User:Quidster4040/sandbox/2006 FIFA Rimet Cup

The 2006 FIFA Rimet Cup was the 9th edition of FIFA Rimet Cup, a quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA, for the top teams in FIFA World Cup qualification that do not qualify for the FIFA World Cup. It took place in Russia from 7 May to 7 June 2006, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2005.

Direct bye to group stage
16 nations earned a berth directly into the group stage of the competition. Of the 16 teams, 5 were from UEFA (including the host, Russia), 3 from AFC, 3 from CAF, 2 from CONMEBOL, 2 from CONCACAF, and 1 from OFC.

Participate in the qualifying round
32 nations entered in the qualifying round, which is a two-legged home and away series that was played on 10 February and 19 February 2006. Of the 32 teams, 14 were from UEFA, 1 was from CONMEBOL, 3 from CONCACAF, 2 from OFC, 6 from AFC, and 6 from CAF.

Draw
For the draw, the teams were allocated to four pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of February 2006. Pot 1 contained the hosts Russia (who were automatically assigned to Position A1) and the best seven teams, Pot 2 contained the next best eight teams, and so on for Pots 3 and 4. Teams from the same confederation were not drawn against each other for the group stage, except for UEFA where each group contained up to two teams.

Qualifying round
The first legs were played on 10 February 2006 and the second legs were played on 19 February 2006.

!colspan="5"|Pacific Cluster

!colspan="5"|African Cluster

!colspan="5"|Americas Cluster

!colspan="5"|UEFA Cluster


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