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 had 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 as a unified country (the other was in 1974 in West Germany), 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 only appearance of Serbia and Montenegro under that name; they had previously appeared in 1998 as Yugoslavia. In late May 2006, immediately prior to the tournament, Montenegro voted in a referendum to become an independent nation and dissolve the loose confederacy then existing between it and Serbia, with Serbia recognizing the results of the referendum in early June. Due to time constraints, FIFA had Serbia and Montenegro play in the World Cup tournament as one team, marking the first instance of multiple sovereign nations competing as one team in a major football tournament since UEFA Euro 1992.
The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion times viewed, compiled over the course of the tournament. The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people.
GROUP A Jun 09 Munich Germany v Costa Rica 4-2 Jun 09 Gelsenkirchen Poland v Ecuador 0-2 Jun 14 Dortmund Germany v Poland 1-0 Jun 15 Hamburg Ecuador v Costa Rica 3-0 Jun 20 Berlin Ecuador v Germany 0-3 Jun 20 Hannover Costa Rica v Poland 1-2 P W D L Gls Pts GERMANY 3 3 0 0 8-2 9 ECUADOR 3 2 0 1 5-3 6 Poland 3 1 0 2 2-4 3 Costa Rica 3 0 0 3 3-9 0 GROUP B Jun 10 Frankfurt England v Paraguay 1-0 Jun 10 Dortmund Sweden v Trinidad & T 0-0 Jun 15 Nuremberg England v Trinidad & T 2-0 Jun 15 Berlin Paraguay v Sweden 0-1 Jun 20 Cologne Sweden v England 2-2 Jun 20 Kaiserslautern Trinidad & T v Paraguay 0-2 P W D L Gls Pts ENGLAND 3 2 1 0 5-2 7 SWEDEN 3 1 2 0 3-2 5 Paraguay 3 1 0 2 2-2 3 Trinidad & T 3 0 1 2 0-4 1 GROUP C Jun 10 Hamburg Argentina v Côte d'Ivoire 2-1 Jun 11 Leipzig Serbia & Mont v Netherlands 0-1 Jun 16 Gelsenkirchen Argentina v Serbia & Mont 6-0 Jun 16 Stuttgart Netherlands v Côte d'Ivoire 2-1 Jun 21 Frankfurt Netherlands v Argentina 0-0 Jun 21 Munich Côte d'Ivoire v Serbia & Mont 3-2 P W D L Gls Pts ARGENTINA 3 2 1 0 8- 1 7 NETHERLANDS 3 2 1 0 3- 1 7 Côte d'Ivoire 3 1 0 2 5- 6 3 Serbia & Mont 3 0 0 3 2-10 0 GROUP D Jun 11 Nuremberg Mexico v Iran 3-1 Jun 11 Cologne Angola v Portugal 0-1 Jun 16 Hannover Mexico v Angola 0-0 Jun 17 Frankfurt Portugal v Iran 2-0 Jun 21 Gelsenkirchen Portugal v Mexico 2-1 Jun 21 Leipzig Iran v Angola 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts PORTUGAL 3 3 0 0 5-1 9 MEXICO 3 1 1 1 4-3 4 Angola 3 0 2 1 1-2 2 Iran 3 0 1 2 2-6 1 GROUP E Jun 12 Gelsenkirchen United States v Czech Republic 0-3 Jun 12 Hannover Italy v Ghana 2-0 Jun 17 Cologne Czech Republic v Ghana 0-2 Jun 17 Kaiserslautern Italy v United States 1-1 Jun 22 Hamburg Czech Republic v Italy 0-2 Jun 22 Nuremberg Ghana v United States 2-1 P W D L Gls Pts ITALY 3 2 1 0 5-1 7 GHANA 3 2 0 1 4-3 6 Czech Republic 3 1 0 2 3-4 3 United States 3 0 1 2 2-6 1 GROUP F Jun 12 Kaiserslautern Australia v Japan 3-1 Jun 13 Berlin Brazil v Croatia 1-0 Jun 18 Nuremberg Japan v Croatia 0-0 Jun 18 Munich Brazil v Australia 2-0 Jun 22 Dortmund Japan v Brazil 1-4 Jun 22 Stuttgart Croatia v Australia 2-2 P W D L Gls Pts BRAZIL 3 3 0 0 7-1 9 AUSTRALIA 3 1 1 1 5-5 4 Croatia 3 0 2 1 2-3 2 Japan 3 0 1 2 2-7 1 GROUP G Jun 13 Frankfurt South Korea v Togo 2-1 Jun 13 Stuttgart France v Switzerland 0-0 Jun 18 Leipzig France v South Korea 1-1 Jun 19 Dortmund Togo v Switzerland 0-2 Jun 23 Cologne Togo v France 0-2 Jun 23 Hannover Switzerland v South Korea 2-0 P W D L Gls Pts SWITZERLAND 3 2 1 0 4-0 7 FRANCE 3 1 2 0 3-1 5 South Korea 3 1 1 1 3-4 4 Togo 3 0 0 3 1-6 0 GROUP H Jun 14 Leipzig Spain v Ukraine 4-0 Jun 14 Munich Tunisia v Saudi Arabia 2-2 Jun 19 Hamburg Saudi Arabia v Ukraine 0-4 Jun 19 Stuttgart Spain v Tunisia 3-1 Jun 23 Kaiserslautern Saudi Arabia v Spain 0-1 Jun 23 Berlin Ukraine v Tunisia 1-0 P W D L Gls Pts SPAIN 3 3 0 0 8-1 9 UKRAINE 3 2 0 1 5-4 6 Tunisia 3 0 1 2 3-6 1 Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 2-7 1 SECOND ROUND Jun 24 Munich Germany v Sweden 2-0 Jun 24 Leipzig Argentina v Mexico aet 2-1 Jun 25 Stuttgart England v Ecuador 1-0 Jun 25 Nuremberg Portugal v Netherlands 1-0 Jun 26 Kaiserslautern Italy v Australia 1-0 Jun 26 Cologne Switzerland v Ukraine (0-3)0-0 Jun 27 Dortmund Brazil v Ghana 3-0 Jun 27 Hannover Spain v France 1-3 QUARTERFINALS Jun 30 Berlin Germany v Argentina (4-2)1-1 Jun 30 Hamburg Italy v Ukraine 3-0 Jul 01 Gelsenkirchen England v Portugal (1-3)0-0 Jul 01 Frankfurt Brazil v France 0-1 SEMIFINALS Jul 04 Dortmund Germany v Italy aet 0-2 Jul 05 Munich Portugal v France 0-1 3rd/4th PLACE PLAY-OFF Jul 08 Stuttgart Germany v Portugal 3-1 WORLD CUP FINAL Jul 09 Berlin Italy v France (5-3)1-1