"by Asamoah Gyan. Had Ghana won their quarter final they would have become the very first African nation to progress to the semifinals of the world cup. Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th. The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil marked the first time more than one African team went beyond the group stages. While Ghana and Cameroon both collected disappointing results (apart from Ghana's 2–2 draw with later champions Germany, which saw them becoming the only team not to lose against the Germans in the entire tournament) and eventually"
"2002 FIFA World Cup Group A The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams divided into eight lettered groups. Group A comprised 1998 winners, France, two-time winners Uruguay, Denmark and FIFA World Cup debutants Senegal. The group's first match was played on 31 May 2002, and the last matches on 11 June 2002. From the outset, it was apparent that the group would not pan out as expected, as Senegal beat France 1–0 in the opening match of the tournament. France followed this with a goalless draw against Uruguay, in a match in which their star striker, Thierry Henry was"
"2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama. A field of 32 teams qualified for this World Cup, which was the first to be held in Asia, the first to be held outside of the Americas or Europe, as well as the first to be jointly-hosted by more than one nation. China,"
"eight tournaments won and having previously met in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final, where Brazil won 2–0 and earned their fifth title. This match, however, ended in a shocking loss for Brazil; Germany led 5–0 at half time, with four goals scored within six minutes, and subsequently brought the score up to 7–0 in the second half. Brazil scored a consolation goal in the last minute, ending the match 7–1. Germany's Toni Kroos was selected as the man of the match. The game marked several tournament records. Germany's win marked the largest margin of victory in a FIFA World"
"only) World Cup to be hosted by two countries. The 2002 World Cup was the tournament's 17th staging. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was utilized. South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts, qualified automatically, leaving 2.5 spots open for competition between 40 teams. Myanmar withdrew from the tournament after being placed in Group 2 but before any matches had been played, therefore reducing the group to three teams. Afghanistan, Bhutan, North Korea and Timor-Leste did not participate in the qualification process. Asia's two remaining automatic qualifying berths"
"first time since Lillehammer 1994 the Winter Olympics returned to a mountain resort. The 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in Korea and Japan with extreme success. More than 10 million Koreans came to the streets to support their team in the semifinals against Germany. The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth"
"won the tournament by beating Brazil 3–0 in the final, as the Brazilian Ronaldo had health issues and therefore he hasn't impact on the match. Debutants Croatia finished a commendable third. The 2002 World Cup was the first to be held in Asia, and was hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan. Togolese Souleymane Mamam became the youngest player ever to take to a World Cup preliminary game field at 13 years, 310 days in Lomé in May 2001. Australia defeated American Samoa 31–0 in a preliminary match – a new record for the margin of victory, and the highest-scoring"
"2002 Men's Hockey World Cup The 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup was the 10th edition of the Hockey World Cup, a men's field hockey tournament. It was held from 24 February to 9 March 2002 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Germany won their first title after defeating Australia 2–1 in the final. Netherlands won the third place match by defeating South Korea 3–2 with a golden goal. For this tournament, the participating nations were increased from the standard 12 (as in the 5 previous editions) to 16 and each squad could consist of 18 players instead of the normal 16 after"
"the start of their path to their first FIFA World Cup trophy culminated with their 2–1 win over Denmark, who despite their loss, progressed to the second round. Nigeria and Paraguay advanced to the Round of 16 after a surprise elimination of top seed Spain, while Bulgaria failed to repeat their surprise performance from the previous tournament. The Netherlands and Mexico advanced with the same record (The Netherlands placed first on goal difference); Belgium and eventual 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts South Korea failed to advance. Germany and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia advanced, each with 7 points (Germany took"
"preceding Bosnia and Herzegovina's Nino Pršeš with Hano). At the close of voting, it had received 3 points, placing 22nd (equal last) in a field of 23. Due to the rapidly expanding contest, the decision was taken to restrict entry to the 2002 Contest to the countries that had finished in the top 15 of the 2001 Contest, plus the countries that had been excluded from the 2001 event due to a low five-year point average from 1996–2000; neither group included Iceland which was therefore relegated from the 2002 Contest. As a ""passive country"" (one which broadcasts the Contest without"
"closest World Championships final yet, with Sweden taking the title with a 5–3 victory. 2002 World Championships<br> The 2002 World Championships tournament was hosted in Helsinki, Finland and the national team was eager to bring home the title in front of their home crowd. Finland battled its way to the final to meet Sweden. The final match was played in Hartwall Arena with 13 665 spectators, who witnessed Sweden grabbing yet another World Championships title in thriller of a match with 3 goals score in the last minute. The final score was 6–4 to Sweden. 2004 World Championships<br> This time"
