2006 FIFA World Cup Group C

Play in Group C of the 2006 FIFA World Cup began on 10 June 2006 and ended on 21 June. Argentina won the group and advanced to the round of 16, along with the Netherlands. The two sides tied on points in the standings, but Argentina won the tie-break on goal difference and ended the group in first with the Netherlands in second place. The Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro failed to advance.

Upon completion of the draw for the tournament, many football pundits remarked that this group appeared to be the "group of death", despite the fact that only Argentina had qualified for the previous World Cup.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Argentina	3	2	1	0	8	1	+7	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Netherlands	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
3	Ivory Coast	3	1	0	2	5	6	−1	3
4	Serbia and Montenegro	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	0

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria

Argentina advanced to play Mexico (runners-up of Group D) in the round of 16.
The Netherlands advanced to play Portugal (winners of Group D) in the round of 16.

Matches

All times local (CEST/UTC+2)

Argentina vs Ivory Coast

10 June 2006

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	2–1	Ivory Coast
Crespo 24' Saviola 38'	Report	Drogba 82'

FIFA WM Stadion Hamburg, Hamburg

Attendance: 49,480

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

Argentina

Ivory Coast


GK	1	Roberto Abbondanzieri
RB	21	Nicolás Burdisso
CB	2	Roberto Ayala
CB	6	Gabriel Heinze	48'
LB	3	Juan Pablo Sorín (c)
RM	18	Maxi Rodríguez
CM	8	Javier Mascherano
LM	5	Esteban Cambiasso
AM	10	Juan Román Riquelme		90+3'
CF	7	Javier Saviola	41'	75'
CF	9	Hernán Crespo		64'
Substitutions:
FW	14	Rodrigo Palacio		64'
MF	22	Lucho González	81'	75'
MF	16	Pablo Aimar		90+3'
Manager:
José Pékerman


GK	1	Jean-Jacques Tizié
RB	21	Emmanuel Eboué	62'
CB	4	Kolo Touré
CB	12	Abdoulaye Méïté
LB	3	Arthur Boka
CM	19	Yaya Touré
CM	5	Didier Zokora
RW	18	Abdul Kader Keïta		77'
AM	8	Bonaventure Kalou		55'
LW	2	Kanga Akalé		62'
CF	11	Didier Drogba (c)	90+1'
Substitutions:
FW	15	Aruna Dindane		55'
FW	14	Bakari Koné		62'
FW	9	Arouna Koné		77'
Manager:
Henri Michel

Man of the Match:
Javier Saviola (Argentina)

Assistant referees:
Peter Hermans (Belgium)
Walter Vromans (Belgium)
Fourth official:
Éric Poulat (France)
Fifth official:
Vincent Texier (France)

Serbia and Montenegro vs Netherlands

11 June 2006

15:00 CET (UTC+1)

Serbia and Montenegro	0–1	Netherlands
	Report	Robben 18'

Zentralstadion, Leipzig

Attendance: 43,000

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

Serbia and Montenegro

Netherlands


GK	1	Dragoslav Jevrić
RB	14	Nenad Đorđević		43'
CB	6	Goran Gavrančić	90'
CB	20	Mladen Krstajić
LB	3	Ivica Dragutinović	81'
RM	10	Dejan Stanković	34'
CM	4	Igor Duljaj
CM	17	Albert Nađ
LM	11	Predrag Đorđević
CF	9	Savo Milošević (c)		46'
CF	8	Mateja Kežman		67'
Substitutions:
MF	7	Ognjen Koroman	64'	43'
FW	19	Nikola Žigić		46'
FW	21	Danijel Ljuboja		67'
Manager:
Ilija Petković


GK	1	Edwin van der Sar (c)
RB	14	John Heitinga	85'
CB	13	André Ooijer
CB	4	Joris Mathijsen		86'
LB	5	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	56'
RM	18	Mark van Bommel		60'
CM	20	Wesley Sneijder
LM	8	Phillip Cocu
RF	17	Robin van Persie
CF	9	Ruud van Nistelrooy		69'
LF	11	Arjen Robben
Substitutions:
MF	6	Denny Landzaat		60'
FW	7	Dirk Kuyt		69'
DF	3	Khalid Boulahrouz		86'
Manager:
Marco van Basten

