The Organising Committee appointed by football's world governing body FIFA has announced the 2006 World Cup match schedule, awarding the prestigious opening match to the Allianz Arena in Munich along with three further group matches, a round of sixteen fixture and a semi-final.
On 9 June 2006, the eyes of the footballing world will turn to Munich: the new Allianz Arena in the north of the city is to stage the opening match of the 18th FIFA World Cup between host nation Germany and Group A opponents Costa Rica. Munich is also to host one of the semi-finals and four further matches in the 2006 tournament for a total of six World Cup games in the city. The Organising Committee appointed by FIFA announced the decision to stage the opening match in Bavaria after a meeting on 3 December 2003 in Frankfurt, thus adopting a proposal made by the German Organising Committee.
Organising Committee Vice President responsible for host cities and stadia Horst R Schmidt added: "We prioritised a fair and equitable distribution of the 64 matches across all our stadia and cities to ensure local investment was rewarded. Every stadium has at least five games, a decision we took with the economic implications in mind. Munich has a key role as the location of the International Media Centre and host city for the FIFA Congress. We know we'll get the highest quality of service there, based on our extensive experience so far."
The 2006 FIFA World Cup match schedule awards eight stadia five games each, with a sixth handed to the four biggest stadia (Berlin, Dortmund, Munich and Stuttgart). Each host city will stage four group matches with eight different teams, as no team will play twice in the same stadium at the group stage. Every host city will also stage games involving at least two seeded teams, meaning the "big names" as defined by the FIFA World Rankings. The draw for the finals took place on 9 December 2005 in Leipzig.
- The schedule in Munich is as follows:
Friday, 9 June 2006:
Group A: Germany – Costa Rica (Opening Match)
Wednesday, 14 June 2006:
Group H: Tunisia – Saudi Arabia
Sunday, 18 June 2006:
Group F: Brazil – Australia
Wednesday, 21 June 2006:
Group C: Côte d'Ivoire – Serbia and Montenegro
Saturday, 24 June 2006:
Round of 16: Winner A v Runner-up B
Wednesday, 5. July 2006:
Semi-final: Winner match 59 v Winner macth 60
Organising Committee Vice President responsible for host cities and stadia Horst R Schmidt added: "We prioritised a fair and equitable distribution of the 64 matches across all our stadia and cities to ensure local investment was rewarded. Every stadium has at least five games, a decision we took with the economic implications in mind. Munich has a key role as the location of the International Media Centre and host city for the FIFA Congress. We know we'll get the highest quality of service there, based on our extensive experience so far."
The 2006 FIFA World Cup match schedule awards eight stadia five games each, with a sixth handed to the four biggest stadia (Berlin, Dortmund, Munich and Stuttgart). Each host city will stage four group matches with eight different teams, as no team will play twice in the same stadium at the group stage. Every host city will also stage games involving at least two seeded teams, meaning the "big names" as defined by the FIFA World Rankings. The draw for the finals took place on 9 December 2005 in Leipzig.
