| Red hot favourites Brazil received a favourable draw | | | | have won just once in six World Cup finals matches |
| as the group stage of the 2006 World Cup was | | | | while first-timers Angola may find the step up difficult, |
| announced on 9 December. The 16/5 favourites were | | | | despite finishing top of a tough qualifying group |
| drawn into Group F with Croatia, Australia and Japan. | | | | containing Nigeria and Zimbabwe. |
| Hosts Germany also has a relatively easy group with | | | | GROUP E |
| opposition provided in the form of Costa Rica, Poland | | | | Italy 11/1 |
| and Ecuador. | | | | Ghana 250/1 |
| However, not everyone was so lucky. Groups C and | | | | USA 100/1 |
| E have "group of death" credentials with Argentina, | | | | Czech Republic 33/1 |
| Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro and Holland | | | | A very tough group to predict. Both Italy and world |
| facing each other in the former, while Italy, Ghana, USA | | | | number two Czech Republic will be expected to |
| and the Czech Republic will battle it out in the latter. | | | | qualify, although the USA, themselves ranked eighth in |
| GROUP A | | | | the world, will also fancy their chances of progression. |
| Germany 7/1 | | | | Ghana are one of the stronger African participants |
| Costa Rica 500/1 | | | | and are capable of causing an upset. |
| Poland 125/1 | | | | GROUP F |
| Ecuador 200/1 | | | | Brazil 16/5 |
| Germany should be able to qualify from Group A | | | | Croatia 80/1 |
| comfortably, kick-starting the tournament with a match | | | | Australia 125/1 |
| against Costa Rica. Poland could prove to be tricky | | | | Japan 250/1 |
| opponents and will be expected to finish as runners up | | | | A favourable draw for Brazil who should qualify as |
| in the group. However, Ecuador may be capable of | | | | comfortable winners of this group. Croatia failed to |
| providing an upset as they beat Croatia in the group | | | | qualify for the second round in 2002 and may miss out |
| stages of the 2002 World Cup. | | | | again to Japan, who topped their group four years ago |
| GROUP B | | | | at the expense of fancied European sides Belgium and |
| England 13/2 | | | | Russia. Australia have the players capable of springing |
| Paraguay 200/1 | | | | a few surprises but lack of experience at this level |
| Trinidad & Tobago 1500/1 | | | | may go against them. |
| Sweden 40/1 | | | | GROUP G |
| Second favourites England earned a favourable draw | | | | France 12/1 |
| with two relatively weak opponents in Paraguay and | | | | Switzerland 100/1 |
| first-time qualifiers Trinidad & Tobago. The final | | | | South Korea 250/1 |
| round of fixtures pits them against Sweden who they | | | | Togo 350/1 |
| have not beaten in 11 matches. The two European | | | | France were heavily tipped to win the 2002 World |
| sides will qualify from this group. | | | | Cup but finished bottom of their qualifying group failing |
| GROUP C | | | | to score a single goal. There will be no excuses for |
| Argentina 8/1 | | | | not progressing from this group, arguably being draw |
| Ivory Coast 100/1 | | | | against the weakest European opposition in |
| Serbia & Montenegro 125/1 | | | | Switzerland and the lowest ranked African nation in |
| Holland 14/1 | | | | Togo. Despite a heroic showing in 2002 which saw |
| A tough group and one of two "Group of Deaths" in | | | | them reach the semi-finals, South Korea may struggle |
| the opening stage of the tournament. Group favourites | | | | to qualify from this group. |
| Argentina failed to qualify for the second round in | | | | GROUP H |
| 2002, finishing third behind Sweden and England but will | | | | Spain 14/1 |
| be expected to progress along with Holland. Both | | | | Ukraine 50/1 |
| Serbia & Montenegro and the Ivory Coast will | | | | Tunisia 300/1 |
| provide stern opposition and it would not be a surprise | | | | Saudi Arabia 500/1 |
| to see one of them qualify ahead of a perceived | | | | Under achieving Spain should qualify from this group, |
| favourite. | | | | but may be pipped to top spot by the Ukraine, who |
| GROUP D | | | | stormed their qualifying group ahead of Turkey, |
| Mexico 50/1 | | | | Denmark and European Champions Greece. Despite a |
| Iran 500/1 | | | | convincing qualifying campaign which saw them |
| Angola 500/1 | | | | unbeaten and conceding only one goal in six games, |
| Portugal 20/1 | | | | Saudi Arabia will finish just short as will Tunisia, who |
| Top seed Mexico can be backed at larger odds than | | | | have bowed out in the first round in each of their three |
| non-seeded Portugal but apart from who will finish first | | | | appearances in 1978, 1998 and 2002. |
| or second, this group should be straight forward. Iran | | | | |