World Cup 2006 Qualified Teams

A total of 197 teams from all six FIFA confederations took part in qualification for World Cup 2006 but only the 32 teams listed below made it to the finals competition. These teams represent the best of world football and include six past winners of the World Cup.

Germany did not take part in qualification as they were granted automatic qualification as the host nation for World Cup 2006. For the first time ever, the defending champions (Brazil) did not qualify automatically, and were required to compete in the qualification stages for their place at the finals.

The 32 qualified teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams for Stage 1 of the World Cup tournament. The group draw took place in Leizig, Germany, on 9th December 2005.

AFC - Asian Zone (4.5 Teams)
Team World Cup Appearances Consecutive Appearances Last Appearance
Iran (IRN) 3 1 1998
Japan (JPN) 3 3 2002
Korea Republic (KOR) 7 6 2002
Saudi Arabia (KSA) 4 4 2002

CAF - African Zone (5 Teams)
Team World Cup Appearances Consecutive Appearances Last Appearance
Angola (ANG) 1 1 -
Ghana (GHA) 1 1 -
Ivory Coast (CIV) 1 1 -
Togo (TOG) 1 1 -
Tunisia (TUN) 4 3 2002

CONCACAF - North, Central American and Caribbean Zone (3.5 Teams)
Team World Cup Appearances Consecutive Appearances Last Appearance
Costa Rica (CRC) 3 2 2002
Mexico (MEX) 13 4 2002
Trinidad & Tobago (TRI) 1 1 -
USA (USA) 8 5 2002

CONMEBOL - South American Zone (4.5 Teams)
Team World Cup Appearances Consecutive Appearances Last Appearance
Argentina (ARG) 14 9 2002
Brazil (BRA) 18 18 2002
Ecuador (ECU) 2 2 2002
Paraguay (PAR) 7 3 2002

OFC - Oceanian Zone (0.5 Teams)
Team World Cup Appearances Consecutive Appearances Last Appearance
Australia (AUS) 2 1 1974

UEFA - European Zone (14 Teams)
Team World Cup Appearances Consecutive Appearances Last Appearance
Croatia (CRO) 3(1) 3 2002
Czech Republic (CZE) 1(2) 1 -(2)
England (ENG) 12 3 2002
France (FRA) 12 3 2002
Germany (GER) 16(3) 14(3) 2002
Italy (ITA) 16 12 2002
Netherlands (NED) 8 1 1998
Poland (POL) 7 2 2002
Portugal (POR) 4 2 2002
Serbia & Montenegro (SCG) 2(4) 2 1998(4)
Spain (ESP) 12 8 2002
Sweden (SWE) 11 2 2002
Switzerland (SUI) 8 1 1994
Ukraine (UKR) 1(5) 1 -(5)

1 Excludes appearances by pre-division Yugoslavia.

2 Excludes appearances by Czechoslovakia. If those are counted together, this is their 9th appearance, and their previous appearance was in 1990.

3 Includes 10 appearances by DFB representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990.

4 Excludes appearances by pre-division Yugoslavia. If those are counted together, this is their 10th appearance. This is also their first appearance after the name change from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro.

5 Excludes appearances by pre-division USSR.