Patenaude's claim to being the first hat-trick scorer was valid, as a goal previously assigned to teammate Tom Florie was reattributed to Patenaude. With the United States having secured qualification, the final match in the group was a dead rubber. Paraguay beat Belgium by a 1–0 margin. The four group winners, Argentina, Yugoslavia, Uruguay and the United States, moved to the semi-finals. The two semi-final matches saw identical scores. The first semi-final was played between the US and Argentina on a rain-drenched pitch. The United States team, which featured six British-born players, lost"
"2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the knockout stage was the second and final stage of the World Cup, following the group stage. The top two teams from each group (16 total) advance to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. A match was played between the two losing teams of the semi-finals to determine which team finished in third place. The top two placed teams from each of the eight groups qualified for the knockout stage. Germany progressed thanks to two goals from Lukas Podolski inside the opening 12 minutes."
"2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL–OFC play-off) The 2006 FIFA World Cup CONMEBOL–OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia, and the fifth-placed team from the South American qualifying tournament, Uruguay. It still remains as the only match where a country has qualified for the FIFA World Cup Finals on a penalty shoot out. The games were played on 12 and 16 November 2005 in Montevideo and Sydney respectively. With the home team winning 1–0 in both matches, the aggregate score was tied 1–1, and, with no away goal advantage, the"
"– Brazil - China 88:78 B1 – Germany B2 – Brazil B3 – China 15 Aug (A3-B3) Australia - China 61:63 15 Aug (A2-B2) France - Brazil 86:74 15 Aug (A1-B1) Greece - Germany 84:47 1. Greece 2. Germany 3. France 4. Brazil 5. China 6. Australia 2006 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup The 2006 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, or 2006 FIBA Mini World Cup, was the second edition of the FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup tournament. It was was held in Nanjing and Kunshan, People's Republic of China, from August 11 to 15. Teams were divided into 2"
"meaning that from this World Cup onwards, each confederation would have the same number of teams participating in each World Cup and that the 16 teams would be split up into four groups of four teams, with the top two teams moving on to the quarter finals. African nations were allocated 2 berths at the World Cup. The championship took place between September 28 and September 30, 2006. Cameroon and Nigeria were the two finalists, meaning they both qualified for the World Cup. Cameroon defeated Nigeria in the final to win the title. Asian nations were allocated 3 berths at"
"qualified for the tournament in Germany, but were eliminated at the group stage. Trinidad & Tobago was the Smallest and least populated Country to participate in a FIFA World Cup but the population record was broken by Iceland in 2018. Silvio Spann was originally in the squad, but had to drop-out after sustaining a hamstring injury in the run-up to the tournament. He was replaced by Evans Wise. Head coach of Trinidad and Tobago's 2006 World Cup squad was Leo Beenhakker. Trinidad and Tobago were drawn in Group B along with England, Sweden, and Paraguay. In their first match, Trinidad"
"2006 FIFA World Cup 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. It was the second time that Germany staged the competition (the first was in 1974 as West Germany),"
"the lowest ranked team that did qualify was Togo (ranked 61st). The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament: 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), the venue for the 1974 final match was not used for the tournament, 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 not used. Twelve stadia were selected to host the World Cup"
"the World Cup. The championship took place between May 22 and May 26, 2006. Bahrain and Japan were the two finalists, meaning they both qualified for the World Cup. Bahrain defeated Japan in the final to win the title. Iran and China were knocked out in the semi finals and played each other in the third place play off. Iran beat China to claim the third berth at the World Cup. European nations were allocated 5 berths at the World Cup. Instead of having a specific tournament for World Cup qualification, qualification was achieved through the ""2006 Euro Beach Soccer"
"of Spain. On 3 June 2006, following a referendum, Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia. As the World Cup was about to start, it was decided that the Serbia and Montenegro team that had qualified for the tournament would compete, with the split into separate teams representing the new countries of Montenegro and Serbia to take place once the team was no longer in the tournament. In the group stage, Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to joint group favourite, the Netherlands. The final score was 1–0 after Arjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also"
