During 4 weeks of competition, 64 games will be played at 12 stadia in the following German cities:
München (Munich)
Gelsenkirchen
Dortmund
Frankfurt
Hamburg
Leipzig
Nürnberg (Nuremberg)
Berlin
Hannover
Köln (Cologne)
Kaiserslautern
Stuttgart
SATURDAY 24 JUNE
Game One:
Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B
1600, Munich
Game Two:
Winner Group C v Runner-up Group D
2000, Leipzig
SUNDAY 25 JUNE
Game Three:
Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A
1600, Stuttgart
Game Four:
Winner Group D v Runner-up Group C
2000, Nuremberg
MONDAY 26 JUNE
Game Five:
Winner Group E v Runner-up Group F
1600, Kaiserslautern
Game Six:
Winner Group G v Runner-up Group H
2000, Cologne
TUESDAY 27 JUNE
Game Seven:
Winner Group F v Runner-up Group E
1600, Dortmund
Game Eight:
Winner Group H v Runner-up Group G
2000, Hanover
FRIDAY 30 JUNE
Quarter-Final One:
Winner Game One v Winner Game Two
1600, Berlin
Quarter-Final Two:
Winner Game Five v Winner Game Six
2000, Hamburg
SATURDAY 1 JULY
Quarter-Final Three:
Winner Game Three v Winner Game Four
1600, Gelsenkirchen
Quarter-Final Four:
Winner Game Seven v Winner Game Eight
2000, Frankfurt
TUESDAY 4 JULY
Semi-Final One:
Winner Quarter-Final One v Winner Quarter-Final Two
2000, Dortmund
WEDNESDAY 5 JULY
Semi-Final Two:
Winner Quarter-Final Three v Winner Quarter-Final Four
2000, Munich
SATURDAY 8 JULY
Third/Fourth place play-off:
Loser Semi-Final One v Loser Semi-Final Two
2000, Stuttgart
SUNDAY 9 JULY
Final:
Winner Semi-Final One v Winner Semi-Final Two
1900, Berlin
The Groups
Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador
Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden
Group C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Holland
Group D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal
Group E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic
Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan
Group G
France
Switzerland
Korea
Toga
Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
Golden Ball Award
Past winners of the prestigious adidas Golden Ball award include famous faces such as Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn in 2002, Brazil’s Ronaldo in 1998, Italia 90 hitman Salvatore Schillaci and Argentina’s 1986 World Cup winner Diego Maradona.
Every FIFA World Cup finals produces one outstanding player destined to leave an indelible mark on the tournament in question. Beginning in 1982, FIFA and adidas have recognised the exceptional performers by awarding the adidas Golden Ball at the end of the event.
The Golden Ball is arguably the most coveted individual trophy in the world game. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, Germany's Oliver Kahn became the first goalkeeper to claim the prestigious award, accepting a newly-created version of the trophy inscribed with the names of all previous winners.
Alongside Kahn, the glittering prize has gone to Paolo Rossi (Italy), Diego Maradona (Argentina), Toto Schillaci (Italy), Romario (Brazil) and Ronaldo (Brazil). The names of all future winners will be added after each tournament.
The award procedure involves the FIFA technical committee nominating a shortlist of ten contenders following the semi-finals, before media representatives meet at the play-off for third place to elect the winner of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Balls.
The new design commissioned by adidas is based on the historic Chile ball created by the equipment manufacturer in 1960 and remains in adidas and FIFA's possession. The world governing body keeps the trophy on permanent display at FIFA House in Zurich.
Previous winners:
1982 Spain Paolo ROSSI (ITA)
1986 Mexico Diego MARADONA (ARG)
1990 Italy Salvatore SCHILLACI (ITA)
1994 USA ROMARIO (BRA)
1998 France RONALDO (BRA)
2002 Korea/Japan Oliver KAHN (GER)
Golden Shoe Award
The world adores goalscorers, the men who thrill the crowds in the stadium and the countless millions watching at home on TV with their prolific exploits at FIFA World Cup finals. The leading striker at every tournament is awarded the adidas Golden Shoe, an accolade won by some of the all-time greats over the long history of the event.
