The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group 8 was a
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
qualifying group for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
. The group comprised
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
,
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
The group was won by Croatia, who qualified for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
. The runners-up Sweden also qualified as one of two best runners-up.
Standings
Matches
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Goalscorers
;8 goals
*
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...
;7 goals
*
Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov ( bg, Димитър Иванов Бербатов; born 30 January 1981) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer. A striker, he captained the Bulgaria national team from 2006 to 2010, and is the country's all-ti ...
*
Freddie Ljungberg
Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal.
He began his career at Hal ...
;6 goals
*
Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen (transliterated as Eidur Smari Gudjohnsen; born 15 September 1978) is an Icelandic professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. Eiður saw his greatest success in England and Spain with Chelsea ...
;5 goals
*
Darijo Srna
Darijo Srna (; born 1 May 1982) is a Croatian former professional footballer and current director of football of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. During most of his career he played as a right wing-back.
He began his career at Haj ...
*
Henrik Larsson
Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...
;4 goals
*
Dado Pršo
Miladin "Dado" Pršo (born 5 November 1974) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional. He was included in the Monaco team t ...
*
Zoltán Gera
Zoltán Gera (; born 22 April 1979) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played for Fulham, Pécsi Mecsek and Harkány SE, as well as enjoying two spells at Ferencváros and West Bromwich Alb ...
;3 goals
*
Martin Petrov
Martin Petyov Petrov ( bg, Мартин Петьов Петров; born 15 January 1979) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a winger.
Club career
Petrov began his career for Botev Vratsa. After a few good seasons, he signed with CS ...
;2 goals
*
Hristo Yanev
Hristo Yanev ( bg, Христо Янев; born 4 May 1979 in Kazanlak) is a Bulgarian football manager and former player. Yanev played as a midfielder.
Career
Early years
Born in Kazanluk, Yanev was picked as a youth to play for local side R ...
*
Chavdar Yankov
Chavdar Yankov ( bg, Чавдар Янков; born 29 March 1984) is a Bulgarian retired footballer. He played as a midfielder.
Club career
Yankov began his football career as a youth at Slavia Sofia. He made his debut in professional football ...
*
Boško Balaban
Boško Balaban (born 15 October 1978) is a Croatian former footballer who played as a striker. Balaban also played for the Croatia national team.
Club career Early career
Born in Rijeka, he started playing for local club HNK Rijeka and appear ...
*
Niko Kranjčar
Niko Kranjčar (; born 13 August 1984) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder, but could also operate as a winger or second striker. As of 5 May 2021, he works as an assistant to Josip Šimu ...
*
Igor Tudor
Igor Tudor (born 16 April 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille.
Tudor spent most of his playing career at Juventus, winning several trophies during that time. He ...
*
Péter Rajczi
Péter Rajczi (born 3 April 1981) is a Hungarian footballer who currently plays as a striker for USV Neulengbach.
Career
Rajczi started to play football in Kaposvár, playing for Kaposvári Rákóczi FC. He played many seasons with Rákócz ...
*
Sándor Torghelle
Sándor Torghelle (; born 5 May 1982) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, he played for Honvéd, Marcali, Crystal Palace, Panathinaikos, PAOK, Carl Zeiss Jena, FC Augsburg, Fortuna Düsse ...
*
Anders Svensson
Anders Gunnar Svensson (; born 17 July 1976) is a Swedish former professional footballer. He was a central midfielder, known for his passing, free kicks, and set piece-taking abilities, who usually operated in a playmaking role. He was capped ...
*
Christian Wilhelmsson
Christian Ulf "Chippen" Wilhelmsson (; born 8 December 1979) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a winger. Beginning his career with Mjällby AIF in 1997, he went on to represent clubs in Norway, Belgium, France, Italy, Sp ...
;1 goal
*
Georgi Iliev
*
Zdravko Lazarov
Zdravko Lazarov ( bg, Здравко Лазаров; born 20 February 1976) is a Bulgarian professional football coach and a former player.
Lazarov's professional playing career as a winger spanned nearly 30 years, during which he played for ...
*
Stiliyan Petrov
Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov ( Bulgarian: Стилиян Альошев Петров, born 5 July 1979) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Petrov joined Celtic from CSKA Sofia in 1999, and won ten trophies in ...
*
Marko Babić
*
Ivan Klasnić
Ivan Klasnić (; born 29 January 1980) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He began his career with local side FC St. Pauli, and moved to Werder Bremen in 2001 after helping his previous team to promotion to th ...
*
Niko Kovač
Niko Kovač (; born 15 October 1971) is a Croatian professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Bundesliga club VFL Wolfsburg.
Kovač was the long-standing captain of the Croatia national team until his retirem ...
