UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced you-AY-fuh), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. It represents the national football associations of Europe, running nine national and four club competitions in Europe (all European nations plus Turkey, Israel, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan), controlling the prize-money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. It is one of the six continental confederations of FIFA.

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers

The following UEFA members have competed in the FIFA World Cup (totals do not include qualification for the 2006 World Cup)

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+ = team and national federation no longer exist

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• 15 appearances: Germany (incl. 10 as West Germany), Italy
• 11: Belgium, England, France, Spain
• 10: Sweden
• 9: Hungary, Russia (incl. 7 as the former USSR)
• 8: Czech Republic (incl. 7 as former Czechoslovakia), Scotland
• 7: Austria, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro (incl. 6 as the former Yugoslavia), Switzerland
• 6: Poland
• 3: Denmark, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal
• 2: Croatia, Turkey
• 1: East Germany+, Greece, Israel (qualified when member of AFC), Slovenia, Wales

To date, the following eight nations have qualified for the 2006 World Cup: Germany (16th appearance), Italy (16th), England (12th), the Netherlands (8th), Poland (7th), Portugal (4th), Croatia (3rd), and Ukraine (1st). 6 more berths are still open.

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