Fifa World Cup
The Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament starts on 9 June 2006 in Munich, Germany. The first game will be between the host nation and Costa Rica.
The tournament will end with the 64th game – the final – on 9th July in Berlin.
The Fifa World Cup is truly a global tournament, with 14teams from Europe, 4 teams from North/Central America and the Caribbean, 4 teams from South America, 5 teams from Africa, 4 teams from Asia and 1 team from Oceania. All teams have had to qualify for the tournament, except the hosts Germany. This is the first time in the long history of the World Cup that the holders have also had to qualify.
The holders are, of course, Brazil, who have appeared in the last 3 Fifa World Cup Finals, winning 2 of them. They also are – by far – the strongest soccer nation in the World, having won 5 tournaments in all, 2 more than the nation with the second-best record, Germany. Brazil are the acknowledged masters of the game, playing the most beautiful soccer in the world. They enter this tournament as one of the favorites, although the law of averages suggest that they will struggle to win the competition for the 3rd time in the 4 attempts.
The full list of the 32 teams taking part in the Fifa Word Cup Soccer tournament is as follows:
Fifa World Cup Group A
Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Fifa World Cup Group B
England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Fifa World Cup Group C
Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland
Fifa World Cup Group D
Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Fifa World Cup Group E
Italy, Ghana, United States, Czech Republic
Fifa World Cup Group F
Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Fifa World Cup Group G
France, Switzerland, Korea Republic, Togo
Fifa World Cup Group H
Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
Stage 1 of the Fifa World Cup tournament takes place between 9th and 23rd June, during which each team plays the other group members once.
The top 2 teams then qualify for the knock-out stage 2, in which the Winners of Group A, play the Runners-up in Group B and vice-versa. Similarly;
Group C is paired with Group D,
Group E is paired with Group F and
Group G is paired with Group H.
These 8 matches take place (2 per day) between 24th and 27th June. The winners then go into the Quarter Finals, which pairs up the winners of the games involving;
Groups A – D in 2 games and
Groups E – H in 2 games.
The four Quarter Final games take place on 30th June and 1st July. The winners go through to the Semi-Finals which take place on 4th and 5th July.
The unfortunate losers of the Semi-Finals (probably the worst match to lose) then play in a third-place play-off (probably the worst game to play in!) on 8th July, whilst the winners go through to the big one - the final – on 9th July.
32 Teams, 64 games, 1 trophy – the greatest tournament in the world!
Fifa World Cup
The Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament starts on 9 June 2006 in Munich, Germany. The first game will be between the host nation and Costa Rica.
The tournament will end with the 64th game – the final – on 9th July in Berlin.
The Fifa World Cup is truly a global tournament, with 14teams from Europe, 4 teams from North/Central America and the Caribbean, 4 teams from South America, 5 teams from Africa, 4 teams from Asia and 1 team from Oceania. All teams have had to qualify for the tournament, except the hosts Germany. This is the first time in the long history of the World Cup that the holders have also had to qualify.
The holders are, of course, Brazil, who have appeared in the last 3 Fifa World Cup Finals, winning 2 of them. They also are – by far – the strongest soccer nation in the World, having won 5 tournaments in all, 2 more than the nation with the second-best record, Germany. Brazil are the acknowledged masters of the game, playing the most beautiful soccer in the world. They enter this tournament as one of the favorites, although the law of averages suggest that they will struggle to win the competition for the 3rd time in the 4 attempts.
The full list of the 32 teams taking part in the Fifa Word Cup Soccer tournament is as follows:
Fifa World Cup Group A
Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Fifa World Cup Group B
England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Fifa World Cup Group C
Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland
Fifa World Cup Group D
Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Fifa World Cup Group E
Italy, Ghana, United States, Czech Republic
Fifa World Cup Group F
Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Fifa World Cup Group G
France, Switzerland, Korea Republic, Togo
Fifa World Cup Group H
Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
Stage 1 of the Fifa World Cup tournament takes place between 9th and 23rd June, during which each team plays the other group members once.
The top 2 teams then qualify for the knock-out stage 2, in which the Winners of Group A, play the Runners-up in Group B and vice-versa. Similarly;
Group C is paired with Group D,
Group E is paired with Group F and
Group G is paired with Group H.
These 8 matches take place (2 per day) between 24th and 27th June. The winners then go into the Quarter Finals, which pairs up the winners of the games involving;
Groups A – D in 2 games and
Groups E – H in 2 games.
The four Quarter Final games take place on 30th June and 1st July. The winners go through to the Semi-Finals which take place on 4th and 5th July.
The unfortunate losers of the Semi-Finals (probably the worst match to lose) then play in a third-place play-off (probably the worst game to play in!) on 8th July, whilst the winners go through to the big one - the final – on 9th July.
32 Teams, 64 games, 1 trophy – the greatest tournament in the world!
Fifa World Cup
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