The tournament comprised hosts Japan and South Korea, holders France, and 29 other teams who emerged from the qualification phase, organised by the six FIFA confederations.

En route to the final, Germany finished first in Group E, with two wins and a draw, after which they defeated Paraguay in the round of 16, the United States in the quarter-finals and South Korea in the semi-finals.

Brazil finished top of Group C with three wins, before defeating Belgium in the round of 16, England in the quarter-final, and Turkey in the semi-final.

The final took place in front of 69,029 supporters, with an estimated 1.1 billion watching on television, and was refereed by Pierluigi Collina from Italy.

After a goalless first half, Brazil took the lead through Ronaldo on 67 minutes, scoring after what German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn called his "only mistake in the finals".

Ronaldo was named the man of the match, while Kahn was awarded the Golden Ball as FIFA's outstanding player of the tournament.

Brazil's manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, expressed "the joy of knowing we did our job", while noting that it was "full of very hard work".

[1][2] The national teams of Japan and South Korea qualified for the finals automatically as tournament hosts, as did France as the winners of the previous World Cup in 1998.

[3] The remaining 29 spots were decided through qualifying rounds held between March 2000 and November 2001, organised by the six FIFA confederations and involving 193 teams.

Midfielder Mehmet Scholl and defenders Christian Wörns and Jens Nowotny also missed the tournament due to injury.

He was followed by Émerson Leão, who was dismissed in 2001 after winning four of eleven games in charge and with Brazil at risk of not qualifying for the World Cup for the first time.

[12][13] The incumbent going into the tournament was Luiz Felipe Scolari, who favoured a different style of football from his predecessors which he called "bullyboy soccer".

[15] In the round of 16, Germany faced Paraguay, the runner-up in Group B, at Jeju World Cup Stadium in the South Korean city of Seogwipo.

The game was goalless until the 49th minute, when Ronaldo scored what proved to be the only goal of the match, running in the penalty area and hitting it with his toe past goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber, as Brazil won 1–0.

[33] With the exception of the suspended Ballack, who was replaced by Jens Jeremies, the remainder of the team that started the semi-final against South Korea were available and selected for the final.

The report focused on Ronaldo, who it said was "nearing redemption" having been "a shadow of his usual self after he played just a few hours after suffering a fit" in the 1998 final.

[40] The assistant referees for the game were Leif Lindberg of Sweden and England's Philip Sharp, while Hugh Dallas from Scotland was the fourth official.

[35] Brazil kicked off the game at 8pm local time (11am UTC), in front of an attendance of 69,029 with an estimated global television audience of 1.1 billion.

[34][42][43][44] The weather at Haneda Airport, 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the stadium,[a] was recorded as cloudy at the time of kick-off, with a temperature of 21 °C (70 °F) and 88% humidity.

[47] Germany were described by The Guardian's Scott Murray as "well on top" in the first fifteen minutes, and they had an opportunity to score when Bernd Schneider ran with the ball past Gilberto Silva before crossing into the penalty area towards Klose, where it was cleared behind by Edmílson.

[34] Shortly before half-time, Torsten Frings sent a cross into the Brazilian penalty area from the right towards Klose, but it evaded all players and was retrieved by Neuville on the opposite side of the pitch.

Ronaldo then missed his third scoring chance, in stoppage time, when a Roberto Carlos pass reached him after evading all the German defenders.

[34] One minute into the second half, Jeremies had a chance to give Germany the lead when Neuville found him in an unmarked position from a corner kick, but his header was blocked by the foot of Edmílson.

They had another opportunity in the 50th minute, when Neuville struck a free kick from long range towards the corner of the goal, but Brazilian goalkeeper Marcos tipped the shot onto the post.

[34] Three minutes later, Roberto Carlos crossed into the penalty area where Gilberto Silva met the ball with a header, but Kahn was able to make the save.

The Brazilians scored their second goal twelve minutes later, after a run from Kléberson from just beyond the halfway line led to Brazil having four attackers against Germany's three defenders.

Christian Ziege had a final shot for Germany in the third minute of stoppage time, but it was saved by Marcos and the game finished 2–0 to Brazil.

[34] Man of the Match: Ronaldo (Brazil) Assistant referees: Leif Lundberg (Sweden) Philip Sharp (England) Fourth official: Hugh Dallas (Scotland) Match rules The win marked Brazil's fifth World Cup title, which as of 2024[update] remains the record, ahead of Germany and Italy with four titles each.

[56] After the tournament, FIFA conducted a video review of the incident in the first Brazil–Turkey game involving Ünsal and Rivaldo and decided to fine the Brazilian 11,670 Swiss francs for deceiving the referee.

[27] Scolari expressed his pleasure at the result after the match, as well as noting the happiness of the Brazilian population, saying they had "the joy of knowing we did our job, but it was full of very hard work.