Germany at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Germany at the 2002 FIFA World Cup This article concerns the German national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Germany had to play against England, Finland, Albania and Greece, managed by fellow German Otto Rehhagel. It was not to be an easy group, so much so as only the first placed team could qualify automatically. The start was promising with four wins in a row, including a 1-0 win against England at Wembley. Since England could only manage a draw away at Finland, automatic qualification should have been a foregone conclusion. In the
FIFA World Cup hosts 7 July 2001, during the FIFA Congress in Buenos Aires, a decision was ratified, which was that the rotation will begin in Africa. On 23 September 2002, FIFA's Executive Committee confirmed that only African member associations, would be invited to submit bids to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In January 2003, Nigeria entered the bidding process, but withdrew their bid in September. In March 2003, Sepp Blatter initially said Nigeria's plan to co host the 2010 FIFA World Cup with four African countries would not work. Nigeria had originally hoped to bid jointly with West African neighbours Benin, Ghana,