Match officials for the 2006 FIFA World Cup were nominated by the six confederations to FIFA, who, after a series of tests in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg in March 2006, selected 23 referees and a support and development group of a further 5,[1] from a shortlist of 44.[2]
Kyros Vassaras of Greece and Manuel Mejuto of Spain were selected to be on the panel, but the assistants who were to make up their teams were not deemed to have reached the required standards, and so they were replaced by Roberto Rosetti and Luis Medina.[1] Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast was selected for the tournament panel, but suffered a knee injury and was removed from the list without replacement.[3] Massimo De Santis of Italy was also on the panel of 23 referees, but after he was implicated in the Serie A match-fixing allegations, he was withdrawn by the Italian Football Federation and not replaced.[4]
The 21 referees, along with their assistants and the support group, are based in Neu-Isenburg for the duration of the tournament. FIFA announces the referees selected for each fixture three days in advance of the match.[1]
Horacio Elizondo was chosen to officiate the final match, which took place in Berlin on July 9.
Below are the details of the 21 groups of match officials in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[1] For assistants, a flag is only shown if his nationality varies from that of the referee with whom he is grouped.
Most teams (consisting of a referee and two assistants) are drawn from the same nation, and all are made up of officials from the same confederation. In the first round of the tournament, officials other than from UEFA member associations only operate in groups that do not include a representative of their confederation.
Mexico is the only country with 2 referees on the panel.
For the first time at a World Cup, match officials will be equipped with microphones and earpieces so they can communicate better with each other during each game.[5] Furthermore this World Cup sees the introduction of a fifth official who can be called upon to replace an injured assistant referee. The fourth official would replace the referee..
| Referee | Assistants | Matches |  Red cards
|
 Yellow cards
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Essam Abd El Fatah
|
D. Dante  M. Ndoye 
|
Group F:  Australia vs.  Japan
|
0 | 7 |
 Carlos Amarilla
|
A. Andino M. Bernal |
Group E:  United Statesvs Czech RepublicGroup G:  Togovs SwitzerlandGroup H:  Tunisiavs Ukraine
|
1 | 18 |
 Benito Archundia
|
J. Ramirez H. Vergara 
|
Group F:  Brazilvs CroatiaGroup G:  Francevs South KoreaGroup E: Czech Republicvs ItalyRound 2: Switzerlandvs UkraineSemifinal:  Germanyvs Italy
|
1 | 14 |
| Massimo Busacca
|
F. Buragina M. Arnet |
Group H:  Spainvs UkraineGroup B:  Swedenvs EnglandRound 2:  Argentinavs Mexico
|
1 | 11 |
 Coffi Codjia
|
C. Ntagungira  A. Aderodjou |
Group A:  Ecuadorvs Costa RicaGroup H: Spainvs Saudi Arabia
|
0 | 10 |
 Frank De Bleeckere
|
P. Hermans W. Vromans |
Group C: Argentinavs Ivory CoastGroup F: Croatiavs JapanRound 2: Englandvs EcuadorQuarterfinal: Italyvs Ukraine
|
0 | 19 |
| Horacio Elizondo
|
D. Garcia R. Otero |
Group A: Germanyvs Costa Rica Group E: Czech Republicvs GhanaGroup G: South Koreavs SwitzerlandQuarterfinal: Englandvs PortugalFinal: Italyvs France
|
3 | 24 |
 Valentin Ivanov
|
N. Golubev E. Volnin |
Group G: Francevs Switzerland Group A: Ecuadorvs GermanyRound 2: Portugalvs Netherlands
|
4 | 26 |
| Toru Kamikawa
|
Y. Hiroshima Kim Dae Young
|
Group A:  Polandvs EcuadorGroup B: Englandvs Trinidad and TobagoThird Place play-off: Germanyvs Portugal
|
0 | 14 |
 Jorge Larrionda
|
W. Rial P. Fandino |
Group D:  Angolavs PortugalGroup E: Italyvs United StatesGroup G: Togovs FranceSemifinal: Portugalvs France
|
3 | 15 |
 Shamsul Maidin
|
P. Permpanich  E. Ghuloum 
|
Group B: Trinidad and Tobagovs Sweden Group D: Mexicovs AngolaGroup A: Costa Ricavs Poland
|
2 | 20 |
| Luis Medina Cantalejo
|
V. Giraldez P. Medina |
Group A: Germanyvs Poland Group C: Netherlandsvs ArgentinaRound 2: Italyvs AustraliaQuarterfinal: Brazilvs France
|
2 | 25 |
| Markus Merk
|
C. Schraer J.-H. Salver |
Group C:  Serbia and Montenegrovs NetherlandsGroup F: Brazilvs AustraliaGroup E: Ghanavs United States
|
0 | 16 |
 Ľuboš Micheľ
|
R. Slysko M. Balko |
Group B: Swedenvs Paraguay Group D: Portugalvs MexicoRound 2: Brazilvs GhanaQuarterfinal: Germanyvs Argentina
|
3 | 32 |
| Graham Poll
|
P. Sharp G. Turner |
Group G: South Koreavs Togo Group H: Saudi Arabiavs UkraineGroup F: Croatiavs Australia
|
4 | 20 |
| Eric Poulat
|
L. Dagorne V. Texier |
Group D: Portugalvs IranGroup F: Japanvs Brazil
|
0 | 9 |
| Marco Rodríguez
|
J. Camargo L. Leal
|
Group B: Englandvs Paraguay Group C: Ivory Coastvs Serbia and Montenegro
|
2 | 12 |
| Roberto Rosetti
|
C. Copelli A. Stagnoli |
Group D: Mexicovs Iran Group C: Argentinavs Serbia and MontenegroGroup B: Paraguayvs Trinidad and TobagoRound 2: Spainvs France
|
1 | 15 |
 Oscar Ruiz
|
F. Tamayo J. Navia |
Group C: Netherlandsvs Ivory Coast
|
0 | 7 |
| Mark Shield
|
N. Gibson B. Wilson |
Group H: Tunisiavs Saudi Arabia Group D: Iranvs Angola
|
0 | 10 |
| Carlos Simon
|
A. Tavares E. Corona |
Group E: Italyvs Ghana Group H: Spainvs TunisiaRound 2: Germanyvs Sweden
|
1 | 18 |
Five teams of officials were named to be on standby in the case of injury to any of the officials nominated for a match. None of them were called upon, however, and from the quarter-finals onwards, referees from among the 12 retained for the latter stages of the tournament were given standby appointments to matches.
| Referee | Assistant |
|---|---|
| Khalil Al Ghamdi
|
H. Al Kadri  F. Rabati 
|
 Carlos Chandia
|
C. Julio R. Gonzalez |
 Jerome Damon
|
E. Molefe J. Yeboah
|
 Mohamed Guezzaz
|
B. Djezzar  J. Endeng Zogo 
|
| Kevin Stott
|
C. Strickland G. Barkey
|
On Wednesday 28 June, one day after the Second Round matches were completed and two days before the Quarterfinals, the FIFA announced the 12 referees that were retained for the remaining matches.[6] This is the standard process, meant to ensure only the best referees are in charge of the final few games. The twelve are:
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| Stages |
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| General information |
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| Official symbols |
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2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
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| Champions |
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| Runners-up |
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| Third place |
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| Fourth place |
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| Quarter-finals |
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| Round of 16 |
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| Group stage |
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