"the semi-finals. They defeated China 1–0 to gain third-place. South Korea co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament with Japan. As they had never won a game in the World Cup previously, hopes were not very high. In addition there was pre-tournament criticism concerning Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who many felt did not take his job seriously. However once the tournament began the South Korean team achieved their first ever victory in a World Cup with a 2–0 victory against Poland. Their next game was against the United States and earned a 1–1 draw, with striker Ahn Jung-hwan scoring a"
"2002 (inclusive), after which it was abolished. Of the 14 remaining places, eleven were allocated to Europe, two to the Americas, and one to Asia. As a result, only three non-European nations took part: Brazil, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. This is the smallest ever number of teams from outside the host continent to compete at a FIFA World Cup. Austria qualified for the World Cup, but after qualification was complete, the Anschluss united Austria with Germany. Austria subsequently withdrew from the tournament, with some Austrian players joining the German squad, although not including Austrian star player Matthias Sindelar,"
"September 15, 2002 September 16, 2002 September 14, 2002 September 15, 2002 September 16, 2002 September 18, 2002 September 19, 2002 September 20, 2002 September 18, 2002 September 19, 2002 September 20, 2002 <br> 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women The 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women was hosted by China from September 14 to September 25, 2002. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Chinese federation. The USA won the tournament, defeating Russia 79-74 for the gold medal. Except China, which automatically qualified as the host, and the United States, which automatically qualified as the"
"failed to qualify for the 2006 finals: Belgium, Cameroon, China, Denmark, Ireland, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay."" The 32 spots available in the 2002 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: A total of 193 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 777 qualifying matches were played, and 2452 goals were scored (an average of 3.17 per match). The Asian Football Confederation was allocated four and half qualifying berths for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts, qualified automatically, leaving two and half spots open for"
"were joined by Kenya, and four European teams; Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands and Scotland. It was then known as the ICC Emerging Nations tournament, and was won by Kenya. The 2002 tournament was held in Windhoek, Namibia in April. Its purpose was to prepare the four associate teams for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. To this end, those four teams (Canada, Kenya, Namibia and the Netherlands) were joined by A teams from Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The tournament was again won by Kenya, who beat Sri Lanka A in the final. The final between Sri Lanka A and Kenya was"
"to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, the UFWC was, unusually, not at stake at the official World Cup. The Netherlands retained the title until 10 September 2003, when they lost a Euro 2004 qualifier 3–1 to the Czech Republic. The Czechs defended their title a few times, before losing it to the Republic of Ireland in a friendly via a last-minute winner by Robbie Keane. The title then went to an African nation for the first time, as they lost it to Nigeria. Angola won and kept this title through late 2004 and early 2005. They were then beaten"
"into the 2002 World Cup, expectations of the German team were low due to poor results in the qualifiers and not directly qualifying for the finals for the first time. The team advanced through group play, and in the knockout stages they produced three consecutive 1–0 wins against Paraguay, the United States, and co-hosts South Korea. Oliver Neuville scored two minutes from time against Paraguay and Michael Ballack scored both goals in the USA and South Korea games, although he picked up a second yellow card against South Korea for a tactical foul and was suspended for the subsequent match."
"2002 FIBA World Championship for Women The 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women was hosted by China from September 14 to September 25, 2002. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Chinese federation. The USA won the tournament, defeating Russia 79-74 for the gold medal. Except China, which automatically qualified as the host, and the United States, which automatically qualified as the reigning Olympic champion, the 14 remaining countries qualified through their continents' qualifying tournaments: September 14, 2002 September 15, 2002 September 16, 2002 September 14, 2002 September 15, 2002 September 16, 2002 September 14, 2002"
"four groups, from which the group winners qualify for the World Cup. The four runners-up were played in playoff-matches for the 5th berth. The 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup second-placed Canada qualified for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The winner USA qualified as host. The third-placed Mexico played against Japan in two play-off matches for qualification. The 2003 OFC Women's Championship determined the OFC's one qualifier for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup — the winner Australia. The fourth edition of the Sudamericano Femenino (Women's South American Championship) in 2003 determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers Brazil and Argentina. ""Japan won"
"World Cup runners-up. So did Spain, who were ranked second in the FIFA World Rankings at the time. They were replaced by Turkey, who came third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Five bids came before the deadline at 1 May 2002. Australia, Portugal and the United States put in single bids, while South Africa–Egypt and France–Switzerland put in joint bids. The France–Switzerland bid never materialized. The host was selected on 24 September 2002, during a meeting of FIFA's Executive Committee. The matches were played in: For a list of all squads that appeared in the tournament, see ""2003 FIFA"
