FIFA World Cup 2002

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in South Korea and Japan from May 31 to June 30. The two countries were chosen as hosts by FIFA for the first time in its history. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0 in the final.

Qualification

A total of 199 teams attempted to qualify for the 2002 World Cup which qualification process began with the preliminary draw in 1999. Defending World Champions France and co-hosts Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Japan automatically qualified and did not have to play any qualification matches. (This was the last time that the defending champions automatically qualified).

Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), five by CAF teams (Africa), four by CONMEBOL teams (South America), four by AFC teams (Asia), and three by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining two places were decided by playoffs between AFC and CONCACAF and between CONMEBOL and OFC (Oceania). Four nations qualified for the finals for the first time: China, Ecuador, Senegal, and Slovenia.

Seeds

The eight seeded teams for the 2002 tournament were announced on 28 November 2001. The seeds comprised Pot A in the draw. Pot B contained the remaining 11 European sides; Pot C contained five unseeded qualifiers from CONMEBOL and AFC. Pot D contained unseeded sides from the CONCACAF region and Africa.

Pot A	Pot B	Pot C	Pot D
Argentina Brazil France Germany Italy Japan Korea Republic Spain	Belgium Croatia Denmark England Republic of Ireland Poland Portugal Russia Slovenia Sweden Turkey	China PR Ecuador Paraguay Saudi Arabia Uruguay	Cameroon Costa Rica Mexico Nigeria Senegal South Africa Tunisia USA

On 1 December 2001 the draw was held and the group assignments and order of fixtures were determined. Group F was considered the group of death , as it brought together Argentina, England, Nigeria and Sweden.

Summary

First round

The World Cup started with a shock 1-0 defeat of defending champions France by Senegal in the tournament’s opening match held in Seoul, Korea. In their second Group A game, France were held to a draw by Uruguay after star striker Thierry Henry was sent off. A 2-0 defeat by Denmark in their last group game sealed France’s fate.  An impressive Denmark won the group, joined by Senegal to move on to the next round.

Spain became one of only two teams to pick up maximum points in the Group B, seeing off both Paraguay and Slovenia 3-1 before beating South Africa 3-2. Paraguay needed a late goal against another newcomer, Slovenia, to tie South Africa on goal difference and move to the second round on the next tiebreaker, goals scored.

The other team to win all their group games was Brazil in Group C. Turkey advanced to the next round, too, beating Costa Rica on goal difference. China failed to get a point or even score a goal.

Group D saw several surprises as the United States beat Portugal 3-2. Then, goalkeeping by Brad Friedel earned the Americans a 1-1 draw with South Korea. South Korea, already assured of advancing after topping Poland 2-0, beat Portugal to send the Europeans home and also give the United States a ticket into the second round, despite losing to Poland in the 3rd match.

Germany thrashed Saudi Arabia 8-0 in Group E thanks to three goals from Miroslav Klose. Ireland were playing without ex-captain Roy Keane, sent home days before the World Cup, but led by his unrelated namesake Robbie claimed second place at the expense of African champions Cameroon.

Other than France’s failures, the biggest shock of the tournament came in the Group of Death, Group F as pre-tournament favorites Argentina failed to move out of the group. A loss to England 1-0 and a subsequent draw with Sweden kept the South Americans from advancing. The Scandinavians won the group, with England also going through. Nigeria finished last.

In Group G, Italy, Croatia, and Ecuador all beat each other once. But the Italians’ draw against group winners Mexico, while the other two lost to the North Americans, gave the three-time World Cup champions second place in the group. Ecuador could still enjoy a victory on their first World Cup, beating Croatia 1-0.

Co-hosts Japan breezed through Group H, joined by Belgium. Russia and Tunisia were two of the disappointments of the tournament, in what was considered the weakest group of the tournament.

Second round and quarter-finals

In the second round, Germany beat Paraguay 1-0. England thrashed previously-impressive Denmark 3-0. In the Spain-Ireland match, the two teams drew 1-1 and penalties gave Spain a place in the quarterfinals. Sweden and Senegal had a 1-1 match. The United States won over Mexico 2-0. Brazil defeated Belgium 2-0, while Turkey ended co-hosts Japan’s run with a 1-0 win. The other co-hosts, South Korea, beat Italy on a golden goal, 2-1. South Korea’s win ensured that, for the very first time in the Cup’s history, teams from each of Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia reached the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-final Brazil beat England 2-1. The United States lost to Germany 1-0. South Korea got another win, beating Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw, becoming the first Asian team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Turkey continued their remarkable run, stopping Senegal’s own with a 1-0 golden goal victory.

Semi-finals, third-place match, and final

The semi-finals saw two 1-0 games;  Germany topped South Korea. Brazil beat Turkey 1-0. In the third-place match, Turkey beat the South Koreans 3-2 in a very spirited match for third place.

In the final match held in Yokohama, Japan, two goals from Ronaldo secured the World Cup for Brazil as they claimed victory over Germany. This was the fifth time Brazil had won the World Cup, cementing their status as the most successful national team in the history of the competition.

Venues

South Korea and Japan each provided ten stadia, the vast majority of them newly built for the tournament.

South Korea

City	Stadium	Capacity
Daegu	Daegu Blue-Arc Stadium	68,014
Seoul	Seoul Sang-am Stadium	64,677
Busan	Busan Asiad Main Stadium	55,983
Incheon	Incheon Munhak Stadium	52,179
Ulsan	Big Crown Stadium	43,550
Suwon , Gyeonggi Province	Suwon Bigbird Stadium	43,188
Gwangju	Guus Hiddink Stadium	42,880
Jeonju , Jeollabuk Province	Jeonju Castle	42,391
Seogwipo , Jeju Province	Jeju World Cup Stadium	42,256
Daejeon	Purple Arena	40,407

Japan

City	Stadium	Capacity
Yokohama, Kanagawa	International Stadium	70,000
Saitama, Saitama	Saitama Stadium 2002	63,000
Fukuroi, Shizuoka	Shizuoka ‘ECOPA’ Stadium	50,600
Osaka, Osaka	Nagai Stadium	50,000
Rifu, Miyagi	Miyagi Stadium	49,000
Oita, Oita	Oita Stadium	43,000
Niigata, Niigata	Niigata Stadium	42,300
Kashima, Ibaraki	Kashima Stadium	42,000
Kobe, Hyogo	Kobe Wing Stadium	42,000
Sapporo, Hokkaido	Sapporo Dome	42,000