Qualification

The most surprising absences from the finals were those of 1974 and 1978 runners-up Netherlands (eliminated by Belgium and France), North America's power Mexico (eliminated by El Salvador), and to a lesser extent 1974 and 1978 participant Sweden (eliminated by Scotland and Northern Ireland). England, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and the Soviet Union were back in the Finals after a 12-year absence. Yugoslavia were also back after missing the 1978 tournament. Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, and New Zealand all participated in the World Cup for the first time.

1982 FIFA World Cup

The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title (after 1934 and 1938), Italy drew level with Brazil as the most successful nations at the World Cup. This tournament was marked by a series of great matches and is widely regarded as the second-best ever after the 1970 edition. This was also the first World Cup to feature 24 teams, an expansion from at most 16 in the previous tournaments.

Semi-finals, the third-place match, and the final

The first semi-final featured the host nation, Italy, and the world champion, Argentina. 'Toto' Schillaci scored yet again to put Italy ahead in the 17th minute, but Claudio Caniggia equalised midway through the second half. There were no more goals in the 90 minutes or in extra time, but there was a sending-off: Ricardo Giusti of Argentina was shown the red card in the 13th minute of extra time. Argentina went through on penalties, winning the shoot-out 4-3 . The semi-final between West Germany and England was goalless at half-time. Then, in the 60th minute, a shot from Andreas Brehme was deflected by Paul Parker, resulting in a goal. But then, with 10 minutes left, Gary Lineker equalised for England. The game ended 1-1, and West Germany won the penalty shoot-out 4-3. Italy and England played an uninspiring game for third place, with Roberto Baggio and Schillaci scoring to give the hosts a 2-1 win and the bronze medal.
The final between West Germany and Argentina, described by veteran football writer Brian Glanville as "probably the worst, most tedious, bad-tempered Final in the history of the World Cup",[1] produced several football firsts. In the 65th minute, Argentina's Pedro Monzon was sent off for a foul on Klinsmann, becoming the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup final. It has been said that Klinsmann exaggerated his reaction to the foul, causing the referee to perhaps have been more severe with the punishment. Team-mate Gustavo Dezotti received the second red card of the game with four minutes left after he hauled Jürgen Kohler to the ground during a stoppage in play. Shortly before Dezotti's departure, referee Edgardo Codesal Mendez of Mexico awarded a penalty to West Germany, from which Andreas Brehme scored the only goal of the game. The 1-0 scoreline provided another first: Argentina were the first team ever to take part in a World Cup final without scoring. With its third title (and three second place finishes) West Germany became the most successful World Cup nation for four years, until Brazil won their fourth title in 1994. West German team manager Franz Beckenbauer became the second footballer, after Mário Zagallo of Brazil, to win the World Cup as a player (in 1974) and as team manager. In doing so, Beckenbauer also became the first captain of a winning team to later manage a winning squad. Italy's Salvatore Schillaci won both the Golden Boot as the tournament's top goalscorer, with six goals, and the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups ever.[2] It generated a record low goals-per-game average and then-record of 16 red cards were handed out. Most teams relied heavily on defensive play and hard tackling, as well as aggressive intimidation of the referee. In the knockout stage, many teams would "play it safe" for 120 minutes and try their luck in the penalty shoot-out, rather than risk going forward. Ireland and Argentina were prime examples of this trend of cagey, defensive play; the Irish made it to the quarter-finals after scoring just twice in five games and drawing all their matches until their defeat to Italy. Argentina, meanwhile, scored only five times en route to the final. Cameroon were one of the few teams to choose and attacking style. Eventual champions West Germany also concentrated on offense-oriented play, but they too became more defensive as the tournament progressed.

