2006 World Lacrosse Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Canada
Venue(s)	London, Ontario
Dates	14–22 July
Teams	21
Final positions
Champions	Canada (2nd title)
Runner-up	United States
Third place	Australia
Fourth place	Iroquois
Tournament statistics
Games played	72
Goals scored	1,515 (21.04 per game)
Attendance	7,735 (107 per game)
MVP	Geoff Snider
← 2002 2010 →

Canada won its second gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario from 14 to 22 July. The Canadians defeated the United States in the final 15–10 in front of 7,735 fans.^[1] It marked only the second loss by the Americans since the championship was founded in 1967. The first was Canada's historic 17–16 overtime win in the 1978 final.^[2] Canadian Geoff Snider was the tournament MVP for his outstanding face-off performance, winning 19 of 28 draws in the final.^[3]

Australia beat Iroquois 21–8 to earn the bronze medal. 21 nations played 72 games over the eight-day tournament, with Bermuda, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Spain making their debuts.^[4] The games were played in TD Waterhouse Stadium.

The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) every four years. The 2006 WLC was the last to be sanctioned by the International Lacrosse Federation, the former governing body for men. In August 2008, the ILF merged with the former governing body for women's lacrosse, the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations, to form the FIL.^{[citation needed]}

Pool play

For the round-robin phase of the tournament, nations were separated into blue, red, orange and yellow divisions according to strength. Each of the twenty-one nations was eligible to win the championship.

Blue Division

The Blue Division featured the six strongest lacrosse nations: Australia, Canada, England, Iroquois, Japan, and the United States.

Blue Division standings after pool play were:

1. United States
2. Canada
3. Iroquois
4. Australia
5. England
6. Japan

Red Division

Red Division featured the next five strongest lacrosse nations: Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales.

Red Division standings after pool play were:

1. Ireland
2. Scotland
3. Italy
4. Wales
5. Hong Kong

Orange Division

The five countries competing in Orange Division were: the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Orange Division standings after pool play were:

1. Germany
2. Czech Republic
3. Netherlands
4. South Korea
5. New Zealand

Yellow Division

The Yellow Division featured Bermuda, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, and Spain.

Yellow Division standings after pool play were:

1. Finland
2. Latvia
3. Denmark
4. Spain
5. Bermuda

Finals

With the nations ranked amongst their division, they played off for their final standings. The winner from each lower group played a lower-ranked nation from Blue division for their shot at the championship.

The final standings were:

1. Canada
2. USA
3. Australia
4. Iroquois
5. England
6. Japan
7. Ireland
8. Germany
9. Finland
10. Italy
11. Scotland
12. Netherlands
13. Wales
14. Latvia
15. Czech Republic
16. Denmark
17. Spain
18. South Korea
19. New Zealand
20. Hong Kong
21. Bermuda

Awards

All World Team

The International Lacrosse Federation named an All World Team at the conclusion of the championship, along with four other individual awards.^[5]

Goalkeeper

Chris Sanderson

Defence

John Gagliardi
Brodie Merrill
John Tokarua

Midfield

Brett Bucktooth
Jay Jalbert
Geoff Snider

Attack

John Grant, Jr.
Michael Powell
Jeff Zywicki

Best Positional Players

Brodie Merrill - Defence
Jay Jalbert - Midfield
Jeff Zywicki - Attack

Tournament MVP

Geoff Snider - Midfield, face-off