2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates18 August 2004 – 16 November 2005
Teams51 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played282
Goals scored778 (2.76 per match)
Top scorer(s)Portugal Pauleta (11 goals)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for UEFA teams. A total of 51 teams took part, divided in 8 groups – five groups of six teams each and three groups of seven teams each – competing for 13 places in the World Cup. Germany, the hosts, were already qualified, for a total of 14 European places in the tournament. The qualifying process started on 18 August 2004, over a month after the end of UEFA Euro 2004, and ended on 16 November 2005. Kazakhstan, which transitioned from the Asian Football Confederation to UEFA after the end of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, debuted in the European qualifiers.

The teams in each group would play against each other in a home and away basis. The team with the most points in each group qualified to the World Cup. The runners up are ranked. For fairness rules, results against the seventh placed team were ignored, in groups of seven teams. The two best ranked runners-up also qualified to the World Cup. The other six runners-up were drawn into three two-legged knock out matches, the playoff winners also qualifying.

The race to join hosts Germany at the 2006 FIFA World Cup featured an unlikely winner in Europe, where Ukraine became the first team to qualify, having finished above Turkey, Denmark and Greece in arguably the continent's toughest qualifying group.

France had its first successful World Cup qualifying campaign in twenty years as they had missed the 1990 and 1994 tournaments, then qualified automatically as hosts in 1998 and as defending champions in 2002.

Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia also advanced to Germany at the head of their sections, the former forcing Spain into the playoffs in the process. Besides the eight group winners, two teams progressed automatically as best runners up, namely Poland and Sweden while the playoffs offered a second chance to six others.

Qualification seeding (UEFA)

The draw was made on 5 December 2003 in Frankfurt, Germany. Germany qualified automatically as hosts. The other seedings were determined by points per game in the qualifiers for 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying.[1] France qualified automatically for the 2002 FIFA World Cup as title holders, so only their record in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying was used. Portugal qualified automatically for UEFA Euro 2004 as hosts, so only their record in World Cup 2002 was used. Kazakhstan were not ranked by this system as they did not participate in either competition.

For domestic clubs involved in international club competitions reasons, England, France, Italy and Spain were drawn into groups of 6 teams.

Pot A
TeamCoeffRank
 France3,001
 Portugal2,402
 Sweden2,393
 Czech Republic2,314
 Spain2,315
 Italy2,316
 England2,317
 Turkey2,228
Pot B
TeamCoeffRank
 Netherlands2,179
 Croatia2,1210
 Belgium2,0611
 Denmark2,0512
 Russia2,0513
 Republic of Ireland1,9414
 Slovenia1,8915
 Poland1,8916
Pot C
TeamCoeffRank
 Bulgaria1,8917
 Romania1,8718
 Scotland1,8119
 Serbia and Montenegro1,7220
  Switzerland1,6121
 Greece1,5622
 Slovakia1,5023
 Austria1,5024
Pot D
TeamCoeffRank
 Ukraine1,5025
 Iceland1,4426
 Finland1,3727
 Norway1,3328
 Israel1,3129
 Bosnia and Herzegovina1,3130
 Latvia1,2531
 Wales1,2232
Pot E
TeamCoeffRank
 Hungary1,1933
 Georgia1,0634
 Belarus1,0035
 Cyprus0,8936
 Estonia0,8937
 Northern Ireland0,7838
 Lithuania0,7539
 Macedonia0,7540
Pot F
TeamCoeffRank
 Albania0,6941
 Armenia0,6742
 Moldova0,6743
 Azerbaijan0,5044
 Faroe Islands0,4445
 Malta0,1146
 San Marino0,0647
 Liechtenstein0,0648
Pot G
TeamCoeffRank
 Andorra0,0049
 Luxembourg0,0050
 Kazakhstan0,0051

First round

Summary

  Winner of each group and two best runners-up qualified directly for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
  Other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8

Netherlands
Ukraine
Portugal
France
Italy
England
Serbia and Montenegro
Croatia

Czech Republic
Turkey
Slovakia
Switzerland
Norway
Poland
Spain
Sweden

Romania

Finland

Macedonia

Armenia

Andorra
Denmark

Greece

Albania

Georgia

Kazakhstan
Russia

Estonia

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg
Israel

Republic of Ireland

Cyprus

Faroe Islands
Scotland

Slovenia

Belarus

Moldova
Austria

Northern Ireland

Wales

Azerbaijan
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belgium

Lithuania

San Marino
Bulgaria

Hungary

Iceland

Malta

Groups

The first round is group play. A win is awarded 3 point, a draw 1 point and a loss 0. The winner of a group is the team with the most points.

