The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the seventeenth FIFA World Cup and was held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June 2002. The tournament was won the first FIFA World Cup to be held by the Asian Football Confederation nd was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title beating Germany 2-0 in the final at the International Stadium, Yokohama.
- 1. Host selection
- 2. Qualifying
- 3. Wales and the 2002 World Cup
- 4. Wales players used during qualifying
Japan, Mexico and South Korea initially declared an interest in hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Prior to the FIFA Executive meeting in Zurich on 31 May 1996, FIFA suggested both Asian countries made a joint bid which was then voted by acclamation, beating the bid from Mexico.
One hundred and ninety nine1 countries entered the qualifying competition.
Hosts, Japan and South Korea as well as defending champions, France, qualified automatically.
Of the remaining 29 places, 13 were allocated to Europe (UEFA), four to South America (CONMEBOL), three to the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF), five to Africa (CAF) and two to Asia (AFC) whilst one qualifier from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) would face one team from the AFC qualifiers in an intercontinental play off and one qualifier from the AFC would face a qualifier from UEFA for the final two places.
Fifty one teams entered the European qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Holders France qualified automatically.
The remaining 50 teams were divided into nine groups; five groups of six teams and four groups of five teams. The group winners would qualify. Among the runners-up, the runner-up of Group 2 was drawn randomly to advance to the UEFA–AFC Intercontinental play-off. The other runners-up would advance to the UEFA play-offs.
Wales were placed in Pot 4 as fourth seeds, and were drawn in Group 5 alongside Norway, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Armenia; this would be Wales' first meeting with Armenia and Ukraine.
Uefa qualifying Group 5
| no. | date | score | scorers (wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 493 | 02/09/2000 | Belarus 2-1 Wales | Speed | Stadyjon Dynama, Minsk | WCQ |
| 02/09/2000 | Norway 0-0 Armenia | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | WCQ | ||
| 02/09/2000 | Ukraine 1-3 Poland | NSC Olimpiysky, Kiev | WCQ | ||
| 07/10/2000 | Armenia 2-3 Ukraine | Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan | WCQ | ||
| 07/10/2000 | Poland 3-1 Belarus | Stadion Widzewa, Łódź | WCQ | ||
| 494 | 07/10/2000 | Wales 1-1 Norway | Blake | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 11/10/2000 | Belarus 2-1 Armenia | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk | WCQ | ||
| 11/10/2000 | Norway 0-1 Ukraine | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | WCQ | ||
| 495 | 11/10/2000 | Poland 0-0 Wales | Stadion Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego, Warsaw | WCQ | |
| 496 | 24/03/2001 | Armenia 2-2 Wales | Hartson (2) | Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan | WCQ |
| 24/03/2001 | Norway 2-3 Poland | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | WCQ | ||
| 24/03/2001 | Ukraine 0-0 Belarus | NSC Olimpiysky, Kiev | WCQ | ||
| 28/03/2001 | Belarus 2-1 Norway | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk | WCQ | ||
| 28/03/2001 | Poland 4-0 Armenia | Stadion Legii, Warsaw | WCQ | ||
| 497 | 28/03/2001 | Wales 1-1 Ukraine | Hartson | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 02/06/2001 | Armenia 0-0 Belarus | Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan | WCQ | ||
| 02/06/2001 | Ukraine 0-0 Norway | NSC Olimpiysky, Kiev | WCQ | ||
| 498 | 02/06/2001 | Wales 1-2 Poland | Blake | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 06/06/2001 | Armenia 1-1 Poland | Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan | WCQ | ||
| 06/06/2001 | Norway 1-1 Belarus | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | WCQ | ||
| 499 | 06/06/2001 | Ukraine 1-1 Wales | Pembridge | NSC Olimpiysky, Kiev | WCQ |
| 01/09/2001 | Belarus 0-2 Ukraine | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk | WCQ | ||
| 01/09/2001 | Poland 3-0 Norway | Stadion Śląski, Chórzow | WCQ | ||
| 500 | 01/09/2001 | Wales 0-0 Armenia | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | WCQ | |
| 04/09/2001 | Belarus 4-1 Poland | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk | WCQ | ||
| 501 | 05/09/2001 | Norway 3-2 Wales | Savage, Bellamy | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | WCQ |
| 04/09/2001 | Ukraine 3-0 Armenia | NSC Olimpiysky, Kiev | WCQ | ||
| 06/10/2001 | Armenia 1-4 Norway | Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan | WCQ | ||
| 06/10/2001 | Poland 1-1 Ukraine | Stadion Śląski, Chórzow | WCQ | ||
| 502 | 06/10/2001 | Wales 1-0 Belarus | Hartson | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | WCQ |
Group standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Poland | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 21 |
| 2. | Ukraine | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 17 |
| 3. | Belarus | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 15 |
| 4. | Norway | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 10 |
| 5. | Wales | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 9 |
| 6. | Armenia | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 19 | 5 |
Wales were placed in Pot 4 as fourth seeds, and were drawn in Group 5 alongside Norway, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Armenia; this would be Wales' first meeting with Armenia and Ukraine.
