World Cup 2006: Germany

African qualifying groups. 5 places awarded by FIFA.
Asian qualifying groups. 4.5 places awarded by FIFA.
European qualifying groups. 14 places awarded by FIFA.
North and Central America qualifying groups. 3.5 places awarded by FIFA.
Oceania qualifying groups. 0.5 places awarded by FIFA.
South America qualifying group. 4.5 places awarded by FIFA.

Note:

• Germany as host nation does not have to qualify.
• Brazil as defending champion does have to qualify, which is a new feature.
• Israel qualifies from the European region. All the other Middle Eastern teams qualify from the Asian region.
• The fifth best team in Asia (Bahrain) will face the fourth best team (Trinidad & Tobago) from North and Central America (Concacaf) in a two game playoff.
• The fifth best team in South America (Uruguay) will play the winner of Oceania (Australia) in a two game playoff. 

Personal Opinions:

1. The defending champion should not have to qualify.
2. FIFA should consider a Middle Eastern qualifying region. Israel could always qualify from Europe if their participation would be an impediment to such a group.
3. Eliminate the intercontinental playoffs. Qualification campaigns are difficult enough without the further burden of home and away elimination playoffs.
4. Give Oceania one berth. Or allow Australia to qualify from Asia.*
5. The very small European countries (Andorra, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, and San Marino) should be placed in one separate group. They have never qualified, have very few professionals, and it is unreasonable to expect them to compete with the other European powers. The winner of this special group would then play against one of the second-placed teams. Perhaps some might argue for a similar arrangement for the small countries of the Caribbean. The difference is that some of those countries have professional teams, along with a soccer tradition to compete with regional powers such as Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States.

* Australia will now qualify from Asia in future World Cup qualification rounds.

Links of Interest:

The Best Penalty Kick Takers in World Cup History: You don't want to meet Germany in a shoot-out...

International Herald Tribune World Cup Fan Blog.

Official 2006 FIFA World Cup Site: Contains information about all of the qualification groups, along with current standings.

Soccerphile lists information about the qualifying groups, venues, ticket prices, and travel arrangements.

World Cup Blog: An excellent resource that is updated daily to cover all 32 teams.

World Cup Stadiums for Germany 2006: A German language site that provides pictures of all of the playing venues.

World Time Clock: From the Eastern USA, there will be a six hour time difference.

Please click on my Football Sites link above for excellent coverage during the World Cup. ESPN, ABC, Univision, and Telefutura will be televising the games live or on a tape-delayed basis. Univision will broadcast all 64 games live in the Spanish language.

World Cup 2006 Draw: 09 December 2006

According to the BBC, "the winners of the World Cup final will earn £10.75m ($18.63m) as part of a total prize pool of £130m ($225.35m) for the tournament. FIFA announced on Tuesday (6 December 2005) that the 32 teams taking part will be guaranteed at least £2.6m ($4.5m) each in prize money."

Wikipedia World Cup 2006. A very detailed page with several external links.

World Cup Player Profiles by FIFA. Excellent resource to research your favorite players.

World Cup Rosters Released by FIFA: All of the 32 teams are listed.

World Cup Television Schedule: Shows North American broadcast times, English language coverage, along with the entire tournament draw. Please note that Univision will show every game live in Spanish.

Venues of the World Cup: An interactive map that displays the twelve stadia and game schedules.

Note:

Highlighted teams (8) are taking place in their first competition.

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