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 12 10 2 0 27 3 +24 32 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 2–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–0 4–0
2  Czech Republic 12 9 0 3 35 12 +23 27 Advance to second round 0–2 — 1–0 4–3 6–1 4–1 8–1
3  Romania 12 8 1 3 20 10 +10 25 0–2 2–0 — 2–1 2–1 3–0 2–0
4  Finland 12 5 1 6 21 19 +2 16 0–4 0–3 0–1 — 5–1 3–1 3–0
5  Macedonia 12 2 3 7 11 24 −13 9 2–2 0–2 1–2 0–3 — 3–0 0–0
6  Armenia 12 2 1 9 9 25 −16 7 0–1 0–3 1–1 0–2 1–2 — 2–1
7  Andorra 12 1 2 9 4 34 −30 5 0–3 0–4 1–5 0–0 1–0 0–3 —
Source: MacedonianFootball
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Ukraine 12 7 4 1 18 7 +11 25 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–0
2  Turkey 12 6 5 1 23 9 +14 23 Advance to second round 0–3 — 2–2 0–0 2–0 1–1 4–0
3  Denmark 12 6 4 2 24 12 +12 22 1–1 1–1 — 1–0 3–1 6–1 3–0
4  Greece 12 6 3 3 15 9 +6 21 0–1 0–0 2–1 — 2–0 1–0 3–1
5  Albania 12 4 1 7 11 20 −9 13 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–1 — 3–2 2–1
6  Georgia 12 2 4 6 14 25 −11 10 1–1 2–5 2–2 1–3 2–0 — 0–0
7  Kazakhstan 12 0 1 11 6 29 −23 1 1–2 0–6 1–2 1–2 0–1 1–2 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 12 9 3 0 35 5 +30 30 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 2–0 7–1 4–0 3–0 2–1 6–0
2  Slovakia 12 6 5 1 24 8 +16 23 Advance to second round 1–1 — 0–0 1–0 4–1 7–0 3–1
3  Russia 12 6 5 1 23 12 +11 23 0–0 1–1 — 4–0 2–0 2–0 5–1
4  Estonia 12 5 2 5 16 17 −1 17 0–1 1–2 1–1 — 2–1 2–0 4–0
5  Latvia 12 4 3 5 18 21 −3 15 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 — 1–0 4–0
6  Liechtenstein 12 2 2 8 13 23 −10 8 2–2 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–3 — 3–0
7  Luxembourg 12 0 0 12 5 48 −43 0 0–5 0–4 0–4 0–2 3–4 0–4 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 10 5 5 0 14 2 +12 20 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 0–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 3–0
2   Switzerland 10 4 6 0 18 7 +11 18 Advance to second round 1–1 — 1–1 1–1 1–0 6–0
3  Israel 10 4 6 0 15 10 +5 18 1–1 2–2 — 1–1 2–1 2–1
4  Republic of Ireland 10 4 5 1 12 5 +7 17 0–1 0–0 2–2 — 3–0 2–0
5  Cyprus 10 1 1 8 8 20 −12 4 0–2 1–3 1–2 0–1 — 2–2
6  Faroe Islands 10 0 1 9 4 27 −23 1 0–2 1–3 0–2 0–2 0–3 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 10 7 2 1 17 8 +9 23 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 2–1 2–0 1–0 4–3 2–1
2  Norway 10 5 3 2 12 7 +5 18 Advance to second round 0–0 — 1–2 3–0 1–1 1–0
3  Scotland 10 3 4 3 9 7 +2 13 1–1 0–1 — 0–0 0–1 2–0
4  Slovenia 10 3 3 4 10 13 −3 12 1–0 2–3 0–3 — 1–1 3–0
5  Belarus 10 2 4 4 12 14 −2 10 1–4 0–1 0–0 1–1 — 4–0
6  Moldova 10 1 2 7 5 16 −11 5 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 2–0 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 6

