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2006
FIFA World Cup Germany™
News
FIFA
holds 2006 World Cup Draw: host get
easy road, England face Sweden, and
more -- Chris Tynemouth, European
Correspondent.
Friday,
December 09, 2005 -- It's been a big
week for football as the final group
games of the Champions League determined
who would progress to the knock out
stage while over in Germany the draw
was made for the 2006 World Cup finals.
Focusing
firstly on the World Cup draw, stars
of the game both past and present
attended the typically theatrical
- and often confusing - draw ceremony
held in Leipzig. The usual stipulations
in place to ensure teams from a specific
FIFA region were not drawn within
the same group resulted in a drawn-out
and regularly baffling procedure,
with world stars such as Pele, Roger
Milla, Johan Cryuff, and LA Galaxy's
Cobi Jones assisting with the draw.
Competition
hosts Germany find themselves sharing
Group A with Poland, Ecuador, and
first-time finalists Costa Rica. The
draw has also been relatively kind
to England who will face Sweden, Paraguay,
and Trinidad and Tobago - who also
make their first appearance in the
competition - in Group B. The draw
has supplied England manager Sven-Goran
Erikkson the chance to face his home
country of Sweden for the second consecutive
World Cup finals, having claimed a
1-1 draw in 2002 when Japan and South
Korea hosted the competition. England's
record against the Swedes is far from
impressive, having failed to claim
a victory in 37 years.
Group C witnessed two giants of world
football brought together as Argentina
will have an opportunity to avenge
the defeat they suffered at the hands
of Holland during the 1998 World Cup
held in France. They are joined in
the group by Serbia & Montenegro and
the Ivory Coast, both making their
World Cup final debuts.
Euro
2004 runners-up Portugal will face
Mexico, Iran, and Angola in Group
D, while Group E consists of Italy,
Ghana, USA, and the Czech Republic.
Current holders Brazil will begin
their defence of the trophy against
Australia, with Croatia and Japan
occupying the remaining two slots
in Group F.
France will be looking to put their
nightmare performances in 2002 behind
them as they face Switzerland, South
Korea, and Togo in Group G, with Spain,
Ukraine, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia
occupying Group H.
Final
draw for 2006 World Cup Finals:
GROUP
A Germany Costa Rica Poland Ecuador
GROUP
B England Paraguay Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden
GROUP
C Argentina Ivory Coast Serbia & Montenegro
Holland
GROUP
D Mexico Iran Angola Portugal
GROUP
E Italy Ghana USA Czech Republic
GROUP
F Brazil Croatia Australia Japan
GROUP
G France Switzerland South Korea Togo
GROUP
H Spain Ukraine Tunisia Saudi Arabia
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