*
Josip Šimunić
Josip "Joe" Šimunić (; born 18 February 1978) is a Croatian retired footballer and current manager of the Croatia national under-19 team.
Born in Australia to Bosnian Croat parents, Šimunić started his career at Melbourne Knights then mov ...
*
Szabolcs Huszti
Szabolcs Huszti (; born 18 April 1983) is a Hungarian professional football coach and a former player. He was well known for his dribbling, pace, passing and goal scoring ability from midfield.
Huszti began his professional career at the Hungar ...
*
Péter Kovács
*
Imre Szabics
Imre Szabics (born 22 March 1981) is a Hungarian football manager and former professional footballer.
Szabics was born in Szeged where he played as a youngster. He was spotted by Ferencváros and signed for them in 1990, making his professional ...
*
Ákos Takács
*
Kári Árnason
Kári Árnason (born 13 October 1982) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played last for Icelandic club Víkingur and the Iceland national team. He has previously played for Djurgården, AGF Aarhus, Esbjerg fB, Plymouth Argy ...
*
Veigar Páll Gunnarsson
Veigar Páll Gunnarsson (born 21 March 1980) is a retired Icelandic football striker.
His transfer in 2011 led to football clubs Stabæk and Vålerenga being nominated for fines of Norwegian kroner 500,000 and 350,000 respectively, by a comm ...
*
Tryggvi Guðmundsson
Tryggvi Guðmundsson (born 30 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional association football, footballer. He is Iceland's all-time top scorer in the Úrvalsdeild. He is the highest scoring male Icelandic footballer of all time in associati ...
*
Hermann Hreiðarsson
Hermann Hreiðarsson (born 11 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional football player and coach. He played as a defender and spent 15 seasons in England, gaining a total of 315 appearances in the Premier League.
Hermann was relegated fr ...
*
Indriði Sigurðsson
Indriði Sigurðsson (born 12 October 1981) is an Icelandic former football defender. He last played for the Icelandic club KR Reykjavik.
Club career
He started his career in KR Reykjavik, and went to Norway to play for Lillestrøm SK in 2000 ...
*
Kristján Örn Sigurðsson
Kristján Örn Sigurðsson (often spelled Sigurdsson; born 7 October 1980 in Akureyri) is an Icelandic footballer who is a player-assistant manager for Þór.
Club career
He started his career at his local club ÍF Völsungur Húsavik, and mo ...
*
Grétar Steinsson
*
Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson
Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson (born 1 April 1982), commonly anglicised as Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson, is an Icelandic football manager and former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Club career
Born in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, Gun ...
*
Etienne Barbara
Etienne Barbara (born 10 June 1982) is a Maltese former footballer and manager.
Club career
Malta
Barbara started his career as a youth player with Qormi. After having been spotted by scouts following some impressive displays, he earned a move ...
*
Michael Mifsud
Michael Mifsud (born 17 April 1981) is a Maltese professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Maltese Premier League side Mosta F.C., Mosta. He scored 42 goals in 143 games for the Malta ...
*
Brian Said
*
Stephen Wellman
*
Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Christian Allbäck (; born 5 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was known for his sharp finishing ability and represented clubs in Sweden, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, England, and Germa ...
*
Erik Edman
Erik Kenneth Edman (; born 11 November 1978) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Starting off his career with Helsingborgs IF in 1997, he went on to represent clubs in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, England, ...
*
Johan Elmander
Johan Erik Calvin Elmander (; born 27 May 1981) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Beginning his career with Holmalunds IF in the late 1990s, he went on to play professionally in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark ...
*
Mattias Jonson
Olof Mattias Jonsson (; born 16 January 1974) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a winger. Starting off his career with Örebro SK in the early 1990s, he went on to represent Helsingborgs IF, Brøndby IF, and Norwich Cit ...
*
Kim Källström
Kim Mikael Källström (; born 24 August 1982) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was noted for his play-making ability and free-kick taking.
He started his career at several clubs in Sweden, winning cons ...
*
Olof Mellberg
Erik Olof Mellberg (; born 3 September 1977) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. During his career, Mellberg played as a defender, and is best known for his time at Aston Villa, as well as spells with Juventus and Gr ...
;1 own goal
*
Gábor Gyepes
Gábor Gyepes (; born 26 June 1981) is a Hungarian former professional Association football, footballer.
Gyepes began his career with Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, where he won two List of Hungarian football champions, Hungarian national cha ...
(playing against
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
)
*
Brian Said (playing against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
)
See also
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup
8
2004–05 in Bulgarian football
2005–06 in Bulgarian football
2004 in Swedish football
2005 in Swedish football
Qual
2004 in Icelandic football
2005 in Icelandic football
2004–05 in Croatian football
Qual
2004–05 in Hungarian football
2005–06 in Hungarian football
2004–05 in Maltese football
2005–06 in Maltese football