The eighteenth FIFA World Cup Finals were awarded to Germany on 7 July 2002 in Zürich, Switzerland.

Germany were glorious despite the challenge of South Africa by a single vote in the third round of voting.  England had been dismissed following the second round of voting, gaining only two of the 24 votes available.  Morocco fell at the first hurdle of voting.

First round: Germany (ten votes), South Africa (six), England (five), Morocco (three).
Second Round: Germany and South Africa (eleven), England (two).
Third Round: Germany (twelve), South Africa (eleven).

The Draw

The Build-Up

5 June: After two warm-up victories at Old Trafford, against Hungary and Jamaica, the England squad had a final training session at Watford, before flying to Germany. Wayne Rooney (recovering from a broken foot) and Gary Neville (hamstring) trained alone, whilst John Terry, Ashley Cole and David Beckham sat out the session due to knocks picked up against Jamaica. The squad then flew to Karlsruhe (with Jermain Defoe included as a reserve for Rooney if he failed to prove his fitness) and on to their base at Baden-Baden, in the Black Forest.

6 June: Rooney continued to prove his fitness at the Mittelberg training ground and Gary Neville returned to full training.

7 June: Rooney jumped on a private jet that whisked him back to Manchester for a scan, returning afterwards to the England camp, upon which his place in the squad was confirmed (though he would not be risked in the first game). Defoe, subsequently, returned home. The rest of the squad, meanwhile, practised set pieces behind closed doors, though Steven Gerrard opted out as a precaution, to rest a sore back.

8 June: Gerrard missed a second day's training, whilst Rooney played in a practice match with the squad.

9 June: The squad trained in the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, with Gerrard returning.

10 June 2006 - both CEST
3:00pm - England 1 Paraguay 0 [1-0] Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt (48,000)	Gamarra OG
6:00pm - Trinidad & Tobago 0 Sweden 0 [0-0] Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund (62,959)
	John

"Frank Lampard" - FIFA Man of the Match

"It said much for the quality of football that the biggest cheer of the game came when a Robinson clearance hit the giant video screen hanging over the centre circle. England can say job done, but to justify the pre-tournament hype, their performance must improve ten-fold." - Shoot Monthly

"ENGLAND TURN ON LATE SHOW
"You might not think there was a cloud on England's World Cup horizon if you tuned in purely for the last seven minutes.
"...they are not making any new converts with their predictable football.
"Nevertheless, Eriksson could claim that it is job done so far." - The Times, 16 June 2006

"It remains a fundamental flaw in Eriksson's reign that after five years the approach is more piecemeal than planned. Certainly, there seems no apparent blueprint in place designed to maximise the amount of time players spend on the ball..." - Daily Express, 16 June 2006

"England need more patience and less long balls. That is just free advice." - Leo Beenhakker

"David Beckham" - FIFA Man of the Match

"Another three points but no real improvement in quality..." - Shoot Monthly

"ENGLAND LIMP ON AS OWEN HOBBLES OUT
"...there was collective desperation at times...
"England's improvement on the first two performances...made the second-half relapse all the more troubling.
"Having lost their leading scorer, England can scarcely afford to wobble at the back." - The Times, 21 June 2006.

"Sven-Göran Eriksson's men tormented Sweden for half of this match in sweltering Cologne, disappeared as usual into their shell and ended up with a draw that still ensured they topped Group B." - Daily Express, 21 June 2006.