2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for UEFA teams. A total of 51 teams took part, divided in 8 groups – five groups of six teams each and three groups of seven teams each – competing for 13 places in the World Cup. Germany, the hosts, were already qualified, for a total of 14 European places in the tournament. The qualifying process started on 18 August 2004, over a month after the end of UEFA Euro 2004, and ended on 16 November 2005. Kazakhstan, which transitioned from the Asian Football Confederation to UEFA after the end of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, debuted in the European qualifiers.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates18 August 2004 – 16 November 2005
Teams51 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played282
Goals scored778 (2.76 per match)
Attendance5,739,074 (20,351 per match)
Top scorer(s)Portugal Pauleta
(11 goals)
2002
2010

The teams in each group would play against each other in a home and away basis. The team with the most points in each group qualified to the World Cup. The runners up are ranked. For fairness rules, results against the seventh placed team were ignored, in groups of seven teams. The two best ranked runners-up also qualified to the World Cup. The other six runners-up were drawn into three two-legged knock out matches, the playoff winners also qualifying.

The race to join hosts Germany at the 2006 FIFA World Cup featured an unlikely winner in Europe, where Ukraine became the first team to qualify, having finished above Turkey, Denmark and Greece in arguably the continent's toughest qualifying group.

France had its first successful World Cup qualifying campaign in twenty years as they had missed the 1990 and 1994 tournaments, then qualified automatically as hosts in 1998 and as defending champions in 2002.

Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia also advanced to Germany at the head of their sections, the former forcing Spain into the playoffs in the process. Besides the eight group winners, two teams progressed automatically as best runners up, namely Poland and Sweden while the playoffs offered a second chance to six others.

Qualification seeding (UEFA) edit

The draw was made on 5 December 2003 in Frankfurt, Germany. Germany qualified automatically as hosts. The other seedings were determined by points per game in the qualifiers for 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying.[1] France qualified automatically for the 2002 FIFA World Cup as title holders, so only their record in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying was used. Portugal qualified automatically for UEFA Euro 2004 as hosts, so only their record in World Cup 2002 was used. Kazakhstan were not ranked by this system as they did not participate in either competition.[citation needed]

For domestic clubs involved in international club competitions reasons, England, France, Italy and Spain were drawn into groups of 6 teams.

Pot A
Team Coeff Rank
  France 3,00 1
  Portugal 2,40 2
  Sweden 2,39 3
  Czech Republic 2,31 4
  Spain 2,31 5
  Italy 2,31 6
  England 2,31 7
  Turkey 2,22 8
Pot B
Team Coeff Rank
  Netherlands 2,17 9
  Croatia 2,12 10
  Belgium 2,06 11
  Denmark 2,05 12
  Russia 2,05 13
  Republic of Ireland 1,94 14
  Slovenia 1,89 15
  Poland 1,89 16
Pot C
Team Coeff Rank
  Bulgaria 1,89 17
  Romania 1,87 18
  Scotland 1,81 19
  Serbia and Montenegro 1,72 20
   Switzerland 1,61 21
  Greece 1,56 22
  Slovakia 1,50 23
  Austria 1,50 24
Pot D
Team Coeff Rank
  Ukraine 1,50 25
  Iceland 1,44 26
  Finland 1,37 27
  Norway 1,33 28
  Israel 1,31 29
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,31 30
  Latvia 1,25 31
  Wales 1,22 32
Pot E
Team Coeff Rank
  Hungary 1,19 33
  Georgia 1,06 34
  Belarus 1,00 35
  Cyprus 0,89 36
  Estonia 0,89 37
  Northern Ireland 0,78 38
  Lithuania 0,75 39
  Macedonia 0,75 40
Pot F
Team Coeff Rank
  Albania 0,69 41
  Armenia 0,67 42
  Moldova 0,67 43
  Azerbaijan 0,50 44
  Faroe Islands 0,44 45
  Malta 0,11 46
  San Marino 0,06 47
  Liechtenstein 0,06 48
Pot G
Team Coeff Rank
  Andorra 0,00 49
  Luxembourg 0,00 50
  Kazakhstan 0,00 51

First round edit

Summary edit

  Winner of each group and two best runners-up qualified directly for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
  Other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8
 