Man of the Match:
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

Assistant referees:
Christian Schräer (Germany)
Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany)
Fourth official:
Mohamed Guezzaz (Morocco)
Fifth official:
Brahim Djezzar (Algeria)

Argentina vs Serbia and Montenegro

16 June 2006

15:00 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	6–0	Serbia and Montenegro
Rodríguez 6', 41' Cambiasso 31' Crespo 78' Tevez 84' Messi 88'	Report

FIFA WM Stadion Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen

Attendance: 52,000

Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

Argentina

Serbia and Montenegro


GK	1	Roberto Abbondanzieri
RB	21	Nicolás Burdisso
CB	2	Roberto Ayala
CB	6	Gabriel Heinze
LB	3	Juan Pablo Sorín (c)
DM	8	Javier Mascherano
RW	22	Lucho González		17'
AM	10	Juan Román Riquelme
LW	18	Maxi Rodríguez		75'
CF	7	Javier Saviola		59'
CF	9	Hernán Crespo	36'
Substitutions:
MF	5	Esteban Cambiasso		17'
FW	11	Carlos Tevez		59'
FW	19	Lionel Messi		75'
Manager:
José Pékerman


GK	1	Dragoslav Jevrić
RB	4	Igor Duljaj
CB	6	Goran Gavrančić
CB	15	Milan Dudić
LB	20	Mladen Krstajić	42'
RM	7	Ognjen Koroman	7'	50'
CM	17	Albert Nađ	27'	46'
CM	11	Predrag Đorđević
LM	10	Dejan Stanković
CF	9	Savo Milošević (c)		70'
CF	8	Mateja Kežman	65'
Substitutions:
MF	2	Ivan Ergić		46'
FW	21	Danijel Ljuboja		50'
MF	18	Zvonimir Vukić		70'
Manager:
Ilija Petković

Man of the Match:
Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina)

Assistant referees:
Cristiano Copelli (Italy)
Alessandro Stagnoli (Italy)
Fourth official:
Essam Abd El Fatah (Egypt)
Fifth official:
Dramane Danté (Mali)

Netherlands vs Ivory Coast

16 June 2006

18:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	2–1	Ivory Coast
Van Persie 23' Van Nistelrooy 27'	Report	B. Koné 38'

Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart

Attendance: 52,000

Referee: Óscar Ruiz (Colombia)

Netherlands

Ivory Coast


GK	1	Edwin van der Sar (c)
RB	14	John Heitinga		46'
CB	13	André Ooijer
CB	4	Joris Mathijsen	35'
LB	5	Giovanni van Bronckhorst
RM	18	Mark van Bommel	58'
CM	20	Wesley Sneijder		50'
LM	8	Phillip Cocu
RF	11	Arjen Robben	34'
CF	9	Ruud van Nistelrooy		73'
LF	17	Robin van Persie
Substitutions:
DF	3	Khalid Boulahrouz		46'
MF	10	Rafael van der Vaart		50'
MF	6	Denny Landzaat	90+4'	73'
Manager:
Marco van Basten


GK	1	Jean-Jacques Tizié
RB	21	Emmanuel Eboué
CB	4	Kolo Touré
CB	12	Abdoulaye Méïté
LB	3	Arthur Boka	66'
CM	19	Yaya Touré
CM	5	Didier Zokora	25'
CM	22	Romaric		62'
RF	14	Bakari Koné		62'
CF	11	Didier Drogba (c)	41'
LF	9	Arouna Koné		73'
Substitutions:
MF	10	Gilles Yapi Yapo		62'
FW	15	Aruna Dindane		62'
MF	2	Kanga Akalé		73'
Manager:
Henri Michel

Man of the Match:
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

Assistant referees:
José Navia (Colombia)
Fernando Tamayo (Ecuador)
Fourth official:
Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)
Fifth official:
José Luis Camargo (Mexico)

Netherlands vs Argentina

21 June 2006

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	0–0	Argentina
	Report

FIFA WM Stadion Frankfurt, Frankfurt

Attendance: 48,000

Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)

