The final stages of Football World Cup 2006 are scheduled to take place in Germany between 9 June and 9 July. The decision to award the highly prestigous event to Germany was controversial as it was widely expected that the tournament would take place in Africa (probably South Africa). Since the announcement of the award has been made, the world governing body for the sport, FIFA, has made public its intention to rotate the hosting of the event between its constituent confederations.

Venues

A total of 12 German cities have been selected to host the World Cup final tournament:

Qualification Process

The six FIFA confederations were allocated a share of the 32 spots available on the basis of the strength of their teams. The final distribution was as follows:

• Europe - represented by UEFA : 51 teams competing for 13 places (Germany qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 14 places)
• Africa - the CAF : 51 teams, 5 places
• South America - CONMEBOL : 10 teams, 4.5 places
• Asia - the AFC : 39 teams, 4.5 places
• North, Central American and Caribbean - CONCACAF : 34 teams, 3.5 places
• Oceania - the OFC : 11 teams, 0.5 places

Notes on qualification

For the first time in the history of the World Cup (after the first event in 1930), the defending champion (Brazil) does not qualify automatically. The hosts (Germany) will retain their automatic spot.

The original distribution of places between the six confederations called for Oceania to be given 1 full spot in the final 32; however, this idea was seen as giving Australia a virtually certain place in the finals, being by far the strongest footballing nation in their region. This was decision was reconsidered in June 2003 and the previous distribution of places between Oceania and South America was restored.

The draw for five of the six qualification tournaments took place on 5 December 2003 in Frankfurt, whilst all of the members of the South American federation (CONMEBOL) will compete in a single group. Qualification itself began in January 2004.

Qualification Groups

European Zone

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
1. Czech Republic	1. Turkey	1. Portugal	1. France
2. Netherlands	2. Denmark	2. Russia	2. Republic of Ireland
3. Romania	3. Greece	3. Slovakia	3. Switzerland
4. Finland	4. Ukraine	4. Latvia	4. Israel
5. FYR Macedonia	5. Georgia	5. Estonia	5. Cyprus
6. Armenia	6. Albania	6. Liechtenstein	6. Faroe Islands
7. Andorra	7. Kazakhstan	7. Luxembourg
Group 5	Group 6	Group 7	Group 8
1. Italy	1. England	1. Spain	1. Sweden
2. Slovenia	2. Poland	2. Belgium	2. Croatia
3. Scotland	3. Austria	3. Serbia and Montenegro	3. Bulgaria
4. Norway	4. Wales	4. Bosnia-Herzegovina	4. Iceland
5. Belarus	5. Northern Ireland	5. Lithuania	5. Hungary
6. Moldova	6. Azerbaijan	6. San Marino	6. Malta

Full details on the progress of qualification for teams representing Europe can be found at Football World Cup 2006 - European Qualification Groups.

South American Zone

This zone is played as a league system on a home-and-away basis involving all 10 teams in a tournament which began in September 2003. The top 4 teams qualify automatically for the 2006 World Cup Finals, the fifth placed team will play-off against the winner of the Oceania zone.

Positions so far (after 11 of 18 matches, Nov 2004):

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Paraguay
4. Ecuador
5. Uruguay
6. Colombia
7. Peru
8. Chile
9. Venezuela
10. Bolivia

A full list of all matches and results, along with the current standings in this tournament can be found at Football World Cup 2006 - South American Qualification Groups.

African Zone

Complete details of all knockout matches from the first stage of qualifications may be found at Football World Cup 2006 - African Qualification Groups, along with current standings and match schedules for the group stages.

Oceanian Zone

 Australia and  Solomon Islands will play off in September 2005 to determine Oceania's representative in a play-off.

Full details of prior group stages, along with league tables are available at Football World Cup 2006 - Oceania Qualification Groups.

Asian Zone

Full updates of the Asian Football Confederation qualification process, including the two prior stages, can be found at Football World Cup 2006 - Asian Qualification Groups.

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone

Final Group
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago
USA

Full details of the qualification process for this confederation, along with results of previous stages of competition, can be found at Football World Cup 2006 - North, Central American and Caribbean Qualification Groups

Playoffs

In late 2005, the 5th place team from South America will play the Oceania champion. Also, the 5th place team from Asia will play the 4th place team from CONCACAF. Each of these play-offs will be home-and-away series, and the two winners will earn the last spots at the World Cup.