Teams who ostensibly had nothing to play for were some of the best performers on WED 21 JUN 2006. more...

Several goals scored on FRI 16 JUN 2006 will make it into the highlight reel at the end of the tournament. more...

The Upset Fairy took the day off on SUN 11 JUN 2006. more...

The final draw for the 2006 Men's World Cup paired up several well known opponents, starting in Group B, where for the second straight World Cup, England will face Sweden in the first round. In Group G, qualifying rivals France and Switzerland, who battled in UEFA Group 4, meet again. Brazil, Australia, and Japan, who regularly meet at Confederations Cup tournaments, are together again in Group F. But the consensus Group of Death is likely to be Group C, made up of Argentina, Côte d’Ivoire, Serbia-Montenegro, and the Netherlands. The tournament's opening match will be Germany-Costa Rica, FRI 09 JUN 2006 in München. more...

The 2006 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee has settled on the pots to be used in the final draw. The top eight seeds were decided using a formula that includes performance at France 1998 and Korea/Japan 2002, as well as the FIFA World Rankings over the past three years. Hence, Brazil, England, Spain, Germany, Mexico, France, Argentina, and Italy have made the cut; the United States fell 1.4 points short. Germany are atop Group A, Brazil lead Group F, and the other seeded teams are in Pot 1. Pot 2 contains CAF, OFC, and the other CONMEBOL teams, Pot 3 features eight of the remaining UEFA teams, and Pot 4 includes AFC and the other CONCACAF teams. Finally, Serbia-Montenegro, as the lowest ranked UEFA side, are in a special pot and must be in either Argentina's, Brazil's, or Mexico's group.

Crowd trouble at their last Germany 2006 qualifiers has led to FIFA sanctions for Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia. Rival fans threw objects – including ripped out seats – at one another during Serbia-Mont's home match against Bosnia-Herz in UEFA Group 7 on WED 12 OCT 2005, leading to a closed door ban for Serbia-Mont's first qualifier for Euro 2008. That nation was also fined €23,000 [US$27,000], with Bosnia-Herz fined €26,000 [US$31,000]. Croatia's Group 8 match against Hungary on the same day was also marred by crowd disturbances, leading to another €26,000 fine.

There were three more places at Germany 2006 on offer in the UEFA group phase on WED 12 OCT 2005. more...

Six more slots on the Germany 2006 guest list were taken after the UEFA group phase matches on SAT 08 OCT 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 07 SEP 2005. more...

The first UEFA place at Germany 2006 was claimed in the UEFA group phase on SAT 03 SEP 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 08 JUN 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on SAT 04 JUN 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 30 MAR 2005. more...

A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on WED 17 NOV 2004. more...