2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification

2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification

A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition. Starting with these qualifiers, the defending champion was not granted automatic qualification, as France's disappointing performance and first round elimination in the previous tournament was considered to be due to lack of preparation that the Qualifiers could have provided. 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: 12 teams, 0.5 places

Each .5 indicates a place in inter-confederation matchups for the last two spots, namely playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC.

A total of 194 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 847 qualifying matches were played, and 2464 goals were scored (an average of 2.91 per match).