But four decades of drought finally ended, as Ghana's 4-0 victory over Cape Verde in Praia secured their passage to Germany 2006.
Cameroon - who had secured leadership of Group Three after beating Ivory Coast 3-2 in Abidjan - needed to beat Egypt to secure qualification for Germany 2006.
The 60-year-old has also managed four different teams at four different World Cups, with France in 1986, Cameroon in 1994, Morocco in 1998 and Ivory Coast at Germany 2006.
At Germany 2006, Ghana became the only African survivor after the preliminary round, surprising the bookmakers with victories over the Czech Republic and the U.S. before losing 3-0 to Brazil in a match that was closer than the scoreline suggested.
There was a bright spot for Germany in 2006 when good weather, coupled with the country hosting the World Cup, caused such a celebratory atmosphere that beer sales jumped 1.4%.
It was not until Ghana's first appearance at the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006 that the four-times winners of the African Cup of Nations regained some of their lost glory.
OpenTable ventured across the Atlantic with its Electronic Reservation Book product offering for restaurants in the U.K. in 2004, and followed up by setting shop in Japan and Germany in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
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Lemerre coached France at the 2002 World Cup where they were knocked out in the first round in defence of their title and he was also at the finals in Germany in 2006 in charge of Tunisia.
South Africa are considered favourites to become the first African country to host the World Cup after narrowly losing out to Germany for the 2006 event.
Schweinsteiger, who hit two goals in Germany's 2006 World Cup third-placed play-off success over the Portuguese, struck after 22 minutes -- and Miroslav Klose added a second four minutes later.
The 44-year-old took charge of Bayern last July, after leading an unfancied Germany side to the 2006 World Cup semifinals on home soil.
South Korea and Japan shared the 2002 World Cup and Germany was the host in 2006.
The football World Cup, hosted by Germany in the summer of 2006, seven months after she took office, bathed the country and the chancellor in laid-back patriotism.
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Both Zidane and Marco Materazzi found the net in the 2006 final in Germany between France and Italy, but it was the pair's off-the-ball clash deep into extra time that became the tournament's defining moment.
In qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the North Koreans have made it through to the final qualifying stage and recently drew with their neighbor South Korea -- a side which was a World Cup semi-finalist in 2002, and unlucky not to make the second round at the 2006 finals in Germany.
CNN: Free for All: Is North Korea becoming a new football force?
An informant--a former LGT employee--reportedly sold the information to Germany's intelligence service in 2006.
The appointment marks Klinsmann's first foray into club coaching after he guided host nation Germany to third place at the 2006 World Cup.
Surinam-born Seedorf has won 77 caps for Holland but was not included by Van Basten for their squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
BBC: SPORT | Football | Internationals | Van Persie out of Holland squad
The team boasts seven players who are former or current Japan international representatives -- including several who appeared at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Eriksson announced his decision to step down as England manager before the 2006 World Cup in Germany - two years before his contract was due to expire.
Gnassingbe, who is the brother of the country's President Faure Gnassingbe, was ousted two years ago after Togo's shambolic campaign at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"Since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the media perception of German football and Germany in general has dramatically changed, " added Pfeiffer, who has lived in England since 1986.
The Elephants, who played at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, have reached the final phase of African qualifying from which five teams will qualify for the World Cup.
On December 5th Michael Schumacher, six times champion of Formula One motor racing, and other glitterati are due to make the draw for qualifying tournaments for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Hitzfeld has retained nine of the players taken by predecessor Koebi Kuhn to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where the Swiss reached the last 16 before losing to Ukraine in a penalty shoot-out.
BBC: World Cup 2010: Teenager Xherdan Shaqiri in Swiss squad
Sono has said he would like to be contracted until after the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
BBC: SPORT | Football | African | Applications flood in for SA job
But Renard, 42, believes the oil-producing country can reproduce the form that saw them rub shoulders with the world's elite at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
Germany aims to achieve it only in 2006, and in the eyes of the European Commission it is one of four countries that still have work to do.
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Angola's Ismael Kurtz and his counterpart from the Cape Verde Islands, Alexandre Alhinho, are both seeking to bolster their squads ahead of next month's start of the African qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
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