2005 Confederations Cup Dates Confirmed

FIFA has confirmed that the next Confederations Cup will be held in Germany from June 15-29, 2005 in full accordance with the coordinated international match calendar approved by the FIFA Congress.

FIFA has confirmed that the next Confederations Cup will be held in Germany from June 15-29, 2005 in full accordance with the coordinated international match calendar approved by the FIFA Congress.   The proposed dates for the competition gained the backing of the Organising Committee for the FIFA Confederations Cup when it convened in Zurich under the chairmanship of Chuck Blazer (USA).

The tournament will be held in five of the following six venues: Hanover, Leipzig, Cologne, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern.

The eight-team field for next year's seventh FIFA Confederations Cup will not be finalised until August 2004, but will definitely include Germany (host nation), Brazil (reigning world champions), Tunisia (African Cup of Nations 2004 champions) and Mexico (CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 champions), along with the winners of this year's Asian Cup, Copa America, OFC Nations Cup and EURO 2004.

Should Brazil secure the 2004 Copa America crown, the tournament's runners-up will qualify for the FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005. Similarly, if Germany triumph at EURO 2004, Europe's second best team will take their place at next year's competition.

All of the above decisions await ratification from the FIFA Executive Committee.

"The FIFA Confederations Cup is a wonderful competition because it is a symbol of solidarity between the confederations. With the exception of the FIFA World Cup(tm), it is the only official international competition in which teams from all the continents can test themselves against one another," underlined FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.  Oceania-s representative will not be known until October 2004, when the top two teams from the OFC Nations Cup preliminary rounds (May/June) will play-off over two legs, to decide the OFC Nations Cup winner and Oceania-s representative at the Cup.   Australia has been to two Confederations Cup tournaments, making the final in 1997 in Saudi Arabia (lost 6-0 to Brazil) and finished third (beat Brazil 1-0) at the 2001 tournament in Korea/Japan. The Socceroos beat reigning World Champions France in 2001, courtesy of a goal from Clayton Zane (pictured celebrating).