With the World cup starting today, it seemed only fitting to play this so Steve brought it along and we played the 2006 tournament (from the second expansion). The group stages were fairly uneventful with all the top seeds going through except England, as Mark W was unable to stop Guy getting both his teams through from Group B. The Round of 16 saw all six players get a team through with just Mark G and me squeezing a second team through, although my Portugal only managed it after a penalty shootout against Steve's Argentina.

Having two teams in the quarter finals and no goal cards made it difficult for me, especially as Nige's standing orders to everyone that, "If you can't play anything to help yourself, play a card to hit Garry," were still in play. Hence Portugal and Italy fell at this hurdle although there was some consolation that Nige's Ghana also lost. The semi-finals pitted Mark W's France against Guy's Germany, while Steve's dark horse of Ecuador faced Mark G's Spain. In a turn-up for the book, Guy for the first time didn't have any multiple goal cards in his hand so France were able to book their place in the final, while Mark G won a high scoring second semi 4-3 to set up a Spain v France final. After a lacklustre third place playoff where Ecuador beat Germany 2-1, the stage was set for a goal fest of a final, in which Mark W's France took the trophy by a 5-4 scoreline.