"Denmark. The 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan saw Nigeria again qualify with optimism. With a new squad and distinctive pastel green kits, the Super Eagles were expected to build on its strong performances in the 2000 and 2002 African Cup of Nations. Nigeria were drawn into group F with powerhouses Sweden, Argentina, and England. The first game against Argentina started with a strong defence that kept the first half scoreless. In the 61st minute, Gabriel Batistuta breached the Nigerian defence to put Argentina in the lead 1–0, and Argentina would go on to win the game. Nigeria's"
"were taken by Saudi Arabia and China PR. Iran failed to become a third Asian representative in the World Cup after losing their AFC/UEFA playoff against the Republic of Ireland. China PR qualified for the finals for the first time. Coached by Bora Milutinović (the fifth national team he coached in five consecutive World Cups), the nation failed to earn a point or even score a goal. As football is widely followed in China, national team success is considered to be a source of national pride. Around 300 million people tuned into broadcasts of China's 2002 World Cup matches, with"
"draw with Uruguay. Uruguay, as dark horses of the group, never really got going, their high point being a goalless draw with a sub-par France side. However, they did manage to put three goals past Senegal in a high-scoring draw, but their loss to Denmark in their opening game had dashed any hopes they may have had of qualifying for the Round of 16. ""All times local (UTC+9)"" 2002 FIFA World Cup Group A The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams divided into eight lettered groups. Group A comprised 1998 winners, France, two-time winners Uruguay, Denmark and FIFA World"
"2002 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament. 199 teams entered the tournament qualification rounds, competing for 32 spots in the final tournament. South Korea and Japan, as the co-hosts, and France, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition. ""12 of the 32 teams subsequently"
"Ecuador, Senegal and Slovenia made their World Cup debuts. The tournament had several upsets and surprise results, which included the defending champions France being eliminated in the group stage after earning a single point and second favourites Argentina also being eliminated in the group stage. South Korea managed to reach the semi-finals, beating Spain, Italy and Portugal en route. However, the most potent team at the tournament, Brazil, prevailed, winning the final against Germany 2–0, making them the first and only country to have won the World Cup five times. The victory qualified Brazil for the 2003 and subsequently 2005"
"team became the Republic of Ireland. Belgium qualified by the aggregate score of 2–0. Germany qualified by the aggregate score of 5–2. Slovenia qualified by the aggregate score of 3–2. Turkey qualified by the aggregate score of 6–0. The following 15 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament. 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for UEFA teams. The European section of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which is being held in South Korea and"
"first ever to be played in Asia (also the first outside Europe and the Americas), defeating Germany 2–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final. The first FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship is held in Canada, with the USA defeating the hosts in the final 1–0 on a golden goal in extra time. Founded the NF-Board, the first international organization for FAs not admitted to FIFA. Paolo Maldini makes history by captaining AC Milan to a champions league victory, a feat his father Cesare did with the same club exactly 40 years before. Latvia is the first football team from"
"2002 FIFA World Cup (video game) 2002 FIFA World Cup, sometimes known as FIFA World Cup 2002, is the second EA Sports official World Cup video game developed by EA Canada and Creations, with Intelligent Games assisting for PS2, Xbox, Windows, and Nintendo GameCube platform and Tose Software also assisting the GameCube version, the game was published by EA Sports in North America and Europe and published by Electronic Arts Victor in Japan. An amalgamation between the game engines of ""FIFA Football 2002"" and ""FIFA Football 2003"", the game still incorporates the power bar for shots and crosses but with"
"and promote a festive atmosphere. During the flag art festival, hand-painted flags from global artists were displayed as a greeting to international guests in a manner that was designed to promote harmony (2002 Flag Art Festival Executive Committee). 2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama. A field of 32 teams qualified"
"world's best player Ronaldo suffering a convulsive fit only hours before kick off. The starting line up without Ronaldo was released to a shocked world media, but after pleading that he felt fine and requested to play, Ronaldo was reinstated by the coach, before giving a below par performance as France, led by Zidane won 3–0. Fuelled by the ""Three R's"" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan. Brazil beat all three opponents in group play in South Korea and topped the group. In Brazil's opening game"
"For the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums in 10 host cities, with the opening match and final staged at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. The tournament was won by host country France, who beat defending champions Brazil 3–0 in the final. France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South"
"2002 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 10th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It was held from 24 November to 8 December 2002 in Perth, Australia. Argentina won the tournament for the first time after defeating the Netherlands 4–3 in the final on penalty strokes after a 1–1 draw. China won the third place match by defeating defending champions Australia 2–0 to claim their first ever World Cup medal. For this tournament, the participating nations were increased from the standard 12 (as in the 6 previous editions) to 16."