Second round and quarter-finals

The second round featured some intriguing fixtures. Two of the ties - Argentina vs Brazil and Italy vs Uruguay - pitted former champion countries against each other, and West Germany met the Netherlands in a rematch of the 1974 World Cup final. The all-South American game turned out to be a tight, edgy affair, won for Argentina by a goal from Claudio Caniggia with ten minutes remaining from a magical run of Diego Maradona through the Brazilian defense and an outstanding performance from their goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea. A strong second half showing from Italy saw them beat Uruguay 2-0, thanks to another goal from Schillaci and one from Aldo Serena. The West Germany-Netherlands clash produced a repeat of the Euro 88 semifinal. The match turned ugly after 22 minutes when Rudi Völler and Frank Rijkaard, in an infamous moment, were dismissed after a bizarre spitting incident. Early in the second half, Jürgen Klinsmann put the West Germans ahead and Andreas Brehme added a second with eight minutes left. A Ronald Koeman penalty for Holland in the 89th minute narrowed the score to 2-1 but that was close as the Dutch would come and West Germany went through. Meanwhile, the heroics of Cameroon and Roger Milla continued. In Cameroon's game with Colombia, Milla was introduced in the 49th minute with the score still at 0-0. The scoreline stayed that way after 90 minutes, and after the first period of extra time. But then, as those around him tired, the veteran shone. Milla scored twice in four minutes in the second period of extra time. Bernardo Redin reduced the deficit for Colombia with five minutes left, but the 'Indomitable Lions' held out to win 2-1. For the first time ever, an African team was in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
The other first-round giant-killers fared less well. Costa Rica were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Czechoslovakia, for whom Tomas Skuhravy scored a hat-trick. Yugoslavia beat Spain 2-1 after extra time, with Dragan Stojkovic scoring both the Yugoslavs' goals. The Republic of Ireland's match with Romania remained goalless after extra time, and the Irish side won through 5-4 on penalties. David O'Leary converted the penalty that clinched Ireland's place in the quarter-finals. The Republic of Ireland thus achieved the remarkable feat of reaching the last eight in a World Cup finals tournament without actually winning a match outright. England were the final qualifier after an uneventful game against Belgium, midfielder David Platt scoring the only goal in the final minute of extra-time. Despite Cameroon's heroics earlier in the tournament, David Platt put England ahead in the 25th minute of their quarter-final fixture. At half-time, Milla was brought on, and the game was turned on its head in the space of five second half minutes. First, Cameroon were awarded a penalty, from which Emmanuel Kunde scored the equaliser. Then, in the 65th minute, Eugene Ekeke put Cameroon ahead. The African team came within eight minutes of reaching the semi-finals, but conceded a penalty, which Gary Lineker gratefully converted. Midway through extra time, England were awarded another penalty, and Lineker again scored from the spot. England were through to the semi-finals. The Republic of Ireland's World Cup run was brought to an end by a single goal from Schillaci in the first half of their quarter-final with Italy. Another dull match saw West Germany beat Czechoslovakia with a 25th minute Lothar Matthäus penalty. Argentina and Yugoslavia played out a stalemate that stayed at 0-0 after extra time, despite the fact that Yugoslavia were reduced to ten men after half an hour when Refik Sabanadzovic, assigned with the task of marking Maradona, was sent off. Argentina reached the semi-finals after winning the penalty shoot-out 3-2. Tomislav Ivković achieved national fame by saving Maradona's kick and restoring parity to the penalty scoreline. Pedro Troglio then hit the post, and the World champions looked to be on their way out of the tournament until Sergio Goycochea rescued his side by stopping the Yugoslavs' final two penalty kicks.