Netherlands
 
Ukraine
 
Portugal
 
France
 
Italy
 
England
 
Serbia and Montenegro
 
Croatia
 
Czech Republic
 
Turkey
 
Slovakia
 
Switzerland
 
Norway
 
Poland
 
Spain
 
Sweden
 
Romania
 
Finland
 
Macedonia
 
Armenia
 
Andorra
 
Denmark
 
Greece
 
Albania
 
Georgia
 
Kazakhstan
 
Russia
 
Estonia
 
Latvia
 
Liechtenstein
 
Luxembourg
 
Israel
 
Republic of Ireland
 
Cyprus
 
Faroe Islands
 
Scotland
 
Slovenia
 
Belarus
 
Moldova
 
Austria
 
Northern Ireland
 
Wales
 
Azerbaijan
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
Belgium
 
Lithuania
 
San Marino
 
Bulgaria
 
Hungary
 
Iceland
 
Malta

Groups edit

The first round is group play. A win is awarded 3 point, a draw 1 point and a loss 0. The winner of a group is the team with the most points.

Group 1 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification              
1   Netherlands 12 10 2 0 27 3 +24 32 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 2–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–0 4–0
2   Czech Republic 12 9 0 3 35 12 +23 27 Advance to second round 0–2 1–0 4–3 6–1 4–1 8–1
3   Romania 12 8 1 3 20 10 +10 25 0–2 2–0 2–1 2–1 3–0 2–0
4   Finland 12 5 1 6 21 19 +2 16 0–4 0–3 0–1 5–1 3–1 3–0
5   Macedonia 12 2 3 7 11 24 −13 9 2–2 0–2 1–2 0–3 3–0 0–0
6   Armenia 12 2 1 9 9 25 −16 7 0–1 0–3 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–1
7   Andorra 12 1 2 9 4 34 −30 5 0–3 0–4 1–5 0–0 1–0 0–3
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 2 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification              
1   Ukraine 12 7 4 1 18 7 +11 25 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–0
2   Turkey 12 6 5 1 23 9 +14 23 Advance to second round 0–3 2–2 0–0 2–0 1–1 4–0
3   Denmark 12 6 4 2 24 12 +12 22 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 6–1 3–0
4   Greece 12 6 3 3 15 9 +6 21 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 3–1
5   Albania 12 4 1 7 11 20 −9 13 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–1 3–2 2–1
6   Georgia 12 2 4 6 14 25 −11 10 1–1 2–5 2–2 1–3 2–0 0–0
7   Kazakhstan 12 0 1 11 6 29 −23 1 1–2 0–6 1–2 1–2 0–1 1–2
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 3 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification              
1   Portugal 12 9 3 0 35 5 +30 30 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 2–0 7–1 4–0 3–0 2–1 6–0
2   Slovakia 12 6 5 1 24 8 +16 23 Advance to second round 1–1 0–0 1–0 4–1 7–0 3–1
3   Russia 12 6 5 1 23 12 +11 23 0–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 2–0 5–1
4   Estonia 12 5 2 5 16 17 −1 17 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 4–0
5   Latvia 12 4 3 5 18 21 −3 15 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 4–0
6   Liechtenstein 12 2 2 8 13 23 −10 8 2–2 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–3 3–0
7   Luxembourg 12 0 0 12 5 48 −43 0 0–5 0–4 0–4 0–2 3–4 0–4
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 4 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   France 10 5 5 0 14 2 +12 20 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 0–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 3–0
2    Switzerland 10 4 6 0 18 7 +11 18 Advance to second round 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 6–0
3   Israel 10 4 6 0 15 10 +5 18 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 2–1
4   Republic of Ireland 10 4 5 1 12 5 +7 17 0–1 0–0 2–2 3–0 2–0
5   Cyprus 10 1 1 8 8 20 −12 4 0–2 1–3 1–2 0–1 2–2
6   Faroe Islands 10 0 1 9 4 27 −23 1 0–2 1–3 0–2 0–2 0–3
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 5 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Italy 10 7 2 1 17 8 +9 23 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 2–1 2–0 1–0 4–3 2–1
2   Norway 10 5 3 2 12 7 +5 18 Advance to second round 0–0 1–2 3–0 1–1 1–0
3   Scotland 10 3 4 3 9 7 +2 13 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–0
4   Slovenia 10 3 3 4 10 13 −3 12 1–0 2–3 0–3 1–1 3–0
5   Belarus 10 2 4 4 12 14 −2 10 1–4 0–1 0–0 1–1 4–0
6   Moldova 10 1 2 7 5 16 −11 5 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 2–0
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 6 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   England 10 8 1 1 17 5 +12 25 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 2–1 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–0
2   Poland 10 8 0 2 27 9 +18 24 1–2 3–2 1–0 1–0 8–0
3   Austria 10 4 3 3 15 12 +3 15 2–2 1–3 2–0 1–0 2–0
4   Northern Ireland 10 2 3 5 10 18 −8 9 1–0 0–3 3–3 2–3 2–0
5   Wales 10 2 2 6 10 15 −5 8 0–1 2–3 0–2 2–2 2–0
6   Azerbaijan 10 0 3 7 1 21 −20 3 0–1 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–1
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 7 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Serbia and Montenegro 10 6 4 0 16 1 +15 22 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 5–0
2   Spain 10 5 5 0 19 3 +16 20 Advance to second round 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 5–0
3   Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 4 4 2 12 9 +3 16 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–0
4   Belgium 10 3 3 4 16 11 +5 12 0–2 0–2 4–1 1–1 8–0
5   Lithuania 10 2 4 4 8 9 −1 10 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1 4–0
6   San Marino 10 0 0 10 2 40 −38 0 0–3 0–6 1–3 1–2 0–1
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 8 edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Croatia 10 7 3 0 21 5 +16 24 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup 1–0 2–2 3–0 4–0 3–0
2   Sweden 10 8 0 2 30 4 +26 24 0–1 3–0 3–0 3–1 6–0
3   Bulgaria 10 4 3 3 17 17 0 15 1–3 0–3 2–0 3–2 4–1
4   Hungary 10 4 2 4 13 14 −1 14 0–0 0–1 1–1 3–2 4–0
5   Iceland 10 1 1 8 14 27 −13 4 1–3 1–4 1–3 2–3 4–1
6   Malta 10 0 3 7 4 32 −28 3 1–1 0–7 1–1 0–2 0–0
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Play-offs edit

