2006 FIFA World Cup

Lore & Background

Brazil were the defending world champions, but were eliminated by France in the quarter-finals. Angola, Ukraine, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Trinidad and Tobago and Togo made their first appearances in the competition. 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; Serbia recognised 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.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the stadium hummed with a low electric buzz, the kind that vibrates in your sternum before kickoff. In the tunnel, the smell of deep-heat rub and damp grass hung thick in the air. Rafael Márquez pressed his forehead against the cold concrete wall, eyes closed, counting breaths. Behind him, a young kid with a grin that didn't quite fit the gravity of the moment—seventeen, barely tall enough to see over the centre-backs—was lacing his boots with the casual confidence of someone who had already scored twice and couldn't understand why everyone around him was so tense. The Brazilian draw had settled over the camp like a warm blanket; the Croatian win had loosened the jaw. Now Argentina waited on the other side of the pitch, and the whole nation was holding its breath across the Atlantic. The kid finished his laces, looked up, and said something so light it made the veterans smile. Then the tunnel doors opened, and the roar swallowed everything else.

Reader's Guide

The source article does not provide a detailed match schedule or group stage results beyond the final and third-place match. It states that Group A consisted of Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, and Ecuador. The opening match was Germany vs Costa Rica 4–2. No matches involving Mexico are mentioned in the source article.

Did You Know?

• 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.
• For the first time since 1934, the defending champions did not automatically qualify for the tournament, meaning Brazil had to play in the qualifiers.
• Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time: Angola, Czech Republic, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, and Serbia and Montenegro.