First round

format of the 1990 competition remained the same as in 1986: 24 qualified teams were divided into six groups of four. The top two teams and four best third place finishers from the six groups advanced to the knockout stage. The 1990 World Cup finals got off to a surprising start. In the first match, Cameroon soaked up pressure from Argentina for most of the first half. After a quarter of an hour's play in the second half, Cameroon's Andre Kana was sent off, and it seemed certain that the world champions would now take control. But six minutes later, the ten men took the lead. François Omam Biyik scored when he placed a perfect downward header past Argentine goalkeeper Nery Pumpido. Argentina pressed hard for an equaliser, and Cameroon were reduced to nine men when Benjamin Massing got the red card in the 89th minute - but the African team still held out for a shock 1-0 win. Then, when Cameroon faced Romania in their second game, Roger Milla took centre stage. His inclusion in Cameroon's squad had been controversial. He had been a favourite in the Cameroon team for years, but he was now 38 years old. He was only in Italy because of political intervention: Paul Biya, Cameroon's President, had insisted that Milla be included in the squad. Against Argentina, Milla only appeared for the last ten minutes. But in the match with Romania, Cameroon coach Valeri Nepomniachi sent him on in the 58th minute, with the score still 0-0. It proved to be an inspired move. Milla scored with 15 minutes left, then added another with five minutes remaining, thus getting two opportunities to demonstrate his trademark hip-shaking goal celebration dance. Gavrila Balint scored for Romania, but it was too little too late. Cameroon held on to win 2-1. Surprisingly, they were beaten 4-0 in their last group game by a Soviet Union side desperately, and unsuccessfully, striving to stay in the tournament on goal difference. Despite the heavy defeat, Cameroon were through to the second round as group winners. Romania came second in Group B, and Argentina just scraped into the second round as one of the best third-placed teams. Another surprise team emerged from Group C. Costa Rica beat Scotland 1-0 in their first match, held Brazil to another 1-0 scoreline in their second, then saw off Sweden 2-1 to claim a place in the second round. Brazil bore little resemblance to the free-flowing, free scoring Brazilian sides of earlier years, but they still took maximum points from the group. They began with a 2-1 win over Sweden, then beat both Costa Rica and Scotland 1-0. Scotland's 2-1 win over Sweden was not enough to save them from an early return home as one of the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams. In the six Group F games, featuring the Netherlands, England, the Republic of Ireland and Egypt, no team managed to score more than once in a match. England beat Egypt 1-0, thanks to a 64th minute goal from Mark Wright - and that was enough to win the group. There were more goals in Group D, but a lot of them were due to the defensive inadequacies of a United Arab Emirates team that lost 2-0 to Colombia, 5-1 to West Germany and 4-1 to Yugoslavia. All three of the UAE's first round opponents reached the last 16, with West Germany topping the group after an impressive 4-1 win over group runners-up Yugoslavia.Italy won Group A with a 100 per cent record achieved via cautious football. They beat Austria and the United States 1-0, and Czechoslovakia 2-0. Salvatore 'Toto' Schillaci, who had played only one international before the World Cup finals, came on as substitute in the 74th minute against Austria and scored Italy's winner four minutes later. Czechoslovakia defeated the USA 5-1 and claimed the runner-up spot in the group, while the USA's first appearance in a World Cup Finals since 1950 ended abruptly after three consecutive defeats. The winners of Group E were Spain, for who Michel hit a hat-trick as they beat South Korea 3-1. Belgium and Uruguay also reached the last 16 from the same group.

Disqualifications

Mexico was disqualified after the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación fielded an overage player in a prior youth tournament. Chile was disqualified after their goalkeeper Roberto Rojas faked an injury due to a firework thrown from the stands in a match against Brazil, causing the match to be abandoned. Chile was also banned from qualifying in 1994.

1990 FIFA World Cup

The 1990 FIFA World Cup, the 14th staging of the World Cup, was held in Italy from June 8 to July 8. Italy was chosen as hosts by FIFA on May 19, 1984, making it the second country to host the event twice. USSR was the rival of Italy's candidacy to host the event. It was won by West Germany, who beat Argentina 1-0 in the final to win the World Cup for the third time.

Qualification
Three teams qualified for the first time: Costa Rica, the Republic of Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. The United States also made it back to the World Cup after a 40-year absence. The draw for the finals took place on 9 December 1989 in Rome. Tenor Luciano Pavarotti performed at the event.