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 10 8 1 1 17 5 +12 25 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 2–1 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–0
2  Poland 10 8 0 2 27 9 +18 24 1–2 — 3–2 1–0 1–0 8–0
3  Austria 10 4 3 3 15 12 +3 15 2–2 1–3 — 2–0 1–0 2–0
4  Northern Ireland 10 2 3 5 10 18 −8 9 1–0 0–3 3–3 — 2–3 2–0
5  Wales 10 2 2 6 10 15 −5 8 0–1 2–3 0–2 2–2 — 2–0
6  Azerbaijan 10 0 3 7 1 21 −20 3 0–1 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–1 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 7

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Serbia and Montenegro 10 6 4 0 16 1 +15 22 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 5–0
2  Spain 10 5 5 0 19 3 +16 20 Advance to second round 1–1 — 1–1 2–0 1–0 5–0
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 4 4 2 12 9 +3 16 0–0 1–1 — 1–0 1–1 3–0
4  Belgium 10 3 3 4 16 11 +5 12 0–2 0–2 4–1 — 1–1 8–0
5  Lithuania 10 2 4 4 8 9 −1 10 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1 — 4–0
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 2 40 −38 0 0–3 0–6 1–3 1–2 0–1 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group 8

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Croatia 10 7 3 0 21 5 +16 24 Qualification to 2006 FIFA World Cup — 1–0 2–2 3–0 4–0 3–0
2  Sweden 10 8 0 2 30 4 +26 24 0–1 — 3–0 3–0 3–1 6–0
3  Bulgaria 10 4 3 3 17 17 0 15 1–3 0–3 — 2–0 3–2 4–1
4  Hungary 10 4 2 4 13 14 −1 14 0–0 0–1 1–1 — 3–2 4–0
5  Iceland 10 1 1 8 14 27 −13 4 1–3 1–4 1–3 2–3 — 4–1
6  Malta 10 0 3 7 4 32 −28 3 1–1 0–7 1–1 0–2 0–0 —
Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Play-offs

Ranking of runners-up

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 8  Sweden 10 8 0 2 30 4 +26 24 Qualify for final tournament
2 6  Poland 10 8 0 2 27 9 +18 24
3 1  Czech Republic 10 7 0 3 23 11 +12 21 Advance to second round (play-offs)
4 7  Spain 10 5 5 0 19 3 +16 20
5 4   Switzerland 10 4 6 0 18 7 +11 18
6 5  Norway 10 5 3 2 12 7 +5 18
7 3  Slovakia 10 4 5 1 17 7 +10 17
8 2  Turkey 10 4 5 1 13 9 +4 17
Source:

Matches

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Spain  6–2  Slovakia 5–1 1–1
Switzerland  4–4 (a)  Turkey 2–0 2–4
Norway  0–2  Czech Republic 0–1 0–1
Key
Bold face = winner; (a) = away goals

Qualified teams

The following 14 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 GermanyHosts6 July 200015 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 1998, 2002)
 NetherlandsGroup 1 winners8 October 20057 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998)
 UkraineGroup 2 winners3 September 20050 (debut)
 PortugalGroup 3 winners8 October 20053 (1966, 1986, 2002)
 FranceGroup 4 winners12 October 200511 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002)
 ItalyGroup 5 winners8 October 200515 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
 EnglandGroup 6 winners8 October 200511 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002)
 Serbia and MontenegroGroup 7 winners12 October 20059 (19303, 19503, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19743, 19823, 19903, 19983)
 CroatiaGroup 8 winners8 October 20052 (1998, 2002)
 PolandTop 2 runners-up8 October 20056 (1938, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 2002)
 SwedenTop 2 runners-up8 October 200510 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2002)
 SpainPlay-off winners16 November 200511 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
  SwitzerlandPlay-off winners16 November 20057 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994)
 Czech RepublicPlay-off winners16 November 20058 (19344, 19384, 19544, 19584, 19624, 19704, 19824, 19904)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
2 Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974.
3 From 1930 to 1998, Serbia and Montenegro competed as Yugoslavia.
4 From 1934 to 1990, Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.

Goalscorers

11 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

References

  1. ↑ "European Zone Draw for the Preliminary Competition" (PDF). fifaworldcup.yahoo.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
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