2006 FIFA World Cup Final 2006 FIFA World Cup Final The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, to determine the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Italy beat France 5–3 on penalties after the match finished 1–1 after extra time. France's Zinedine Zidane was sent off in his last-ever match, for headbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi's chest in retaliation to Materazzi's verbal provocation. It was the first final since 1978 in which neither Germany nor Brazil competed (and the second since 1938); it was also the first all-European final since
National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup group stage. The first host ever to fail to advance past the first round was South Africa in 2010. † denotes the best result in the team's history, ‡ - the best result at the time of the competition (improved later). The defending World Cup champions were formerly granted an automatic spot in the Cup finals field. As of the 2006 tournament, this berth is no longer guaranteed. However, no defending World Cup champion has yet failed to qualify. Automatic berths have never been given for defending World Cup runners-up. Defending runners-up are 15-for-18 in qualification efforts for the following