Summary

The format of the competition was different from 1994, as the finals were expanded from 24 to 32 teams. The 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four. The eight group winners and the eight group runners-up would qualify for the knockout stage. The golden goal rule was also introduced to decide knockout matches which went into extra time. Another change in the rules came into effect at this World Cup, stating that as regulation time was about to expire in any period of play the fourth official would use a handheld electronic display to show how many minutes of stoppage time were to be played. This practice has continued since then, after being well received by media and spectators alike. The tournament opened with 1994 FIFA World Cup champions Brazil's 2-1 victory over Scotland. Norway pulled the shock of Group A, topping the holders 2-1 after two late goals. Still, both teams advanced to the next round. Italy easily won Group B, with Chile's three draws enough for them to get through. The Italy-Chile clash which ended 2-2 saw Italy's Roberto Baggio cast aside the spectre of his miss in the penalty shootout in the final 4 years earlier: this time around his highly controversial spot-kick earned Italy a draw.
France swept Group C, with the lone blemish being the red card expulsion and two-game suspension of Zinedine Zidane in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia. Denmark also moved on from the group. Nigeria was the surprise winner of Group D, dubbed the Group of Death, as Spain once again failed to live up to high pre-cup expecations. Nigeria beat them 3-2 in a thrilling game and moved on to the next round together with Paraguay. Netherlands and Mexico moved on from Group E, a group that saw four games end in draws. Mexico came from behind in two of those four games that ended in a draw after being down two goals in both games. Germany and Yugoslavia made easy work of Group F. A late goal for Romania saw them beat England 2-1 and take the top spot in Group G; the English finished second. Argentina swept Group H, joined by Croatia in the second round. In the second round, Italy beat Norway 1-0 and Brazil made easy work of Chile, 4-1. Laurent Blanc of France scored the first Golden Goal in World Cup history as the hosts beat Paraguay 1-0. Denmark surprised Nigeria, crushing them 4-1. Germany beat Mexico and Netherlands topped Yugoslavia by identical 2-1 scores. Croatia upset Romania 1-0. Argentina beat England on penalties after drawing 2-2 in a game that saw a stunning goal from 18-year-old Michael Owen. The game was marred by England's David Beckham being sent off after kicking Diego Simeone. France beat Italy in the quarter-finals on penalties after a scoreless draw. Brazil topped Denmark 3-2 in an exciting game. Croatia pulled perhaps the biggest shocker of the tournament, crushing Germany 3-0. The Netherlands-Argentina match was marred by violence; the Netherlands was reduced to 10 men early on after a tackle by Artur Numan injured Diego Simeone and Simeone had to be carried off the field for treatment. Late in the match, Argentina star Ariel Ortega received a red card for head-butting Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar after van der Sar confronted Ortega on the latter's play-acting attempt to draw a penalty. Shortly after Ortega's sending off, Dennis Bergkamp of the Netherlands scored a memorable goal from a 60-yard pass to eliminate Argentina, 2-1. In the semi-finals, Patrick Kluivert equalized late for the Netherlands to make it 1-1, but the Brazilians won on penalties. They were joined by France, as defender Lilian Thuram scored two goals from nowhere to offset Golden Boot winner Davor Šuker's opener for Croatia. The Croats beat the Dutch for third place.
For the first time ever, the final featured the host nation and the defending champions. Zinedine Zidane scored two headers from corners in the 26th minute and in first half stoppage time respectively, and Emmanuel Petit added a late goal in second half stoppage time to give France a 3-0 win over Brazil. Brazil's star player Ronaldo played poorly, having a mysterious fit the night before and many questioned his reinstatement in the starting lineup. An estimated one million people took to the Paris streets to celebrate through the night. France became the seventh world champions, joining Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England and Argentina.

Ticket sales problem

The original domestic ticket allocation had fully sold out and the organising committee completed sales of ticket returned from the international allocation by the end of April. However, it was obvious at the opening two matches in Japan that there was a significant number of empty seats, and it gradually revealed that the WCTB, World Cup Ticketing Bureau, still had unsold tickets in its possession. After FIFA agreed to sell this inventory, JAWOC undertook sales over telephone and WCTB handled the internet sales. For the second round Japan vs. Turkey match in Miyagi in particular, although it was reported by both parties that all tickets had been sold, some 700 seats remained empty.

1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th staging of the World Cup, was held in France from June 10 to July 12 after 60 years to celebrate the third edition scheduled in 1938. France was chosen as hosts by FIFA on July 1, 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final. France won their first title, the 7th nation to win a World Cup, and the first host nation to win the tournament since Argentina did it in 1978.

