Qualifying
Brazil's qualifying for the event marked the first time in history in which a returning champion (the country had won the 2002 FIFA World Cup) had to play for a berth in the next World Cup — that had a direct effect in the organization of the 2006 World Cup: since the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the competition has had an opening match, which is played immediately after the Opening Ceremonies; until the last World Cup, this match was a privilege of the winner of the previous World Cup, who would play its first match as the first match of the given World Cup, against an opponent from its group, as decided by the official draw (in the 1990 World Cup, Argentina, winner of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, played Cameroon in the opening match; in 1994, Germany, winner of the 1990 World Cup, played Bolivia; in 1998, Brazil played Scotland and in 2002 France played Senegal). As of the 2006 World Cup, because of the change in the rules, with the last champion no longer having a secured berth in the competition, the opening match has become another privilege of the host nation (in the 2006 World Cup, Germany, as the host nation, played Costa Rica in the opening match). Despite being the returning champion, the Brazilian team debuted, against Croatia, only four days after the Opening Ceremonies and the opening match.
The national team qualified with more ease than in previous years — for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Brazil only qualified in the very last match, against Uruguay, where a defeat would have meant missing the finals; For the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Brazil had four different managers, and was once in serious jeopardy of being left out of the event.
The Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup repeated the format installed for the previous Qualifying tournament, in 2000 and 2001 (for the 2002 World Cup): all ten South American countries played each other, in two-leg matches, with the top four teams qualifying automatically for the World Cup, whereas the fifth best team would play the champion of Oceania, which was Australia, for a berth in the World Cup.
Brazil finished first, winning the Qualifying tournament. The results were the following:
| Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
| Estadio Metropolitano, Barranquilla |
Colombia | 2:1 | ||
| Vivaldão, Manaus |
Ecuador | 1:0 | ||
| Estadio Nacional, Lima |
Peru | 1:1 | ||
| Pinheirão, Curitiba |
Uruguay | 3:3 | ||
| Defensores del Chaco, Asunción |
Paraguay | 0:0 | ||
| Mineirão, Belo Horizonte |
Argentina | 3:1 | ||
| Estadio Nacional, Santiago |
Chile | 1:1 | ||
| Morumbi, São Paulo |
Bolivia | 3:1 | ||
| Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo |
Venezuela | 5:2 | ||
| Estádio Rei Pelé, Maceió |
Colombia | 0:0 | ||
| Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Maracaibo |
Ecuador | 0:1 | ||
| Serra Dourada, Goiânia |
Peru | 1:0 | ||
| Centenario, Montevideo |
Uruguay | 1:1 | ||
| Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre |
Paraguay | 4:1 | ||
| Monumental de Nuñez, Buenos Aires |
Argentina | 1:3 | ||
| Estádio Mané Garrincha, Brasília |
Chile | 5:0 | ||
| Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz |
Bolivia | 1:1 | ||
| Mangueirão, Belém |
Venezuela | 3:0 | ||
The final standings were the following:
| Final Standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | |
| Brazil | 34 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 35 | 17 | 18 | |
| Argentina | 34 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 17 | 12 | |
| Ecuador | 28 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 19 | 4 | |
| Paraguay | 28 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 23 | 0 | |
| Uruguay | 25 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 28 | -5 | |
| Colombia | 24 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 16 | 8 | |
| Chile | 22 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 22 | -4 | |
| Venezuela | 18 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 28 | -8 | |
| Peru | 18 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 28 | -8 | |
| Bolivia | 14 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 20 | 37 | -17 | |
Read more about this topic: Brazil At The 2006 FIFA World Cup