Mark Hughes was in charge for his first full qualifying campaign but a defeat and a red card for Craig Bellamy in Minsk during the first match dented Wales' hopes from the start.
The newly opened Millennium Stadium played host to its first competitive international football match when Norway arrived in Cardiff but despite a thumping header from Nathan Blake, Wales couldn't hold on and had to settle for a point.
Blake, incidentally, holds the record for being the first Welshman to score a goal at the Millennium Stadium, scoring an own goal against Finland in a friendly international at the stadium in March 2000!
Hughes' system of making Wales difficult to beat saw Wales secure six draws during the campaign, but despite an impressive 0-0 draw against eventual group winners, Poland, in Warsaw, two of the draws came against the group's lowest seeds, Armenia, including a dour 0-0 draw in front of just 18,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
Even fewer fans turned out to witness Wales' final game of the campaign as 10,201 witnessed Wales' only victory of the campaign; a 1-0 win over Belarus, in a stadium with a capacity of 74,500.
Players used during qualifying
Wales used a total of 24 players during the qualifying campaign with Paul Jones the only player to play every minute of every game.
Simon Davies made his debut in the home game against Ukraine with Jason Koumas making his debut in the return match in Kiev.
| Player | BLR | NOR | POL | ARM | UKR | POL | UKR | ARM | NOR | BLR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darren Barnard | 90 | 78 | 90 | 10 | ||||||
| Craig Bellamy | 65  | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| Nathan Blake | 17 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 72 | 6 | ||||
| Chris Coleman | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||||
| Simon Davies | 36 | 90 | 90 | 77 | 90 | |||||
| Mark Delaney | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 38 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Ryan Giggs | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 86 | ||
| John Hartson | 87 | 74 | 80 | 69 | 90 | 90 | 83 | 89 | ||
| Steve Jenkins | 5 | 52 | 80 | 90 | ||||||
| Matt Jones | 16 | 45 | 54 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 65 | |||
| Paul Jones | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Jason Koumas | 18 | |||||||||
| Andy Legg | 90 | |||||||||
| Andy Melville | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Rob Page | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 73 | |
| Mark Pembridge | 45 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||||
| Gareth Roberts | 90 | |||||||||
| Carl Robinson | 19 | 90 | 80 | 84 | 25 | |||||
| John Robinson | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 13 | 90 | ||||
| Iwan Roberts | 73 | 3 | 10 | 90 | 1 | |||||
| Dean Saunders | 71 | 31 | ||||||||
| Robbie Savage | 90 | 90 | 90 | 85 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| Kit Symons | 90 | 90 | 90 | 17 | ||||||
| Gary Speed | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
1Of the 199 countries who entered Burundi and Myanmar withdrew whilst Guyana were suspended from international football by FIFA.
