The 2002 Football World Cup (Official name: 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™) was held in South Korea and Japan from May 31 to June 30. It was the 17th tournament. As decided by FIFA in May 1996 in Zurich, for the first time in its history, the World Cup was organised by two countries, which also meant that for the first time three teams (South Korea and Japan as co-hosts and 1998 World Cup champion France) received automatic places in the tournament. It was also the first time it was held outside Europe or the Americas.

There was a great deal of controversy leading up to the event in determining who would host it and how to name it (see Football World Cup 2002 naming controversy).

The tournament was won by Brazil for a record fifth time.

Venues

South Korea and Japan each provided 10 stadiums, many of them brand new as they had been built for the tournament.

South Korea

• Blue Arc, Daegu - 68,014 May 2001
• Sangam Stadium, Seoul - 63,961 December 2001
• Busan Asiad Stadium, Busan - 55,982 July 2001
• Incheon World Cup Stadium, Incheon - 52,179 December 2001
• Munsu Stadium, Ulsan - 43,550 May 2001
• Big Bird Stadium, Suwon - 43,188 May 2001
• Gwangju World Cup Stadium, Gwangju - 42,880 September 2001 (renamed Guus Hiddink Stadium immediately after the 2002 World Cup)
• Jeonju Castle, Jeonju - 42,391 September 2001
• Jeju World Cup Stadium, Seogwipo, Jeju - 42,256 December 2001
• Purple Arena, Daejeon - 40,407 September 2001

Japan

• International Stadium, Yokohama - 70,000 October 1997
• Saitama Stadium, Saitama - 63,000 July 2001
• Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka - 50,600 March 2001
• Nagai Stadium, Osaka - 50,000 May 1996
• Miyagi Stadium, Miyagi - 49,000 March 2000
• Stadium Big Eye, Oita - 43,000 March 2001
• Stadium Big Swan, Niigata - 42,300 March 2001
• Sapporo Dome, Sapporo - 42,000 May 2001
• Kashima Stadium, Ibaraki - 42,000 May 2001
• Wing Stadium, Kobe - 42,000 October 2001

Teams

For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see Football World Cup 2002 (squads).

The following 32 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. Of the 32 teams, defending 1998 World Cup champions France and co-hosts South Korea and Japan automatically qualified and did not have to play any qualification matches. The number in brackets is the country's FIFA World Rankings as of June 2002, before the start of the tournament:

Africa (CAF) Cameroon Nigeria South Africa Senegal (first-time qualifier) Tunisia Asia (AFC) China [50] (first-time qualifier) Japan (co-host) Korea Republic (co-host) Saudi Arabia South America (CONMEBOL) Argentina Brazil Ecuador (first-time qualifier) Paraguay Uruguay

Europe (UEFA) Belgium Croatia Denmark England France (defending champion) Germany Republic of Ireland Italy Poland Portugal Spain Russia Slovenia (first-time qualifier) Sweden Turkey North America, Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF) Costa Rica Mexico United States

Tournament

The format of the competition stayed the same as in the 1998 World Cup: thirty-two teams were split into eight groups of four. Sixteen teams (eight group winners and eight second place finishers) would qualify for the knockout competition.

The tournament featured the unexpected early elimination of many of the most highly regarded teams, with France, Portugal, and Argentina not surviving the first round and Italy and Spain defeated by South Korea during the knockout phase. Co-hosts South Korea, with help from the refs, became the first Asian country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup and co-hosts Japan also reached the second round of the tournament.

For the very first time in the Cup's history, teams from each of Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia reached the quarter-finals. It was also the first World Cup that China, Ecuador, Senegal, and Slovenia participated in.

In the end, the finals saw the all-time World Cup winning country, Brazil, defeat the team with the second-best World Cup record, Germany, 2-0 for their record fifth title. The 2002 final was the first time Brazil and Germany had ever faced one another at a World Cup. Ronaldo, who suffered a famously poor final four years earlier, was the hero for the Seleção, scoring both goals of the game. He ended up with a total of eight goals in the tournament – the most in a FIFA World Cup since Gerd Müller scored ten times in Mexico ‘70 - and won the Golden Boot.

Graphical schedule

Round of 16

Quarter finals

Semi finals

Final

15 June - Niigata

Denmark

0

21 June - Shizuoka

England

3

England

1

17 June - Kobe

Brazil

2

Brazil

2

26 June - Saitama

Belgium

0

Brazil

1

16 June - Oita

Turkey

0

Sweden

1

22 June - Osaka

Senegal (AET)

2

Senegal

0

18 June - Miyagi

Turkey (AET)

1

Japan

0

30 June - Yokohama

Turkey

1

Brazil

2

16 June - Suwon

Germany

0

Spain (pen)

1 (3)

22 June - Gwangju

Rep. of Ireland

1 (2)

Spain

0 (3)

18 June - Daejeon

S. Korea (pen)

0 (5)

South Korea

2

25 June - Seoul

Italy

1

South Korea

0

15 June - Jeju

Germany

1

Third place

Germany

1

21 June - Munsu

29 June - Daegu

Paraguay

0

Germany

1

Turkey

3

17 June - Jeonju

United States

0

South Korea

2

Mexico

0

United States

2

Top Scorers

8 goals

• Ronaldo, in 7 games

5 goals

• Miroslav Klose, in 7 games
• Rivaldo, in 7 games

4 goals

• Jon Dahl Tomasson, in 4 games
• Christian Vieri, in 4 games

3 goals

• Marc Wilmots, in 4 games
• Pauleta, in 3 games
• Papa Bouba Diop, in 5 games
• İlhan Mansız, in 7 games
• Robbie Keane, in 4 games
• Michael Ballack, in 6 games
• Fernando Morientes, in 5 games
• Raúl, in 4 games
• Henrik Larsson, in 4 games