Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Brazil participated for the 18th time in the event. The country remained as the only national team to have participated in every installment of the FIFA World Cup. The Brazilian team played until the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by France, finishing the tournament in the fifth place — for the third time in history (1954 and 1986 were the previous instances). Brazil's qualifying for the event marked the first time in history in which a returning champion (the country had won the 2002 World Cup) had
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) following three teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament. 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, ran from 2000 to 2001 in order to determine the three representatives at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. For an overview of the qualification rounds, see 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification. A total of 35 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. Guyana withdrew before playing and leaves 34 nations in the race. Mexico, USA, Jamaica and Costa Rica, the four highest-ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the semi-finals, while Canada advanced directly to the "play-offs"