Editing 2006 FIFA World Cup (section)

==Groups==

===Seeds===
{{further|2006 FIFA World Cup seeding}}
The eight [[Seed (sports)|seeded]] teams for the tournament were announced on 6 December 2005 and placed into Pot A for the draw. Pot B contained the unseeded qualifiers from South America, Africa and Oceania; Pot C contained eight of the nine remaining European teams, excluding [[Serbia and Montenegro national football team|Serbia and Montenegro]]. Pot D contained unseeded teams from the [[CONCACAF]] region and Asia. To ensure that no group contained three European teams, Serbia and Montenegro was placed in a special pot, as they were the lowest ranked qualified team from Europe on the latest [[FIFA Men's World Rankings|FIFA World Ranking]]; while it was deemed of less importance they had been seeded higher than Switzerland and Ukraine by the 2006 World Cup seeding tool.<ref>{{cite news|title=FIFA Organising Committee approves team classifications and final draw procedure |url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/media/newsid=101782.html |publisher=FIFA |date=6 December 2005 |access-date=29 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423021144/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/media/newsid%3D101782.html |archive-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Serbia and Montenegro was drawn first, then their group was drawn from the three seeded non-European nations, [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]], [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]], and [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]].

FIFA predetermined that, hosts, Germany would be placed in Group A, thus being assured of the venues of their group matches in advance of the draw. They also announced, in advance, that Brazil (the defending champion) would be allocated to Group F.

{|
|- valign=top
|
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Pot A
|-
!width=150| Team !! {{Tooltip|Points|Total points in the seeding}} !! {{Tooltip|Rank|Ranking in the seeding}}
|-
| {{fb|GER}}{{efn|As hosts, Germany were automatically assigned to the first position in Group A.}} ||align=center| 49.3 ||align=center| 4
|-
| {{fb|BRA}} ||align=center| 63.7 ||align=center| 1
|-
| {{fb|ENG}} ||align=center| 50.7 ||align=center| 2
|-
| {{fb|ESP}} ||align=center| 50.0 ||align=center| 3
|-
| {{fb|MEX}} ||align=center| 47.3 ||align=center| 5
|-
| {{fb|FRA|1974}} ||align=center| 46.0 ||align=center| 6
|-
| {{fb|ITA|2003}} ||align=center| 44.3 ||align=center| 7
|-
| {{fb|ARG|1861}} ||align=center| 44.0 ||align=center| 8
|}
|
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Pot B
|-
!width=150| Team !! {{Tooltip|Points|Total points in the seeding}} !! {{Tooltip|Rank|Ranking in the seeding}}
|-
| {{fb|PAR|1990}} ||align=center| 31.3 ||align=center| 15
|-
| {{fb|TUN}} ||align=center| 19.0 ||align=center| 22
|-
| {{fb|ECU|1900}} ||align=center| 16.0 ||align=center| 23
|-
| {{fb|CIV}} ||align=center| 7.0 ||align=center| 27
|-
| {{fb|AUS}} ||align=center| 4.3 ||align=center| 28
|-
| {{fb|GHA}} ||align=center| 3.3 ||align=center| 30
|-
| {{fb|ANG}} ||align=center| 2.0 ||align=center| 31
|-
| {{fb|TGO}} ||align=center| 1.3 ||align=center| 32
|}
|
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Pot C
|-
!width=150| Team !! {{Tooltip|Points|Total points in the seeding}} !! {{Tooltip|Rank|Ranking in the seeding}}
|-
| {{fb|NED}} ||align=center| 38.3 ||align=center| 10
|-
| {{fb|SWE}} ||align=center| 33.7 ||align=center| 13
|-
| {{fb|CRO}} ||align=center| 33.0 ||align=center| 14
|-
| {{fb|CZE}} ||align=center| 29.0 ||align=center| 16
|-
| {{fb|POR}} ||align=center| 28.7 ||align=center| 17
|-
| {{fb|POL}} ||align=center| 20.3 ||align=center| 20
|-
| {{fb|SUI}} ||align=center| 8.7 ||align=center| 25
|-
| {{fb|UKR}} ||align=center| 7.0 ||align=center| 26
|}
|
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Pot D
|-
!width=150| Team !! {{Tooltip|Points|Total points in the seeding}} !! {{Tooltip|Rank|Ranking in the seeding}}
|-
| {{fb|USA}} ||align=center| 42.7 ||align=center| 9
|-
| {{fb|KOR|1997}} ||align=center| 37.3 ||align=center| 11
|-
| {{fb|JPN}} ||align=center| 36.0 ||align=center| 12
|-
| {{fb|CRC}} ||align=center| 22.7 ||align=center| 18
|-
| {{fb|KSA}} ||align=center| 20.7 ||align=center| 19
|-
| {{fb|IRN}} ||align=center| 19.3 ||align=center| 21
|-
| {{fb|TRI}} ||align=center| 4.3 ||align=center| 29
|}
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Special Pot
|-
!width=150| Team !! {{Tooltip|Points|Total points in the seeding}} !! {{Tooltip|Rank|Ranking in the seeding}}
|-
| {{fb|SCG}} ||align=center| 15.7 ||align=center| 24
|}

The group stage draw was held in Leipzig on 9 December 2005, and the group assignments and order of matches were determined. After the draw was completed, commentators remarked that Group C appeared to be the [[group of death]], while others suggested Group E.<ref>{{cite news|first=Paul |last=Wilson |title=An easy group? Draw your own conclusions |url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,4284,1664561,00.html |work=The Observer |location=UK |date=11 December 2005 |access-date=26 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630182032/http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0%2C4284%2C1664561%2C00.html |archive-date=30 June 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=368725&root=worldcup&cc=5901 |title=Group C Tactics Board |last=Palmer |first=Kevin |publisher=ESPNsoccernet |date=24 May 2006 |access-date=26 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620151414/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=368725&root=worldcup&cc=5901 |archive-date=20 June 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Argentina and the Netherlands both qualified with a game to spare with wins over Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro respectively.

===Group system===
The first round, or group stage, saw the 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group was a [[round-robin tournament|round-robin]] of three games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams coming first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16.

====Ranking criteria====
If teams were level on points, they were ranked on the following criteria in order:

{{blockquote|
# Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches
# Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches
# If teams remained level after those criteria, a mini-group would be formed from those teams, who would be ranked on:
## Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie
## Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie
## Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie
# If teams remained level after all these criteria, FIFA would hold a drawing of lots}}
In the original version of the rules for the finals tournament, the ranking criteria were in a different order, with head-to-head results taking precedence over total goal difference. The rules were changed to the above in advance of the tournament, but older versions were still available on the FIFA and UEFA websites, causing some confusion among those trying to identify the correct criteria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/worldcupspreadsheets/rulechange.html |title=FIFA changes World Cup tie-breaking rules |last=O'Dea |first=Joseph |date=18 May 2006 |access-date=29 June 2006 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
In any event, the finals tournament saw only two pairs of teams level on points: Argentina and the Netherlands at 7 points in Group C; Tunisia and Saudi Arabia at 1 point in Group H. Both of these ties were resolved on total goal difference. Also, in both cases the teams had tied their match, so the order of ranking criteria made no difference.