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 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament. 199 teams entered the tournament qualification rounds, competing for 32 spots in the final tournament. South Korea and Japan, as the co-hosts, and France, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition. "12 of the 32 teams subsequently