The 2002 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 30 June 2002 at the International Stadium in Yokohama to determine the winner of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The final was contested by Germany and Brazil. It was the first World Cup meeting between the two sides. Brazil won the match 2–0, winning a record fifth title. Ronaldo, who became the record World Cup goalscorer at the 2006 tournament, scored two of his fifteen World Cup goals in the second half of the match, leading Brazil to the title and winning the Golden Boot award. It also marked Brazilian captain Cafu‘s third consecutive appearance in a World Cup Final, a feat that has yet to be accomplished by any other player in the history of the tournament. Both teams had won their respective groups before advancing to the knockout stage, where Germany shut out all of their opponents to reach the final, while Brazil only allowed a single goal from England. Germany overcame United States and co-host South Korea, while Brazil knocked out England and Turkey.
The title marked Brazil’s fifth World Cup championship, which is more than any other team has achieved. They also became the first team to win all seven matches in the current 32-team format (Brazil had previously achieved a similar feat in the 16-team 1970 tournament with six wins), and the first to win all their knockout matches without any extra time or penalty shoot-out (later equaled by France in 2018). Brazil also became the first team to win the World Cup outside Europe and the Americas. Germany lost the World Cup Final for its fourth time, another tournament record. They were attempting to equal Brazil for most World Cup wins, as they already had three. To date, it is the latest World Cup won by a South American team.
Coming into the match, Germany looked to have an uphill task to beat Brazil, as although they had scored fourteen goals by the time of the final, eight of those goals were scored against Saudi Arabia, and the Europeans were coming off back to back to back 1–0 wins. Adding to the German hardship, midfielder Michael Ballack who scored the winning goals in both the Quarterfinal against the United States and the Semi Final against South Korea, would miss the game due to a suspension. Still, the Germans could take solace in their shot stopper Oliver Kahn who was in the midst of what is considered one of the greatest individual World Cup performances of all time.[24] Kahn had only conceded one goal, to Robbie Keane of Ireland, up to this point in the tournament.
Brazil would claim their fifth, World Cup title; over the resilient German side. Ronaldo missed a chance in the 19th minute when he was put through on Oliver Kahn by Ronaldinho, putting his shot wide of the target. The next big chance of the game would fall to the legs of Ronaldo in the 30th minute, as he was once again put through by Ronaldinho, this time he was unable to put much power on the shot as he was put under pressure by Thomas Linke, and Kahn saved his effort. Kléberson would have the next chances of the match, putting the first wide in the 42nd minute, and hitting the bar from long range in the 45th minute. Ronaldo missed his third scoring chance in stoppage time, when a Roberto Carlos pass evaded all the German defenders, this time Ronaldo hit the shot well, but Kahn saved it with his outstretched foot. Germany had their first major chance of the evening a minute into the second half, when a corner found an unmarked Jens Jeremies, but his header was blocked by the foot of Edmílson. In the 50th minute, Germany almost scored when Oliver Neuville struck a free kick from long range, Marcos tipped the brilliant strike onto the post. For the majority of the match, Brazil’s dominance in the middle of the pitch forced attacking midfielder Bernd Schneider to spend most of his time helping the German defense. This left Neuville and Miroslav Klose isolated against the three Brazilian central defenders Edmílson, Roque Júnior, and future Captain Lúcio. Save from his brilliant free kick, Neuville had little impact on the game, and Klose was unable to make any notable impact against the tight marking of the Brazilians.[25] Brazil would open the scoring in the 67th minute in a sequence that started with Ronaldo winning the ball from Dietmar Hamann in the German half of the pitch. Ronaldo passed to Rivaldo who struck a low shot towards goal. Kahn attempted to catch the shot, but he was unable to, and in doing so spilled a rebound. Ronaldo, who had followed Rivaldo’s shot, and despite the rebound being relatively short, took advantage of Kahn being off balance, scoring the rebound into the bottom corner before Kahn could recover. The Brazilians scored their second goal twelve minutes later, after a mazy run from Kléberson from just beyond the halfway line caused confusion in the German defense, this run lead to Brazil having a four attackers against Germany’s three defenders. Kléberson passed towards Rivaldo, who was in the center of the pitch and a yard outside the German penalty area, and Linke came from covering Ronaldo to pressure Rivaldo, but Rivaldo let the ball pass through his legs, and the pace on Kléberson’s pass found Ronaldo, who now had a chance from the center edge of the German penalty area. German forward Gerald Asamoah tracked back well, and he was almost able to block the shot, but Ronaldo used his first touch to take the ball away from Asamoah, and passed the ball into the bottom corner of Kahn’s net with his second. Germany had their best chance of the game in the 83rd minute when Oliver Bierhoff hit a first time shot towards goal from the penalty spot, but Marcos got down brilliantly to save the shot, and Germany were unable to threaten for the rest of the match.[26]
