1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Mexico in 1986). Teams representing 116 national football associations entered and qualification began in April 1988. 22 teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation Italy and defending champions Argentina.
| Coppa del Mondo Italia '90 (Italian) | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Italy |
| Dates | 8 June – 8 July |
| Teams | 24 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 12 (in 12 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | West Germany (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Argentina |
| Third place | Italy |
| Fourth place | England |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 52 |
| Goals scored | 115 (2.21 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,516,215 (48,389 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Salvatore Schillaci (6 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Salvatore Schillaci |
| Best young player | Robert Prosinečki |
| Fair play award | England |
← 1986 1994 → | |
The tournament was won by West Germany, for the third time. They beat defending champions Argentina 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, a rematch of the previous final four years earlier. Italy finished third and England fourth, after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts. This was the last tournament to feature a team from West Germany, with the country being reunified with East Germany a few months later in October, as well as teams from the Eastern Bloc prior to the end of the Cold War in 1991, as the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia teams made their final appearances. Costa Rica, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates made their first appearances in the finals. As of 2022, this was the last time the United Arab Emirates qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. Cameroon went on an unexpectedly strong run in the tournament, becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico.
The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups in terms of the games.[1][2][3][4] It generated an average 2.21 goals per game – a record low that still stands[5] – and a then-record 16 red cards, including the first dismissal in a final. The tournament also had a significant lasting influence on the game as a whole. In England, the team's success in this tournament led to the resurgence of the domestic top-flight, which had suffered from violence on the pitch and hooliganism by spectators throughout the 1980s.[6] It saw the introduction of the pre-match Fair Play Flag (then inscribed with "Fair Play Please") to encourage fair play. Overly defensive tactics of many teams led to the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992 and three points for a win instead of two, both of which have encouraged attacking play, increasing spectator interest in the sport. The tournament also produced some of the World Cup's best remembered moments and stories, including the emergence of African nations, in addition to what has become the World Cup soundtrack: "Nessun dorma".[6]
The 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers over the course of the tournament.[7] This was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japan's NHK.[8] The huge success of the broadcasting model has also had a lasting impact on the sport.[6] At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, but was bettered by the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.[9]
Host selection edit
The vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 19 May 1984 in Zürich, Switzerland. Here, the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the only rival bid, the USSR, by 11 votes to 5.[10] This awarding made Italy only the second nation to host two World Cup tournaments after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging. Italy had previously held the event in 1934, where they had won their first championship.
Austria, England, France, Greece, West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for the 31 July 1983 deadline.[11] A month later, only England, Greece, Italy and the Soviet Union remained in the hunt after the other contenders all withdrew.[12] All four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983, with the final decision over-running into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved.[13] In early 1984, England and Greece also withdrew, leading to a two-horse race in the final vote. The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games, announced on the eve of the World Cup decision, was speculated to have been a major factor behind Italy winning the vote so decisively,[14] although this was denied by the FIFA President João Havelange.[10]
Iran also planned to host the competition. They proposed it to FIFA in 1977, but a few months later they withdrew their request.[15]
Qualification edit
116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup, including Italy as host nation and Argentina as reigning World Cup champions, who were both granted automatic qualification. Thus, the remaining 22 finals places were divided among the continental confederations, with 114 initially entering the qualification competition. Due to rejected entries and withdrawals, 103 teams eventually participated in the qualifying stages.
Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), two by CONMEBOL teams (South America), two by CAF teams (Africa), two by AFC teams (Asia), and two by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining place was decided by a play-off between a CONMEBOL team and a team from the OFC (Oceania).
Mexico was disqualified during the qualification process for fielding four overage players in a prior youth tournament.[16]
Three teams made their debuts, as this was the first World Cup to feature Costa Rica and the Republic of Ireland, and the only one to date to feature the United Arab Emirates. As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this is the most recent World Cup not to feature Mexico.
