Italy Crowned Champions

A Moment Of Madness By Zidane Dooms French Dreams

World Cup Final
Italy 1 France 1
(Italy win 5-3 pens)

Italy are world champions for the fourth time after beating ten-man France 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Berlin's Olympiastadion on Sunday. Twelve years after losing to Brazil in the first shoot-out in a World Cup Final, Italy made up for that heartbreak as all five men in blue converted their kicks to claim world football's greatest prize for the first time since 1982. For France the pain of defeat was compounded by the sight of Zinedine Zidane, on his last appearance as a professional, leaving the field having been sent off in extra time for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the chest.

It was Italy's first successful shoot-out in a FIFA World Cup after previous failures in 1990, 1994 and 1998 and ironically it was a miss from France's David Trezeguet - whose golden goal had defeated the Azzurri in the final of EURO 2000 - that opened the door for Fabio Grosso to fire the winning spot-kick past Fabien Barthez. Zidane opened the scoring with a seventh-minute penalty after Materazzi's trip on Florent Malouda. By the 19th minute, however, Materazzi had made amends, the big defender heading the equalizer from Andrea Pirlo's corner.

Semi-Final
Italy 2 Germany 0 (a.e.t.)

German dreams of reaching the World Cup Final on home soil died in Dortmund as two goals in the final moments of extra time carried Italy into the Final. With a penalty shoot-out looming, Fabio Grosso broke the deadlock in the 119th minute as he curled a left-footed shot past the despairing dive of Jens Lehmann from the right side of the penalty box. Substitute Alessandro Del Piero made sure of Italy's place in the Final when he beat Lehmann from close range in added time at the end of the extra period. Italy advance to their first FIFA World Cup Final since 1994 and their sixth overall.

Semi-Final
France 1 Portugal 0

Zinedine Zidane's first-half penalty proved enough to take France past Portugal and into the Final as 1-0 semi-final winners in Munich. France's winning goal came when Thierry Henry went to ground under a Ricardo Carvalho challenge after 33 minutes and Zidane struck his spot-kick low to Ricardo's right. They defended their lead comfortably except for one moment in the second half when Fabien Barthez spilled Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick and Luis Figo headed the rebound over.

Third Place Play-Off
Germany 3 Portugal 1

Germany shrugged off the disappointment of their semi-defeat by Italy to claim third place at the 2006 World Cup by beating Portugal 3-1 in Stuttgart on Saturday. Bastian Schweinsteiger enjoyed a night to remember in the hosts' farewell match at these finals, scoring twice in the second half as Germany finished the tournament with the bronze medal - and 14 goals to their name. Schweinsteiger opened the scoring with a swerving shot from distance after 56 minutes and five minutes later the same player's low free-kick was diverted into his own goal by Portugal's Petit. With 12 minutes remaining Schweinsteiger struck Germany's third goal with a fine effort into the top corner before two Portugal substitutes conjured up a late consolation for Luiz Felipe Scolari's side. Luis Figo, on his final appearance for his country, sent over a perfectly placed cross for Nuno Gomes to head past Oliver Kahn, denying the German goalkeeper one last clean sheet before he too bowed out of the international arena.