France star Just Fontaine and German ace Gerd Muller rate as the record-holders at FIFA World Cup final tournaments. Fontaine struck an incredible 13 goals at the 1958 FIFA World Cup Sweden, a record which stands to this day.
German legend ‘Der Bomber’ Muller stands out on his own with a total of 14 goals at two finals, ten at the 1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico and a further four at the tournament in Germany four years later.
Of the current generation, Brazil striker Ronaldo has Muller and Fontaine's records firmly in his sights. The Real Madrid front man topped the scoring charts at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan with eight goals. ‘O Fenômeno’ thus ended a 28-year stretch during which the leading scorer at the finals had netted no more than six goals. Ronaldo now has 12 finals goals to his name, catching up with the legendary Pele and closing in fast on Muller's record.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany is certain to produce another deadly superstar destined for global fame. Ronaldo netted ten times in qualifying, bettered only by Portugal's Pedro Pauleta (11 goals) and the top scorer in worldwide qualification, Jared Borgetti of Mexico with an impressive 14 strikes.
Natural-born strikers like these are a guarantee of goals galore this summer.
Previous World Cup Winners
Year --
Host -------------
Winners
2002 -- Japan/Korea ------
Brazil 2-0 Germany
1998 -- France -----------
France 3-0 Brazil
1994 -- USA -------------
Brazil 0-0 Italy (3-2 Pens)
1990 -- Italy -------------
West Germany 1-0 Argentina
1986 -- Mexico -----------
Argentina 3-2 West Germany
1982 -- Spain ------------
Italy 3-1 West Germany
1978 -- Argentina --------
Argentina 3-1 Netherlands
1974 -- West Germany ---
West Germany 2-1 Netherlands
1970 -- Mexico ----------
Brazil 4-1 Italy
1966 -- England ---------
England 4-2 West Germany
1962 -- Chile ------------
Brazil 3-1 Czechoslovakia
1958 -- Sweden ---------
Brazil 5-2 Sweden
1954 -- Switzerland -----
West Germany 3-2 Hungary
1950 -- Brazil -----------
Uruguay League Format
1938 -- France ---------
Italy 4-2 Hungary
1934 -- Italy -----------
Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia
1930 -- Uruguay --------
Uruguay 4-2 Argentina
A Brief History Of The World Cup
Even though FIFA was formed as early as 1904, it took them almost three decades to start a true international competition. The Olympic tournament had been the only tournament so far with world wide participation, but that was for amateurs only.
FIFA and the International Olympic Committee were at loggerheads over who should control the Olympic soccer tournament. FIFA announced they were the highest footballing authority and so should run a tournament claiming to be the biggest soccer event in the world. With many top nations withdrawing from the Olympics in 1928, among them Denmark and England, FIFA made a decision. They accepted the resolution of Henri Delaunay, secretary of the French FA since 1919 until his death in 1956, that a World Cup competition would be organized immediately.
FIFA duly announced its plan to run its own competition, open to all affiliated countries. They did not immediately give name to the competition, but the world's press were quick to give it their own title. "World Cup", "World Soccer Championship" and "La Coupe de Monde" were favourite descriptions. Another was the "Jules Rimet Cup". Eventually that was how the World Cup officially became known, thus honouring the man who had done so much for FIFA in drumming up support amongst member nations.
By May 1929, FIFA still had not finalized plans for the first championship, although they had announced it would take place in 1930. The host nation had not been selected and as talks dragged on, it was apparent that finance was to be the biggest problem in running such a tournament, particularly if it was to be a true world championship.
Rodolfe Seeldrayers, the FIFA vice-president, proposed that the country given the honour of staging the first tournament should make funds available for (in the following order of priority) transport and accommodation expenses for referees, FIFA members and the teams. This was clearly going to be an expensive proposition for any national FA to undertake, but there were some willing takers. Holland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay had all put their names forward, but Sweden and Holland soon withdrew and lent their support to Italy's claim. The South American nations stood by Uruguay, and the rest of the European candidates soon withdrew for various reasons.
So it was all left to Uruguay, the only remaining nominee. At last the dream was about to be realized, the date was set and the host country selected. Uruguay staged the first world cup.
World Cup 2006 Guide & Timetable
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