2002 World Cup Tournament

The 2002 Football World Cup Tournament was held from May 31 through June 30 at various venues throughout in South Korea and Japan. For match results and statistics, see Football World Cup 2002.

The World Cup started with a shock, as defending champions France, playing without suspended Zinedine Zidane, were shut out by tournament newcomers Senegal, 1-0. In fact, the French failed to score a goal in finishing last in Group A, their only points coming from a scoreless draw with Uruguay. An impressive Denmark won the group, joined by Senegal in the next round.

Spain had an easy time sweeping Group B, with Paraguay needing a late goal against another newcomer, Slovenia, to tie South Africa on goal difference (they were already tied on points) and move to the second round on the next tiebreaker, goals scored.

Brazil swept Group C; the only thing marring their play was Rivaldo faking a head injury in a win against Turkey. The Turks did advance to the next round, over Costa Rica on goal difference. China, coached by Bora Milutinovic (a fifth different team he coached in five successive World Cups), failed to get a point or score a goal.

Group D saw a shock as the United States beat much-fancied Portugal 3-2. Then, phenomenal goalkeeping by Brad Friedel earned the Americans a 1-1 draw with South Korea. Then, with Korea already assured of advancing, the co-hosts beat Portugal to send the Europeans home and give the US a ticket into the second round. Poland finished last in the group.

Germany thrashed Saudi Arabia 8-0 in Group E behind three goals from Miroslav Klose. Ireland, playing without ex-captain Roy Keane, sent home days before the World Cup, but led by his unrelated namesake, Robbie, was good enough to nip African champions Cameroon for second place.

Other than France's failures, the biggest shock of the tournament came in the Group of Death, Group F as pre-tournament favorites Argentina failed to move out of the group. A loss to England 1-0 on a David Beckham penalty and a subsequent draw with Sweden kept the South Americans from advancing. The Scandinavians won the group, with England also going through. Nigeria finished last.

In Group G, Italy, Croatia, and Ecuador all beat each other once, but the Italians' draw against group winners Mexico, while the other two lost to the Central Americans, gave the three-time World champions second place in the group.

Co-hosts Japan breezed through Group H, joined in the second round by Belgium. Russia and Tunisia were two of the dissapointments of the tournament, in what was considered the weakest group of the eight.

In the Round of 16, Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 on a late goal by Oliver Neuville. England trashed previously-impressive Denmark 3-0. Senegal continued their impressive run with a golden goal victory over Sweden, 2-1. Robbie Keane's late equalizer for Ireland to make it 1-1 was not enough as Spain won on penalty kicks.

In the battle of CONCACAF rivals, the United States took it to Mexico 2-0 behind the goals of Brian McBride and Landon Donovan. Belgium played well against Brazil, but was at the wrong end of the 2-0 score. Turkey ended co-hosts Japan's run with a 1-0 win. The other co-hosts, South Korea, beat Italy on a golden goal, 2-1, in a controversial match that saw Francesco Totti red-carded in overtime for diving.

In the quarterfinals, Ronaldinho's free kick sailed over the stunned David Seaman as Brazil beat England 2-1. The US was unlucky to lose to Germany 1-0 on a Michael Ballack goal; they outplayed the Germans everywhere but on the scoreboard and were denied an obvious penalty on a goal-line hand ball. South Korea got another controversial win, beating Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw; the Spanish had two goals disallowed, which replays proved to be wrong decisions. Turkey continued their remarkable run, stopping Senegal's own with a 1-0 golden goal victory.

The semifinals saw two 1-0 games; first, Ballack's goal was enough for Germany to top South Korea. However, Ballack received a yellow card during the match, which forced him to miss the final based on accumulated yellow cards. Then, Ronaldo scored his sixth of the competition to beat Turkey in a rematch of a first-round match. Turkey beat the Koreans 3-2 for third place, their first goal coming from Hakan Şükür straight off the opening kickoff.

With Ballack's yellow card suspension thwarting the German offense, the final was Ronaldo time. The Golden Boot winner scored his seventh and eighth goals, as previously-steady Oliver Kahn was victimized. The German keeper, who had a terrific tournament, allowing just one goal in the previous six matches, failed to hold Rivaldo's shot in the 67th minute that Ronaldo easily knocked home for the game winner. The second goal 12 minutes later made the result academic. The game was over with the 2-0 result and Brazil had their record fifth World Cup title. Kahn received the consolation prize of being named the tournament MVP.