"Russia, drew 1–1 with Belgium, and lost 0–2 to co-hosts Japan. Of Africa's five representatives, three won at least once, but only one progressed beyond the first round. Still, Senegal's surprise run made it the fifth successive time an African nation had made it to the Round of 16, and the second time an African country had reached the quarter finals. Three of the five African nations (South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia) took a local coach to the World Cup; only one of those three scored a win. 51 African countries entered the race for 5 spots at the 2006 FIFA"
"drew half its matches. In Group 4, Angola and Nigeria both finished with 21 points after 10 matches, with Nigeria having a far superior goal difference thanks largely to scoring five goals against both Algeria and 3rd placed Zimbabwe in their last two matches. However, it had already been decided that head to head results were to be used to break such ties in 2006 World Cup Qualification before goal difference. The ""Palancas Negras (Black Antelopes)"" of Angola, having beaten Nigeria 2–1 on aggregate, qualified for the World Cup. At the World Cup Finals, Côte d'Ivoire lost its first two"
"against England at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. <section begin=f1 /><section end=f1 /> The two teams had met in one previous match, in the 1998 Lunar New Year Cup, won 1–0 by Nigeria. In a goalless game of few chances, Iran's Reza Ghoochannejhad forced a save from Vincent Enyeama in the first half, while Nigeria substitute Shola Ameobi headed wide in the second half. This was the first goalless match as well as the first draw of the tournament after the previous 12 matches all produced a winner, and was the longest wait for a draw in a single tournament"
"determine the two Africa nations who would play in the World Cup took place in Durban, South Africa for the second year running between July 3 and July 8. Eight nations took part in the competition, an increase on the six teams that participated in the 2006 Championship, which eventually saw Nigeria claim their first title, qualifying for the second successive World Cup and which saw Senegal finish in second place, qualifying for the first time. The Asian qualifiers took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the second time, between August 14 and August 18. The hosts, the United"
"official FIFA rankings, sandwiched between American Samoa above and Montserrat below. At this time, following the Netherlands failure to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, two Dutch ad-agency partners, Johan Kramer and Matthijs de Jongh, not having their home team to cheer on pondered who the worst team in the world might be. With Bhutan and Montserrat so close to each other at the bottom of the FIFA rankings, they set out to arrange a match between the two nations. Montserrat, their only pitch having been destroyed by one of the island nation's seven active volcanoes, agreed to the"
"v Guinea""> <div id=""Malawi v Botswana""> <div id=""Kenya v Morocco""> <div id=""Kenya v Tunisia""> (Due to unruly behaviour and stampede killing one person in the game against Morocco, this match was played behind closed doors.) <div id=""Morocco v Botswana""> <div id=""Guinea v Malawi""> <div id=""Malawi v Kenya""> <div id=""Botswana v Guinea""> <div id=""Tunisia v Morocco""> 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Second Round The CAF Second Round of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification began on 5 June 2004 and finished on 8 October 2005. The highest-ranked country in each group at the end of the stage qualified for the"
"contested the 2006 final, where they lost to Italy in a penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw. Only Germany (eight) and Italy (six) have reached more finals among European nations. Didier Deschamps became the fourth person to reach a World Cup final as both a player and as a manager, after Franz Beckenbauer, Rudi Völler, and Mário Zagallo. The match was the first World Cup final for Croatia in their fifth World Cup appearance. They are the 10th European country and 13th overall to reach a World Cup final, and the first new finalist since Spain in 2010. With a"
"Tunisia and Croatia, both of whom had qualified for the previous three finals; Costa Rica, Ecuador, Poland and Sweden, who had qualified for the previous two editions; 2006 quarter-finalists Ukraine and Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia and Turkey. The highest ranked team not to qualify was Croatia (ranked 10th), while the lowest ranked team that did qualify was North Korea (ranked 105th). , this was the last time South Africa, New Zealand, North Korea, Paraguay, Slovakia and Slovenia qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, qualified for the final tournament. Five new"