Netherlands

Argentina


GK	1	Edwin van der Sar (c)
RB	2	Kew Jaliens
CB	3	Khalid Boulahrouz
CB	13	André Ooijer	42'
LB	15	Tim de Cler	48'
RM	10	Rafael van der Vaart
CM	20	Wesley Sneijder		86'
LM	8	Phillip Cocu
RF	17	Robin van Persie		67'
CF	9	Ruud van Nistelrooy		56'
LF	7	Dirk Kuyt	28'
Substitutions:
FW	21	Ryan Babel		56'
MF	6	Denny Landzaat		67'
MF	16	Hedwiges Maduro		86'
Manager:
Marco van Basten


GK	1	Roberto Abbondanzieri
RB	21	Nicolás Burdisso		24'
CB	2	Roberto Ayala (c)
CB	15	Gabriel Milito
LB	17	Leandro Cufré
RM	18	Maxi Rodríguez
CM	8	Javier Mascherano	90'
LM	5	Esteban Cambiasso	57'
AM	10	Juan Román Riquelme		80'
CF	19	Lionel Messi		70'
CF	11	Carlos Tevez
Substitutions:
DF	4	Fabricio Coloccini		24'
FW	20	Julio Cruz		70'
MF	16	Pablo Aimar		80'
Manager:
José Pékerman

Man of the Match:
Carlos Tevez (Argentina)

Assistant referees:
Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco (Spain)
Pedro Medina Hernández (Spain)
Fourth official:
Carlos Chandía (Chile)
Fifth official:
Rodrigo González (Chile)

Ivory Coast vs Serbia and Montenegro

Bonaventure Kalou scored the winning goal for the Ivory Coast with a penalty kick in the 86th minute.

21 June 2006

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Ivory Coast	3–2	Serbia and Montenegro
Dindane 37' (pen.), 67' Kalou 86' (pen.)	Report	Žigić 10' Ilić 20'

FIFA WM Stadion München, Munich

Attendance: 66,000

Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)

Ivory Coast

Serbia and Montenegro


GK	23	Boubacar Barry
RB	21	Emmanuel Eboué
CB	6	Blaise Kouassi
CB	17	Cyril Domoraud (c)	41' 90+2'
LB	3	Arthur Boka
RM	18	Abdul Kader Keïta	33'	73'
CM	5	Didier Zokora
CM	19	Yaya Touré
LM	2	Kanga Akalé		60'
CF	15	Aruna Dindane	43'
CF	9	Arouna Koné
Substitutions:
FW	14	Bakari Koné		60'
FW	8	Bonaventure Kalou		73'
Manager:
Henri Michel


GK	1	Dragoslav Jevrić
RB	14	Nenad Đorđević
CB	6	Goran Gavrančić	57'
CB	15	Milan Dudić	35'
LB	20	Mladen Krstajić		16'
RM	10	Dejan Stanković (c)
CM	4	Igor Duljaj	37'
CM	22	Saša Ilić
CM	11	Predrag Đorđević
LM	2	Ivan Ergić
CF	19	Nikola Žigić		67'
Substitutions:
MF	17	Albert Nađ	17' 45+1'	16'
FW	9	Savo Milošević		67'
Manager:
Ilija Petković

Man of the Match:
Aruna Dindane (Ivory Coast)

Assistant referees:
José Luis Camargo (Mexico)
Leonel Leal (Costa Rica)
Fourth official:
Mohamed Guezzaz (Morocco)
Fifth official:
Brahim Djezzar (Algeria)

v t e 2006 FIFA World Cup
Stages	Group stage Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Knockout stage Portugal v Netherlands Final
General information	Qualification Broadcasting Controversies Officials Organizing Committee Seeding Sponsorship Squads
Official symbols	+Teamgeist (match ball) Goleo and Pille (mascots) "The Time of Our Lives" (song) "Celebrate the Day" (anthem) 2006 FIFA World Cup (video game)

v t e 2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
Champions	Italy
Runners-up	France
Third place	Germany
Fourth place	Portugal
Quarter-finals	Argentina Brazil England Ukraine
Round of 16	Australia Ecuador Ghana Mexico Netherlands Spain Sweden Switzerland
Group stage	Angola Costa Rica Croatia Czech Republic Iran Ivory Coast Japan Paraguay Poland Saudi Arabia Serbia and Montenegro South Korea Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia United States

Standings

Matches

Argentina vs Ivory Coast

Serbia and Montenegro vs Netherlands

Argentina vs Serbia and Montenegro

Netherlands vs Ivory Coast

Netherlands vs Argentina

Ivory Coast vs Serbia and Montenegro

See also