2006 FIFA World Cup Group A
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Group A of 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 th ...
was one of eight groups in the opening round of the tournament. The group featured four teams, competition hosts
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, Costa Rica,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
. Play began on 9 June with the opening game of the tournament between Germany and Costa Rica, with the former securing a 4–2 victory in the highest scoring opening game in World Cup history since the competition introduced a single game opener. Later the same day, Poland and Ecuador faced each other, with Ecuador winning 2–0. On 14 June, Germany secured their second victory of the competition, defeating Poland 1–0 following
Oliver Neuville Oliver Patric Neuville (, born 1 May 1973) is a German former footballer who played as a striker. During an 18-year professional career he played mainly for Bayer Leverkusen (five seasons) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (six), amassing Bundeslig ...
's injury time goal. The following day, Ecuador defeated Costa Rica 3–0 to guarantee both they and Germany would advance to the round of 16. The final set of matches was played on 20 June 2006. Germany and Ecuador contested the top place in the group, with the hosts winning 3–0. With both sides already eliminated, Poland defeated Costa Rica 2–1 to claim their only victory of the competition. Ecuador were eliminated in the following round by
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
while Germany reached the semi-finals before being defeated by eventual winners
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Germany finished third after beating
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in the third place playoff match.


Background

Group A was the first of eight groups to start play at 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 th ...
in Germany. The competition consisted of 32 competitors, split into eight groups of four teams. The sides would play each other on a round-robin basis with the top two teams in each group advancing to the round of 16. As hosts, three-time World Cup winners
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
qualified automatically for the tournament and were placed into Group A. Manager
Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...
had been appointed in 2004, but due to qualifying as hosts, had yet to take charge of his side in a competitive fixture. His team were considered one of the favourites to win the competition with bookmakers offering odds of around 13/2, but had received criticism in the country, notably from Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeneß who had labelled the side "a disaster".
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
members Costa Rica endured a poor start to qualifying, narrowly avoiding an upset defeat against
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in the
second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
, before appointing Alexandre Guimarães as manager midway through the stage. They qualified for the tournament after finishing third in their qualification round, reaching the finals for the third time in their history. However, they were classed as rank outsiders to win the competition, with odds as high as 500/1 being offered. To provide an even number of teams for the playoff bracket, the two teams from the UEFA qualification groups who had finished second in their group with the best record automatically gained qualification to the World Cup.
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, who finished second in UEFA qualification Group 6 behind
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, were one of the teams who were eligible, along with Sweden. Ecuador qualified after finishing in the third of four automatic qualification places in the CONMEBOL qualifying group behind
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, reaching the finals for only the second time. Similar to Costa Rica, Ecuador were given low odds of around 400/1. In their preview of the tournament, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' labelled Group A as the "weakest" in the competition.


Teams

;Notes


Standings

*
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
advanced to play Sweden (runners-up of
Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
) in the
round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
. *
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
advanced to play
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
(winners of
Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
) in the
round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
.


Matches

''All times local ( CEST/UTC+2)''


Germany vs Costa Rica

The opening match of Group A, and the World Cup, was between hosts Germany and Costa Rica. This was the first time the two sides had ever played each other in international football. Germany captain
Michael Ballack Michael Ballack (; born 26 September 1976) is a German former professional footballer. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. Ballack wore the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for, except 1. FC ...
was forced to withdraw from the starting line-up after failing to overcome an injury and was replaced by Tim Borowski. Defender
Philipp Lahm Philipp Lahm (; born 11 November 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a full-back. Considered by many to be one of the greatest full-backs of all time, Lahm was the captain of Bayern Munich, having led them to numerous ...
gave Germany the lead after six minutes with a 30-yard curling shot from outside the penalty area that beat opposition goalkeeper José Porras and was described as "unstoppable" by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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. In doing so, Lahm became the fourth German player to have opened the scoring at a World Cup. Germany had further long range efforts soon after, before Costa Rica's
Paulo Wanchope Paulo César Wanchope Watson (; born 31 July 1976), more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican football coach and former professional footballer As a player he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby Cou ...
, already his country's record goalscorer, equalised after 12 minutes after breaching the German defence and finishing past goalkeeper
Jens Lehmann Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...
. Wanchope's goal saw him become the first Costa Rican player to have scored in more than one World Cup and the second to have scored more than one World Cup goal after Rónald Gómez four years earlier. Germany regained their lead five minutes later when
Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Rheindorf Altach. A striker, Klose ...
finished from Bernd Schneider's cross. Costa Rica's Danny Fonseca became the first player to be booked in the competition after 30 minutes and the midfielder missed a chance to equalise shortly after half-time, heading wide despite being unmarked. Klose netted his second goal just after the hour-mark, putting in the rebound after his own header was parried by Porras. However, after 12 minutes Costa Rica again cut the deficit with Wanchope again scoring past Lehmann with a composed finish after receiving a cross from
Walter Centeno Wálter Centeno Corea (born 6 October 1974) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and current manager of Guadalupe. He was a regular member of the Costa Rica national team and holds the record ...
, although the German players believed Wanchope was offside. The Germans sealed victory three minutes from time with
Torsten Frings Torsten Klaus Frings (born 22 November 1976) is a German former footballer and manager, who last managed SV Meppen. A former midfielder, throughout his career he played for several German clubs, namely Alemannia Aachen, Werder Bremen, Borussia D ...
firing in a long-range shot that beat Porras in similar fashion to Lahm's goal. The six goals scored during the match made it the highest-scoring opening game in World Cup history since the tournament began using the single opening match format.