Ranking of runners-up edit

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 8   Sweden 10 8 0 2 30 4 +26 24 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup
2 6   Poland 10 8 0 2 27 9 +18 24
3 1   Czech Republic 10 7 0 3 23 11 +12 21 Advance to second round (play-offs)
4 7   Spain 10 5 5 0 19 3 +16 20
5 4    Switzerland 10 4 6 0 18 7 +11 18
6 5   Norway 10 5 3 2 12 7 +5 18
7 3   Slovakia 10 4 5 1 17 7 +10 17
8 2   Turkey 10 4 5 1 13 9 +4 17
Source: [2]

Matches edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Spain   6–2   Slovakia 5–1 1–1
Switzerland   4–4 (a)   Turkey 2–0 2–4
Norway   0–2   Czech Republic 0–1 0–1

Qualified teams edit

The following 14 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
  Germany Hosts 6 July 2000 15 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 1998, 2002)
  Netherlands Group 1 winners 8 October 2005 7 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998)
  Ukraine Group 2 winners 3 September 2005 0 (debut)
  Portugal Group 3 winners 8 October 2005 3 (1966, 1986, 2002)
  France Group 4 winners 12 October 2005 11 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002)
  Italy Group 5 winners 8 October 2005 15 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
  England Group 6 winners 8 October 2005 11 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002)
  Serbia and Montenegro Group 7 winners 12 October 2005 9 (19303, 19503, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19743, 19823, 19903, 19983)
  Croatia Group 8 winners 8 October 2005 2 (1998, 2002)
  Poland Top 2 runners-up 8 October 2005 6 (1938, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 2002)
  Sweden Top 2 runners-up 8 October 2005 10 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2002)
  Spain Play-off winners 16 November 2005 11 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
   Switzerland Play-off winners 16 November 2005 7 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994)
  Czech Republic Play-off winners 16 November 2005 8 (19344, 19384, 19544, 19584, 19624, 19704, 19824, 19904)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
2 Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974.
3 From 1930 to 1998, Serbia and Montenegro competed as Yugoslavia.
4 From 1934 to 1990, Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.

Top goalscorers edit

There were 778 goals scored in 282 matches, for an average of 2.76 goals per match.

11 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-off round:

References edit

  1. ^ "European Zone Draw for the Preliminary Competition" (PDF). fifaworldcup.yahoo.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2006, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 15 April 2024.

External links edit