Returning after long absences were Egypt, which appeared for the first time since 1934; the United States (which would not miss a World Cup again until 2018), which competed for the first time since 1950; Colombia, which appeared for the first time since 1962; Romania, which last appeared at the Finals in 1970; and Sweden and the Netherlands, both of which last qualified in 1978. Austria, Cameroon, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia also returned after missing the 1986 tournament.
Among the teams that failed to qualify were 1986 semi-finalist France (missing its first World Cup since 1974) and Poland (its first since 1970).
List of qualified teams edit
The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.
|
|
| Countries qualified for World Cup Country did not qualify Countries that did not enter the World Cup or were expelled from the tournament by FIFA prior to playing a match Country not a FIFA member
|
Venues edit
Twelve stadiums in twelve cities were selected to host matches at the 1990 World Cup. The Stadio San Nicola in Bari and Turin's Stadio delle Alpi were completely new venues opened for the World Cup. Of the twelve stadiums used, only four (San Siro, Luigi Ferraris, Comunale of Florence, and Renato Dall'Ara) had been used for the 1934 FIFA World Cup, while Trieste was the only host city from 1934 not to be selected for the 1990 tournament.
The ten existing venues all underwent extensive programmes of improvements in preparation for the tournament, forcing many of the club tenants of the stadia to move to temporary homes. Additional seating and roofs were added to most stadia, with further redevelopments seeing running tracks removed and new pitches laid. Due to structural constraints, several of the existing stadia had to be virtually rebuilt to implement the changes required.
Like España '82 and México '86, the group stage of this tournament was organized so an individual group only played in two cities in close proximity to each other. Group A only played in Rome and Florence (hosts Italy played all but two competitive matches in Rome: their semi-final match was played in Napoli, and their third-place match in Bari), Group B played their matches in Naples and Bari (except for Argentina vs. Cameroon, which was the opening match of the tournament, played in Milan), Group C played their matches in Turin and Genoa, Group D played all their matches in Milan and Bologna, Group E played only in Udine and Verona, and Group F played in the insular cities of Cagliari and Palermo. The cities that hosted the most World Cup matches were the two biggest cities in Italy: Rome and Milan, each hosting six matches, and Bari, Naples, and Turin each hosted five matches. Cagliari, Udine and Palermo were the only cities of the 12 selected that did not host any knockout round matches.
The England national team, at the British government's request, played all 3 of their group stage matches in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia.[17] Hooliganism, rife in English football in the 1980s had spilled over onto the European continent when 39 mostly Italian Juventus supporters were killed and 600 were injured at the 1985 European Cup Final in Brussels while trying to flee from an attack by Liverpool supporters. This hooliganism had followed the England national team while they played friendlies on the European continent – the distrust of English fans was high enough that the English Football Association's reputation and even diplomatic relations between the UK and Italy were seen to be at risk if England played any group stage matches on the Italian mainland. Thanks largely to British Sports Minister Colin Moynihan's negative remarks about English fans weeks before the match, security around Cagliari during England's three matches there was heavy – in addition to 7,000 local police, the Carabinieri and special forces of the Italian military were also there patrolling the premises. The Italian authorities' presence proved to be justified as there were several riots during the time England were playing their matches in Cagliari, leading to a number of injuries, arrests and even deportations.[18][19]
Most of the construction cost in excess of their original estimates and total costs ended up being over £550 million (approximately $935 million). Rome's Stadio Olimpico which hosted the final was the most expensive project overall, while Udine's Stadio Friuli, the newest of the existing stadia (opened 14 years prior), cost the least to redevelop.
Squads edit
Squads for the 1990 World Cup consisted of 22 players, as for the previous tournament in 1986. Replacement of injured players was permitted during the tournament at FIFA's discretion. Two goalkeepers – Argentina's Ángel Comizzo and England's Dave Beasant – entered their respective squads during the tournament to replace injured players (Nery Pumpido and David Seaman).
