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The Final Eleven: The 2006 World Cup in Numbers

DW staff (sms)July 9, 2006

Three blocked penalties in one match and four missed in another, eight new teams and six billion people watching. A mathematical look at the 2006 World Cup.

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Switching up the numbers on the fieldImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Zero goals scored against the Swiss national team in regular time, making them the first team to ever be eliminated from the World Cup without giving up a goal.

One team that did not score a single goal in a penalty shoot-out. Switzerland lost in the round of 16 to Ukraine 3-0 after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer.

Two knock-out round games ended in extra time, with another three requiring a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner.

WM 2006 - Portugal - Ricardo
One of the one Ricardo couldn't get a hand onImage: AP

Three penalty shots goalkeeper Ricardo stopped to push Portugal past England in the quarter-finals.

Four shoot-out wins for Germany. They're now the only team to have been involved in four World Cup penalty shootouts and winning all of them.

Five games refereed by both Horacio Elizondo and Benito Archundia at the 2006 World Cup, who now share the record. After other top referees were sent home for poor performance, Elizondo also became the first man in black to whistle the opening match and final at the same World Cup.

Six billion people are estimated to have watched the 2006 World Cup.

Seven times after the 2006 tournament that the World Cup final was a purely European affair.

WM 2006 - Togo - Fan
With little to celebrate, Togo supporters were happy their team simply made it to the finalsImage: AP

Eight teams made their World Cup debut in Germany. Angola, the Czech Republic, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago and Ukraine, which proved the most successful by advancing to the quarter-finals.

Nine players were on the field for each team in the Portugal-Netherlands round of 16 match after referee Valentin Ivanov issued a record-setting 12 single cautions and four indirect ejections.

Ten Italian players were responsible for the team's 11 goals before the final against France. Only Luca Toni scored twice before going into the final with a pair of goals against Ukraine.

Eleven consecutive World Cup wins for 2002 champions Brazil after racking up four victories in the tournament's first rounds before falling to France in the quarter-finals.