Four years on from Champion the Bear and the Beanie world wondered what Ty would offer for the 2006 World Cup. Would there be another 32 Beanies?

To the disappointment of some collectors and the relief of most the answer was no, not 32 beanies... this time only four. As the World Cup was being held in Germany the Beanies were to be European Exclusives, and they were to represent four different countries - Germany, France, England and Italy. Collectors in Japan, Australia, Korea, Australia and of course America were all disappointed as these countries had also all qualified for the World Cup. The choice of countries was puzzling, even in Europe as there had been a long tradition of English and German Beanies - but only on Italian, and never any French!

However, at the end of April 2006 the four Beanies Basilico (Italian), George (English), Mascotte (French) and Jurgen (German) were introduced. Each bear took a colour associated with the country he was representing and the flag of the country on his chest. All were the second generation style fo pot-bellied bears - those with longer arms and snouts.

The countries these bears supported all did very well. England made it to the Quarter Finals, Germany to the Semi Finals and France and Italy played each other in the Final - with Italy winning the World Cup.

From Left to Right: Jurgen, Mascotte, Basilico and George