FIFA World Cup 2006 Group B

fifa world cup 2006 poster Narrow wins against Paraguay were enough for England and Sweden to progress. Trinidad & Tobago, in their first appearance, did more than make up the numbers, managing a very respectable draw in their first game against Sweden and pushing England as well as Paraguay hard. They emerged with credit despite finishing bottom of the group.

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England

Paraguay

England 1 Paraguay 0

FIFA WM Stadion Frankfurt (48,000)
10 June 2006

In the third minute David Beckham swung over a typical free-kick and the unfortunate Carlos Gamarra mistimed his defensive header, glancing the ball into his own goal. Although England dominated the rest of the first half they could not add to the score and they were on the back foot in the second half as Paraguay threatened to equalise.

Trinidad & Tobago

Sweden

Trinidad & Tobago 0 Sweden 0

FIFA WM Stadion Dortmund (62,959)
10 June 2006

Despite having a player sent off in the 46th minute, the Caribbean team held out for a draw. As expected, Sweden dominated, pinning their opponents into their own half for most of the match.

England

Trinidad & Tobago

England 2 Trinidad & Tobago 0

FIFA WM Stadion Nürnberg (41,000)
15 June 2006

England were unconvincing and only late goals by Peter Crouch (83') and Steven Gerrard (90+1) spared them embarrassment. The result put England into the next round.

Sweden

Paraguay

Sweden 1 Paraguay 0

Olympiastadion, Berlin (72,000)
15 June 2006

Paraguay mounted a stubborn defence and looked likely to hold on for the draw but Freddie Ljungberg broke the deadlock in the 89th minute, scoring with a header at the far post after Allback had nodded a cross back across the goal. Paraguay were now eliminated while Sweden would need to draw with England to go through to the Round of 16.

Sweden

England

Sweden 2 England 2

FIFA WM Stadion Köln (45,000)
20 June 2006

England were on top in the first half and went ahead in the 34th minute when Joe Cole lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper from 35 yards. Marcus Allbäck equalised six minutes into the second half and England began to struggle. With five minutes left, Gerrard scored against the run of play but in the last minute Larsson pounced on a loose ball to equalise.

Paraguay

Trinidad & Tobago

Paraguay 2 Trinidad & Tobago 0

Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern (46,000)
20 June 2006

On paper, Trinidad & Tobago still had an outside chance of going into the next round if they could beat Paraguay and Sweden lost to England. They attacked with enthusiasm but fell behind in the 25th minute when Sancho deflected the ball into his own goal. Paraguay scored again with four minutes to go and were somewhat flattered by the scoreline.