2006 FIFA World Cup (known as FIFA World Cup: Germany 2006) is the official video game for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, published by EA Sports. 2006 FIFA World Cup was released simultaneously on all major sixth-generation platforms (Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox), as well as Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360 on 24 April 2006, in North America and four days later in Europe, with ports to mobile phones and the PlayStation Portable weeks later. This was the last game released for the Xbox in Asia. There are ten region-specific covers that feature a major player from each region.
The game contains 127 playable teams. Despite licensing issues between EA and the national football associations of Japan and the Netherlands, the two teams are fully licensed with real names and kits. Brazil (1st) were the highest-ranked team in the game, while San Marino (202nd) were the lowest-ranked. The game allows players to participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany by taking control of one of 127 national teams. Since the release of the game 2002 FIFA World Cup, the menus have been redesigned and have more options. It even includes a satellite map when choosing countries to play in a Friendly.
Online support is provided for ranked and unranked matches on most non-Nintendo platforms. The online service provides lobbies, leaderboards and a global challenge mode where the player can play through over forty historical World Cup scenarios, with the opportunity to explore alternate outcomes for each one. By playing online and in single-player mode, spending points for the virtual store are earned, where players can purchase uniforms, historical players, various footballs, boots, and gameplay options. As with the previous World Cup video game, matches in World Cup mode are played in the same order as at the World Cup in Germany.