At 3:30 on December 10, 2005, Beijing time, the 2006 World Cup draw ceremony was held in Hall 1 of the Leipzig Exhibition Center in Germany.

The drawing ceremony was presided over by the director of the FIFA Public Relations Department, Schigler. This was the first time that the World Cup group draw ceremony was hosted by the director of the Public Relations Department instead of the Secretary-General. Schigler was partnered by the German female model Ke Rum. The entire lottery ceremony lasted for one and a half hours, and was broadcast by 160 TV stations around the world to 145 countries and regions.

The result of the draw is that the Netherlands and Argentina are in Group C, as well as Serbia and Montenegro and Cote d'Ivoire, whose strength cannot be underestimated; Italy is in Group E with the Czech Republic, the United States, and Ghana; England coach Sven Go Eriksen encountered his native Sweden; host Germany avoided the strong European teams.

The specific draw results are shown in the table below: Group A Germany Costa Rica Poland Ecuador Group B England Paraguay Trinidad and Tobago Sweden Group C Argentina Cote d'Ivoire Serbia Netherlands Group D Mexico Iran Angola Portugal Group E Italy Ghana United States Czech Republic F Group Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan, Group G, France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo, Group H, Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, group list reference materials