Match officials edit
41 match officials from 34 countries were assigned to the tournament to serve as referees and assistant referees. Officials in italics were only used as assistants during the tournament. Referees dressed only in traditional black jerseys for the final time at a World Cup (a red change shirt was used for two Group C games in which Scotland wore their navy blue shirts).
| List of match officials | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Draw edit
Seedings edit
The six seeded teams for the 1990 tournament were announced on 7 December 1989, two days ahead of the draw. The FIFA Organising Committee also decided ahead of the draw, to allocate the six seeded teams into the first position of the six groups, in the alphabetic order of their seeding rank: first seed to Group A, second seed to Group B, etc.[22] The seeds were decided by FIFA, primarily based on the nations' ranked position in the 1986 World Cup (counting double), with the ranked position in the 1982 World Cup also considered as a secondary influence (counting normal).[23]
Six of the final eight in 1986 had qualified for the 1990 tournament, the missing nations being Mexico (quarter-final in 1986) and France (third place). Italy did not reach the final eight in 1986, but despite this were still seeded first in 1990 as hosts. In total, the primary seeding criteria hereby resulted in seven countries to be potentially seeded. As the tournament structure only had place for the selection of six seeded teams, this left FIFA needing to exclude one of the six teams qualifying for a seed based on the primary sporting criteria. FIFA first decided, that all qualified teams having played the 1986 semifinals (Argentina, Germany, Belgium), should be guaranteed a seeding place behind the first seeded host nation Italy. Consequently, one of the three qualified nations who were eliminated in the 1986 quarter-finals (Brazil, England or Spain), should not be seeded based on the secondary sporting criteria - looking at their 1982 FIFA World Cup results.
Owing to their performance in 1982, but also to their overall World Cup record, Brazil were seeded third, and not considered to drop out of the seedings. FIFA therefore had to choose if England or Spain should be granted the last seeding slot, and ultimately opted to seed England ahead of Spain.[22]
Spain had only been eliminated in their 1986 quarter-final on penalties, albeit by fourth-placed Belgium, while England had been defeated in their 1986 quarter-final after 90 minutes by eventual winners Argentina. If the only criteria had been the 1986 ranking, then Spain should have been seeded as #6 instead of England; a viewpoint being supported by FIFA President João Havelange as late as 29 November 1989.[24] If taking the 1982 ranking into consideration, England however had performed slightly better than Spain - as they had finished ahead of them in Group B of the second group stage. If only considering the results of the 1978 event, it could on the other hand have been counter argued, that Spain by their group stage performance and Netherlands by their silver medal accomplishment, should have been seeded rather than England and Belgium who both had failed to qualify.
Spanish officials believed the seeding was contrived to ensure England would be placed in Group F, the group to be held off the Italian mainland, in a bid to contain England's hooliganism problems.[17] Their coach Luis Suárez said, "We feel we've been cheated...they wanted to seed England and to send it to Cagliari at all costs. So they invented this formula".[22] FIFA countered that "the formula was based on the teams' respective showings during the previous two World Cups. England merited the sixth position. This is in no way a concession to English hooliganism".[22]
Meanwhile, the Netherlands also had an argument, that on grounds of recent footballing form, they should be seeded, as the winners of the 1988 European Championship, in which both Spain and England had been eliminated in the group stages, while Belgium (fourth in the 1986 World Cup after beating Spain, and thus seeded in 1990) had failed to even qualify. However, this argument was countered by the fact that Netherlands had themselves failed to qualify for both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, which was considered the most important factor in the decision not to seed them.[25]
The arguments whether or not seeding positions were justified, mainly existed ahead of the draw, and rapidly fizzled out after the draw, as the two teams considered the most unlucky not to be seeded (Spain and Netherlands), were both drawn in groups against the two teams considered the weakest of the seeded nations (Belgium and England). After the group stage had been completed, England could be said to have justified their seeded position by winning their Group F ahead of Ireland and Netherlands; while Spain seemed to have made their own point about being worth a seeded position, by defeating Belgium to top their own Group E.