Semi-finals, third-place match, and final

The semi-finals saw two 1-0 games; first, Ballack's goal was enough for Germany to top South Korea. However, Ballack received a yellow card during the match, which forced him to miss the final based on accumulated yellow cards. Ronaldo scored his sixth of the competition for Brazil, who beat Turkey 1-0 in a replay of their Group C encounter. In the third-place match, Turkey beat the South Koreans 3-2 in a very spirited match for third place, their first goal coming from Hakan Şükür straight from the opening kickoff (even though South Korea kicked off) in 10.8 seconds, the fastest ever goal in World Cup history. In the final match held in Yokohama, Japan, two goals from Ronaldo secured the World Cup for Brazil as they claimed victory over Germany. Ronaldo scored twice in the second half and, after the game, won the Golden Boot award for the tournament's leading scorer with eight goals. This was the fifth time Brazil had won the World Cup, cementing their status as the most successful national team in the history of the competition. Brazil's captain Cafu, who became the first player to appear in three successive World Cup finals, accepted the trophy on behalf of the team.

Second round and quarter-finals

In the second round, Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 on a late goal by Oliver Neuville in a tense, defense-dominated encounter while England thrashed previously-impressive Denmark 3-0. In the Spain-Ireland match, the two teams drew 1-1 and penalties gave Spain a place in the quarterfinals. Sweden and Senegal had a 1-1 match and it took a Golden goal from Henri Camara in extra time to settle the game. The United States won over Mexico 2-0 behind the goals of Brian McBride and Landon Donovan. Brazil defeated a surprising Belgium 2-0, while Turkey ended co-hosts Japan's run with a 1-0 win. The other co-hosts, South Korea, beat Italy on a golden goal, 2-1. South Korea's win ensured that, for the very first time in the Cup's history, teams from each of Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia reached the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Ronaldinho's free kick sailed over the stunned David Seaman as Brazil beat England 2-1. The United States lost to Germany 1-0 by a Michael Ballack goal. They demanded the referee give a penalty for a goal-line hand ball by Torsten Frings, but to no avail. South Korea got another win, beating Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw, becoming the first Asian team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, eclipsing the record of their North Korean counterparts when they reached the quarter-finals in 1966. There was much controversy over South Korea's second round and quarter-final victories being the results of match fixing scandals. However complaints were dismissed and the victories stood. Turkey continued their remarkable run, stopping Senegal's own with a 1-0 golden goal victory.

First round

The World Cup started with a shock 1-0 defeat of defending champions France, playing without the injured Zinedine Zidane, by tournament newcomers Senegal in the tournament's opening match held in Seoul, Korea. In their second Group A game, France were held to a goalless draw by Uruguay after star striker Thierry Henry was sent off. A 2-0 defeat by Denmark in their last group game sealed France's fate. The world champions went out of the Cup without even managing to score a goal and earned the unwanted record of the worst World Cup performance by a defending champion. An impressive Denmark won the group, joined by Senegal to move on to the next round. Senegal drew with Denmark and Uruguay to clinch its place in the second round. Despite coming back from 0-3 to tie Senegal in their last group game, the South Americans couldn't find the fourth goal that might have kept them in the Cup and thus were out of the tournament. Spain became one of only two teams to pick up maximum points in the Group B, seeing off both Paraguay and Slovenia 3-1 before beating South Africa 3-2. Paraguay needed a late goal against another newcomer, Slovenia, to tie South Africa on goal difference (they were already tied on points) and move to the second round on the next tiebreaker, goals scored.
The other team to win all their group games was Brazil in Group C. Turkey advanced to the next round, too, beating Costa Rica on goal difference. China, coached by Bora Milutinović (the fifth national team he coached in five consecutive World Cups), failed to get a point or even score a goal. Group D saw several surprises as the United States beat Portugal, who many had tipped to win the tournament, 3-2. Then, goalkeeping by Brad Friedel earned the Americans a 1-1 draw with South Korea. South Korea, already assured of advancing after topping Poland 2-0, beat Portugal to send the Europeans home and also give the United States a ticket into the second round, despite losing to Poland in the 3rd match. Germany thrashed Saudi Arabia 8-0 in Group E thanks to three goals from Miroslav Klose. Ireland were playing without ex-captain Roy Keane, sent home days before the World Cup, but led by his unrelated namesake Robbie claimed second place at the expense of African champions Cameroon. Other than France's failures, the biggest shock of the tournament came in the Group of Death, Group F as pre-tournament favorites Argentina failed to move out of the group. A loss to England 1-0 on a David Beckham penalty and a subsequent draw with Sweden kept the South Americans from advancing. The Scandinavians won the group, with England also going through. Nigeria finished last. In Group G, Italy, Croatia, and Ecuador all beat each other once. But the Italians' draw against group winners Mexico, while the other two lost to the North Americans, gave the three-time World Cup champions second place in the group. Ecuador could still enjoy a victory on their first World Cup, beating Croatia 1-0. Co-hosts Japan breezed through Group H, joined by Belgium. Russia and Tunisia were two of the disappointments of the tournament, in what was considered the weakest group of the tournament.

