although david james remained as england's starting goalkeeper in a 2–2 draw against austria in the first 2006 fifa world cup qualification match, robinson started every subsequent match, keeping six clean sheets in nine competitive appearances, with a further three in seven friendly matches before the tournament. at the world cup finals in germany, robinson was named in england's world cup squad and was ever-present in england's campaign, keeping clean sheets in four out of five matches that he played. after the opening world cup match against paraguay, when his counterpart justo villar was injured seven minutes into the match, robinson sent villar his gloves as a gesture of goodwill. england had won the match 1–0. in addition to the clean sheet against paraguay, he kept one in the group match against trinidad and tobago, although he drew criticism for making errors on crosses. following england's progression from the group stage, he kept a clean sheet against ecuador in the round of 16. he also kept a clean sheet in the following match, a quarter-final match against portugal, although portugal won 3–1 in a penalty shoot-out to eliminate england from the tournament.