| Top Seeded teams[22] (hosts and top 6-ranked from 1982 & 1986) | Pot 1[26] Africa, Asia & North America (CAF, AFC & CONCACAF) | Pot 2[26] South America & Europe II (CONMEBOL & UEFA) | Pot 3[26] Best unseeded from Europe (UEFA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy (hosts, A1) (1st) | Cameroon | Colombia |
Final draw edit
On 9 December 1989 the draw was conducted at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome, where the teams were drawn out from the three pots to be placed with the seeded teams in their predetermined groups, in alphabetic order. A special draw decided teams should first be drawn from Pot 1, then from Pot 3, and finally from Pot 2. Each drawn team also had their group position number drawn from a separate group bowl, in order to decide their exact match schedule. The only stipulation of the draw was that no group could feature two South American teams. Hence, a special rule was set up that:[26][27][28]
- Pot 2 rule (final version): If the two South American teams (Colombia and Uruguay) are drawn as the second/third team from Pot 2, then they will not go into group B/C - as those two groups are led by the two seeded South American teams (Argentina and Brazil); but instead they will be placed in the next open group in the alphabet led by a seeded European team (Group D/E).[26][27][28]
The procedure for the draw, was presented by FIFA at a press meeting the day before the draw. However, after having received objections from Italian officials, FIFA opted to slightly change their special Pot 2 rule, during the last 24 hours ahead of the draw. Before this rule was changed into the final wording given in the paragraph above, it had been intended to say:[29]
- Pot 2 rule (dropped initial version): First two drawn European teams from Pot 2 shall, irrespectively of the alphabet order for the open groups, first be drawn into the two groups led by a seeded South American team (Argentina's Group B and Brazil's Group C); while the two drawn South American teams (Colombia and Uruguay) can not join Group B+C and shall instead be drawn into the first still open group being led by a seeded European team.[29]
This dropped initial wording, would have increased the risk for Italy in Group A to draw one of the difficult two South American teams, instead of one of the easier European teams from Pot 2; because for Italy to get paired with a European Pot 2 team it would have required the less likely event that all three first drawn teams from Pot 2 should be European. When FIFA accepted to change the Pot 2 rule into the final version presented at the televised draw, this lowered the chance for the Italian Group A to draw a South American Pot 2 team, from the 80% chance created by the initial wording to only a 33% chance (two out of six teams).[29]
The ceremony was hosted by Italian television presenter Pippo Baudo, with Italian actress Sophia Loren and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti conducting the draw alongside FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter.[17] The draw show was FIFA's most ambitious yet with Pelé, Bobby Moore and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge appearing, as well as a performance of the Italian version of the tournament's official song "To Be Number One" by Giorgio Moroder, performed as "Un'estate italiana" by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini.[30]
The event also featured the official mascot of this World Cup, Ciao, a stick figure player with a football head and an Italian tricolor body that formed the word "ITALIA" when deconstructed and reconstructed.[31] Its name is a greeting in Italian.
Results of the draw edit
| Group A[27][28] | Group B[27][28] | Group C[27][28] | Group D[27][28] | Group E[27][28] | Group F[27][28] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Italy | 5. Argentina | 9. Brazil | 13. West Germany | 17. Belgium | 21. England |
In each group, the teams will play three matches, one against each of the other teams. Victories are granted 2 points, while a draw is equal to 1 point. After completion of the group stage, the best two teams of each group as well as the four best ranked third places, will advance to round 16 in the knockout stage. This format was identical with the tournament structure being used in 1986. A total of 52 games would be played, including the final and a bronze medal game between the two semifinale losers.
Summary of tournament edit
Negative tactics edit
The tournament generated a record low goals-per-game average and a then-record of 16 red cards were handed out.[5] In the knockout stage, many teams played defensively for 120 minutes, with the intention of trying their luck in the penalty shoot-out, rather than risk going forward. Two exceptions were the eventual champions West Germany and hosts Italy, the only teams to win three of their four knockout matches in normal time. There were four penalty shoot-outs, a record equalled with the 2006, 2014, and 2018 tournaments, until it was surpassed by the 2022 tournament, with five.[32] Eight matches went to extra time, also a record tied with the 2014 tournament.
