Groupings for the 2006 World Cup in Germany:

Group A: Egypt, Argentina, Finland and Iraq. Both Argentina and Finland qualified from the group. Iraq failed to win a single match and even failed to score a goal. Argentina on the other hand, romped through to the Second Round with wins over Egypt (3-2), Iraq (5-0) and a draw against Finland (1-1). Finland did well too with wins over Iraq (3-0), Egypt (3-2) and the draw against Argentina.

Group B: Holland, Ivory Coast, Iran and Russia. There was no doubt as to which two teams qualified. Holland showed why they were the favourites by beating Ivory Coast (5-1) and Iran (3-1) before drawing with Russia (2-2). Russia joined them in the second round after beating Iran (4-0) and drew two against Ivory Coast (1-1) and Holland.

Group C: Wales, Lesotho, Chile and Germany. Wales had just qualified for their second World Cup after 48 years whereas Lesotho had their first outing. What would turned out to be an easy group for host Germany soon became a nightmare. Despite having an excellent opening game by thrashing Lesotho (6-1) but defeats against Wales (0-1) and Chile (1-2) saw them finishing at the foot of the table. Lesotho was one place above them as they managed to draw with Wales (2-2). Chile qualified after beating Wales (4-3) and Germany (2-1) but went down to lowly Lesotho (0-1).

Group D: Italy, South Africa, Uruguay and Poland. Italy and Uruguay were the winners from this group. Italy justified their seeding by beating South Africa (3-2) and Poland (3-2) before a draw against Uruguay (1-1). Uruguay had a bad start when they lost to Poland (2-3) but they regained momentum to beat South Africa (3-2) and on the last day itself, drew 2-2 against Italy to secure the berth. Poland had themselves to blame as they lost in the final game against South Africa (1-2) when a win would ensure a Second Round spot for them.

Group E: Jamaica, France, Norway and South Korea. Norway who were the beaten finalist in the 2002 World Cup edition had an early exit after failing to win a single match. They lost to South Korea (1-2), France (0-3) and Jamaica (3-4). France showed their dominance in the group by beating all 3 teams, Jamaica (3-1), Norway (3-0) and South Korea (3-0). Jamaica bounced back strongly after the defeat against France by beating South Korea (1-0) and Norway (4-3) to qualify for the Second Round.

Group F: Spain, USA, Saudi Arabia and Croatia. Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia qualified as table-toppers after wins over Croatia (2-0), USA (1-0) and Spain (4-3). Croatia finished second with wins over USA (2-1) and Spain (2-1). Despite having a great start against USA (5-2), Spain faltered in the next 2 matches including the 4-3 thriller against Saudi Arabia in which they lost when the Arabs scored twice in the last 10 minutes.

Group G: Mexico, Brazil, Ukraine and Turkey. An easy group for Brazil in which they sauntered through easily after wins over Mexico (2-0), Turkey (1-0) before drawing with Ukraine (1-1). Turkey was the surprise outfit in this group when they beat Ukraine (2-0) and Mexico (2-1). Mexico saved themselves from indignity by winning their last match against Ukraine (1-0).

Group H: England, Gabon, Greece and Columbia. England had an easy group too and it showed through the results obtained. The first match was against minnows Gabon. Minnows they may be but they managed to keep us at bay for the entire first half and they were the ones that scored first when Bixente Leira scored in the 54th minute. That goal proved to be the catalyst that we need as Owen scored twice to overcome the deficit before Carrick and Beattie scored within the space of one minute. Final score, England 4 Gabon 1.[ScreenShot]

The next match was against Greece whom we had faced during our group matches in Euro 2004 and more recently in the World Cup Qualifiers too. All the bad blood that was felt by England fans when they failed to qualified for the 2002 World Cup was washed away as England humiliated Greece in Germany. It took Owen 7 minutes to find the net. He scored with a header after a cross from Clegg. GOAL! 3 minutes later, Arsenal's Clint Hill scored a bizarre goal for England when he scored from the halfway line. GOAL! It was reminiscent of Beckham's goal against Wimbledon a few years back. It was his first goal for England too. Owen increased the lead when Riza found him in the area in the 13th minute. GOAL! Within 20 minutes of the match, the final outcome had been settled. England was awarded with a penalty in the 20th minute after Riza was elbowed in the area. Owen stood up calmly before sending Newcastle's Greek goalkeeper Dimitris Eleftheropoulos the wrong way. GOAL! Alan Smith rubbed salt into Greece's wounds when he finished them off with England's fifth goal of the night in the 68th minute. England thrashed Greece 5-0.[ScreenShot]

If the last match against Greece showed that we could win the World Cup, the next match against Colombia made it a certainty. Colombia didn't know what hit them that night at Kaiserslautern's Fritz-Walter Stadium. Everything started in the 28th minute when Owen's stinging shot could only be parried by Faryd Mondragon into the path of Greening. GOAL! 5 minutes later, the score had doubled. This time around it was Beckham that supplied the killer pass towards Beattie inside the area. GOAL! A minute later, Rio Ferdinand was sent off for a professional foul on Johnnier Montano. We were made to pay 4 minutes later when Montano sent in a cross for Angel. GOAL! Colombia had pulled one back. But that was just the start of their humiliation. It took England a mere 2 minutes to regain advantage despite being a man down. Beckham's shot was parried into the path of Greening again. GOAL! And right inside the first half injury time, Owen scored to equalise Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for England. The second half was played in the same manner as the first as 10-man England overwhelmed Colombia. Beckham made it 5-1 when he scored in the 56th minute after a poor clearance by Pacheco. 5 minutes later, the final result was put out of reach when Greening completed his first hat-trick of his career. GOAL! We had equalised the 6-1 scoreline record made during the 1994 World Cup Finals. Unfortunately for Colombia, they were on the receiving end in both the records.[ScreenShot]

Despite the defeat, Colombia managed to qualify from the group since they have beaten Greece (2-1) and Gabon (1-0).