Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup World Cup, played Cameroon in the opening match; in 1994, Germany, winner of the 1990 World Cup, played Bolivia; in 1998, Brazil played Scotland and in 2002 France played Senegal). As of the 2006 World Cup, because of the change in the rules, with the last champion no longer having a secured berth in the competition, the opening match has become another privilege of the host nation (in the 2006 World Cup, Germany, as the host nation, played Costa Rica in the opening match). Despite being the returning champion, the Brazilian team debuted, against Croatia, only four days after the
National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association). The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 when it was not held due to the Second World War. The competition originally featured 16 teams, and later 24, before settling on its current format of 32 teams starting with the 1998 tournament. Teams initially compete in