2002 FIFA World Cup

The 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 17th staging of the World Cup, was held in South Korea and Japan from May 31 to June 30. The two countries were chosen as hosts by FIFA in May 1996 and was the first tournament in it's history to be hosted by two countries. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0 in the final.

Qualification

process began with the preliminary draw in 1999. Defending World Champions France and co-hosts Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Japan automatically qualified and did not have to play any qualification matches. (This was the last time that the defending champions automatically qualified).
Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), five by CAF teams (Africa), four by CONMEBOL teams (South America), four by AFC teams (Asia), and three by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and UEFA and between CONMEBOL and OFC (Oceania). Four nations qualified for the finals for the first time: China, Ecuador, Senegal, and Slovenia.All seven previous World Cup-winning nations (Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay) qualified, the first time so many previous champions had been present at a finals tournament.

Venues

Germany in 2006 had a plethora of football stadia which satisfied FIFA's minimum capacity of 40,000 for World Cup matches. The still-standing Olympiastadion in Munich (69,250) was not used even though FIFA's regulations allow one city to use two stadia; Düsseldorf's LTU Arena (51,500), Bremen's Weserstadion (43,000) and Mönchengladbach's Borussia-Park (46,249) were also unemployed during the tournament. Twelve stadia were selected to host the World Cup matches. During the tournament, many of the stadia were known by different names, as FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadia unless the stadium sponsors were also official FIFA sponsors.[10] For example, the Allianz Arena in Munich was known during the competition as FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich (or in German: FIFA WM-Stadion München), and even the letters of the company Allianz were removed or covered. These new names are reflected in the table in the brackets. Some of the stadia also had a lower capacity for the World Cup, as FIFA regulations ban standing room; nonetheless, this was accommodated as several stadiums had an UEFA 5-star ranking.

Qualification

198 teams attempted to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Germany, the host nation, was granted automatic qualification, with the remaining 31 finals places divided among the continental confederations. This was the first World Cup for which the title holders were not granted automatic qualification. Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), five by CAF teams (Africa), four by CONMEBOL teams (South America), four by AFC teams (Asia), and three by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC (Oceania). Eight nations qualified for the finals for the first time: Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Ghana, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine and Serbia & Montenegro. Czech Republic and Ukraine were making their first appearance as independent nations, but had previously been represented as part of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union respectively; Serbia & Montenegro had competed as Yugoslavia in 1998, as well as making up part of Yugoslav teams from 1930 to 1990. For the first time since the 1982 World Cup, all six confederations were represented at the finals tournament.

Host selection

The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich, Switzerland. It involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier: Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco. Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the least votes. The first two rounds were held on 6 July, and the final round was held on 7 July. Morocco was the first to be eliminated when it got only three votes out of a possible 24; England was eliminated in the second round with only two votes. Finally, Germany won the final round of voting 12–11 over South Africa, but the success of Germany's bid was marred by a hoax bribery affair which even led to calls for a re-vote. On the night before the vote, German satirical magazine Titanic sent letters to FIFA representatives, offering gifts in exchange for their vote for Germany. Oceania delegate Charles Dempsey, who had been instructed to support South Africa, abstained, citing "intolerable pressure" on the eve of the vote. Had Dempsey voted as originally instructed, the vote would have resulted with a 12–12 tie, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who favoured the South African bid, would have had to cast the deciding vote.

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which 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. The tournament was won by Italy, who claimed their fourth World Cup title. They defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish third. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament. The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the 1994, the 2002, and the 1990 FIFA World Cups. As the winner, Italy will represent the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Media coverage

The World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely-viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of the 2006 World Cup — including all of the matches — is estimated to be 26.29 billion. 715.1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers. Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. Mascots for the 2006 World Cup were Goleo, a lion, and Pille, a football