Poland vs Ecuador

Poland and Ecuador had previously met once before their opening World Cup match, playing out a 1–1 draw during a friendly in November 2005. The Poles pressed the attack for the opening 20 minutes of the match, but were unable to create any significant chances. 24 minutes in, Ecuador took the lead when
Carlos Tenorio Carlos Vicente Tenorio Medina (born 14 May 1979) is an Ecuadorian former footballer who last played for Ecuadorian club Atlético Saquisilí. From 2001 to 2009, he represented the Ecuador national football team. Club career Tenorio began his c ...
got ahead of Marcin Baszczyński to head in after teammate
Agustín Delgado Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá (born 23 December 1974) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''Tín'', he was the all-time top scorer for the Ecuador national team with 31 goals in 71 games befor ...
had nodded the ball towards him from a long throw. Tenorio became only the third player to have scored a World Cup goal for Ecaudor after Delgado and Édison Méndez. Buoyed by their goal, Ecuador took control of the game and had several chances before the end of the first half but failed to convert. However, Poland had struggled to make an impression and Jon Brodkin of ''The Guardian'' noted that they had "forced not a single meaningful save" from the opposition goalkeeper. In the second half, Poland began pushing forward with Mirosław Szymkowiak creating several near chances, the best of which sent Jacek Krzynówek through before being called offside. In the final third of the game, Poland were denied by the woodwork twice; first when Ireneusz Jeleń struck the crossbar with a shot and later when Paweł Brożek hit the post. Despite their attacking threat, it was Ecuador who were able to score when
Iván Kaviedes Jaime Iván Kaviedes Llorenty (born 24 October 1977) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Kaviedes rose to fame after scoring 43 goals in one season for Emelec in the 1998 Ecuadorian league. Thi ...
broke through before laying the ball off for Delgado to give his side a 2–0 lead. Delgado's goal made him his country's record World Cup goalscorer, which he would remain until being surpassed by
Enner Valencia Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra (born 4 November 1989) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and captains the Ecuador national team. He previously played for Emelec in Ecuador, where ...
at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This match was the fifth consecutive time that Poland had failed to score in their opening match at a World Cup finals.


Germany vs Poland

This was the 15th international meeting between Germany and Poland since 1933 and their third in World Cup competition, having previously met at both the 1974 and
1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...
finals, with Germany having never lost to their opponents. The Germans, with captain Ballack restored to the starting line-up in place of Borowski, dominated play and had a number of chances in the first half, with both Klose and his strike partner
Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...
failing to convert more than one chance each. Poland's best chance came early on when
Maciej Żurawski Maciej Stanisław Żurawski (; born 12 September 1976) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Żurawski appeared 72 times and scored 17 goals for Poland, representing them at two World Cups and Euro 2008. He also ...
sent a scuffed shot towards Lehmann which was easily gathered. During the second half Poland threatened with Jelen testing Lehmann early and Poland offered more attacking threat in the opening period. Germany also continued to push forward and forced Poland goalkeeper
Artur Boruc Artur Boruc (; born 20 February 1980) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career in the Polish third division with hometown club Pogoń Siedlce. He joined Ekstraklasa team Legia Warsaw in 1999 a ...
into several saves, while both Klose and Ballack were denied by the frame of the goal during the same attack. With 15 minutes remaining, Polish midfielder Radosław Sobolewski was sent off for a second bookable offence after fouling Klose. In the last seconds of
injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, German substitutes
David Odonkor David Odonkor (born 21 February 1984) is a German footballer who plays as a right winger. He plays for the amateur side SC Düsseldorf-West II. He started playing professionally with Borussia Dortmund, appearing in 90 competitive matches. In th ...
and
Oliver Neuville Oliver Patric Neuville (, born 1 May 1973) is a German former footballer who played as a striker. During an 18-year professional career he played mainly for Bayer Leverkusen (five seasons) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (six), amassing Bundeslig ...
combined, the latter converting a cross from his teammate to secure a 1–0 victory, the first time Germany had ever won a World Cup game through an injury time goal. The win marked the first time Germany had beaten another European nation at a major international competition since defeating the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
in the UEFA Euro 1996 final.


Ecuador vs Costa Rica

This was the ninth meeting between Ecuador and Costa Rica, but the first in a competitive fixture. Costa Rica had not beaten their opponents since the first meeting between the two in 1992 and defeat would eliminate them from the finals. Ecuador manager Luis Fernando Suárez deliberately left his squad announcement until the latest time allowed, noting that he aimed to "not give any clues to our rivals". Costa Rica were forced to omit fullback
Gilberto Martínez Gilberto Martínez Vidal (born October 1, 1979) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Deportivo Saprissa Born in the Pacific Coast town of in Golfito, Costa Rica, Martínez made his professio ...
due to injury. His side started brightly but Tenorio gave Ecuador an early lead, heading in from
Antonio Valencia Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...
's cross after eight minutes for his second goal of the tournament. Costa Rica struggled to threaten their opponent's goal, registering their first shot on target after 39 minutes as Ecuador controlled possession. Nine minutes into the second half, Ecuador doubled their lead through Delgado's second goal of the competition. Receiving a pass from Kaviedes, Delgado chested the ball down before beating Porras at his near post. Spurred into action by the second goal, Costa Rica first forced a save from Cristian Mora before Alvaro Saborio hit the crossbar. However, Ecuador sealed victory when Kaviedes added a third goal with a volley in the 92nd minute. As a result of their victory, both Ecuador and Germany were guaranteed to advance while Poland and Costa Rica were eliminated. In only their second finals, Ecuador qualified from the group stage for the first time in their history and the result remains the nation's biggest victory at a World Cup finals.


Ecuador vs Germany

This was the first time that Ecaudor and Germany had ever played each other. Both teams had already qualified for the next round, with Ecuador ahead on goal difference ahead of the game. Germany fielded a full strength side, but were forced to deny the presence of a rift between strike partners Klose and Podolski after the former had criticised his teammate. Ecuador instead chose to rest several first team players, including forwards Delgado and Tenorio and captain
Iván Hurtado Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo (born 16 August 1974) is an Ecuadorian politician and former professional footballer who played as a centre back. With 168 international appearances for Ecuador between 1992 and 2014, he was the most capped South A ...
. Klose gave Germany the lead after just four minutes, scoring from eight-yards after
Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the grea ...
had capitalised on a failed clearance by the opposition defence to play in his teammate. His goal was the second fastest ever scored by a German player at a World Cup, coming one minute after
Rüdiger Abramczik Rüdiger Abramczik (born 18 February 1956) is a former German association football, football player and coach, best known for his ability to cross the ball (''"Flankengott"''). Club career Abramczik was born in Gelsenkirchen-Erle. He, whose y ...
's record in 1978. Germany continued to press and had several chances, the best being Podolski racing through before being beaten to the ball by Mora. With the goalkeeper out of his penalty area, Ballack attempted to loop the ball over Mora from 40-yards but his attempt went wide of the goal. Klose added a second goal shortly before half-time; captain Ballack chipped the ball over the Ecuadorian defence, allowing Klose to round Mora in the opposition goal to score his fourth of the tournament. Early in the second half, Ecuador attempted to get back into the game, Edwin Tenorio forcing a save from Lehmann from 25-yards out. Podolski scored his first World Cup goal following a swift counterattack. Schweinsteiger's pass allowed Bernd Schneider to cross from which Podolski scored. With a three goal lead, Germany made several substitutions to rest key players and saw out the game to finish top of the group, the fifth consecutive time that they had done so at the World Cup finals.


Costa Rica vs Poland

Poland and Costa Rica had previously met on two other occasions, both ending in victories for the Poles, but this was their first competitive fixture. With both teams already eliminated, their final match was a
dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...
played in high temperatures. Poland held the majority of possession early on but Costa Rica took the lead after 25 minutes, Gomez scoring via a direct free-kick which went through the defensive wall and the legs of Boruc who was unable to react. However, Poland equalised eight minutes later when
Bartosz Bosacki Bartosz Bosacki (born 20 December 1975) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. International career On 22 May 2006, Paweł Janas called up Bosacki for the 2006 World Cup as a replacement for Damian Gorawski, a ...
scored his first international goal and his nation's first of the competition, volleying in off the crossbar from Żurawski's corner, the Poles' sixth of the game, after Porras had failed to gather the ball. Bosacki added a second in the 66th minute, again from a corner, this time with a powerful header. Wanchope had a late goal ruled out for offside as the match eventually finished 2–1 to Poland. Referee
Shamsul Maidin Shamsul Maidin (born 16 April 1966) is a Singaporean association football referee. He first became a referee in 1996 and retired in 2007. AFC Director of Referees since 2016 Shamsul Maidin has contributed to the development of Asian Refereeing ...
gave out 10 yellow cards during the game, the fourth highest in World Cup history at the time.


Aftermath

Germany finished top of the group with nine points having won all three of their group matches. They faced Sweden, the runners-up of
Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
, in the round of 16, winning 2–0. They went on to defeat
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in the quarter-finals on penalties before suffering defeat to
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in the semi-finals. Germany finished third after defeating
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
3–1 in the third-place playoff. As runners-up in the group with six points, Ecuador faced the winners of Group B,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, in the next round but were eliminated after a 1–0 defeat. Poland would not return to the competition until the
2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
while Costa Rica failed to qualify for the
2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
before returning for the 2014 tournament. Klose's four goals during the group stage contributed to him winning the Golden Boot as the competition's top goalscorer. He finished the World Cup with five in total, the lowest tally needed to win the award since
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
. His teammate Podolski went on to win the young player of the tournament award.


References

Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Group A A
Group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
Poland at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
Ecuador at the 2006 FIFA World Cup