Losing finalists Argentina were prime examples of this trend of cautious defensive play, choosing to do so because 3 of their best players were left off the squad due to injury. They scored only five goals in the entire tournament (a record low for a finalist). Argentina also became the first team to advance twice on penalty shoot-outs and the first team to fail to score and have a player sent off in a World Cup final.[1]
Largely as a result of this trend FIFA introduced the back-pass rule in time for the 1994 tournament to make it harder for teams to time-waste by repeatedly passing the ball back for their goalkeepers to pick up. Three, rather than two points would be awarded for victories at future tournaments to help further encourage attacking play.
Emergence of Cameroon edit
Cameroon reached the quarter-finals, where they were narrowly defeated by England.[1] They opened the tournament with a shock victory over reigning champions Argentina, before topping the group ahead of them, Romania and European Championship runners-up the Soviet Union. Their success was fired by the goals of Roger Milla, a 38-year-old forward who came out of international retirement to join the national squad at the last moment after a personal request from Cameroonian President Paul Biya. Milla's four goals and flamboyant goal celebrations made him one of the tournament's biggest stars as well as taking Cameroon to the last eight.[1] Most of Cameroon's squad was made up of players who played in France's premier football league, Ligue 1- French is one of the officially spoken languages in Cameroon, it being a former French territory. In reaching this stage, they had gone further than any African nation had managed in a World Cup before; a feat only equalled thrice since (by Senegal in 2002, Ghana in 2010, and Morocco in 2022). Their success was African football's biggest yet on the world stage and FIFA subsequently decided to allocate the CAF qualifying zone an additional place for the next World Cup tournament.
All-champion final four edit
Despite the performances of nations such as Cameroon, Colombia, Ireland, Romania and Costa Rica, the semi-finalists consisted of Argentina, England, Italy and West Germany, all previous World Cup winners, with eight previous titles between them. After the 1970 tournament, this is only the second time in the history of the World Cup this has occurred. The teams which finished first, second and third had also contested both the two previous World Cup Finals between themselves.
Group stage edit
All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
Champion Runner-up | Third place Fourth place | Quarter-finals Round of 16 | Group stage |
In the following tables:
- Pld = total games played
- W = total games won
- D = total games drawn (tied)
- L = total games lost
- GF = total goals scored (goals for)
- GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
- GD = goal difference (GF−GA)
- Pts = total points accumulated
The Group stage saw the twenty-four teams divided into six groups of four teams. Each group was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams coming first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16. The four best third-placed teams would also advance to the next stage.
Typical of a World Cup staged in Europe, the matches all started at either 5:00 or 9:00 in the evening; this allowed for the games to avoid being played in the heat of an Italian summer, which would soar past 86F (30C) all over Italy.
If teams were level on points, they were ranked on the following criteria in order:
- Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches
- Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches
- Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie
- Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie
- Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie
- Drawing of lots
Group A edit
Hosts Italy won Group A with a 100 percent record. They beat Austria 1–0 thanks to substitute Salvatore 'Totò' Schillaci, who had played only one international before but would become a star during the tournament. A second 1–0 victory followed against a United States team already thumped 5–1 by Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovaks ended runners-up in the group, while the USA's first appearance in a World Cup Finals since 1950 ended with three consecutive defeats.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 4 | |
| 3 | Austria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0 |
| 9 June 1990 | |||
| Italy | 1–0 | Austria | Stadio Olimpico, Rome |
| 10 June 1990 | |||
| United States | 1–5 | Czechoslovakia | Stadio Comunale, Florence |
| 14 June 1990 | |||
| Italy | 1–0 | United States | Stadio Olimpico, Rome |
| 15 June 1990 | |||
| Austria | 0–1 | Czechoslovakia | Stadio Comunale, Florence |
| 19 June 1990 | |||
| Italy | 2–0 | Czechoslovakia | Stadio Olimpico, Rome |
| Austria | 2–1 | United States | Stadio Comunale, Florence |
Group B edit
Cameroon defeated world champions Argentina 1–0. Despite ending the match with only nine men, the African team held on for a shock 1–0 win, with contrasting fortunes for the Biyik brothers: François Omam scoring the winning goal, shortly after seeing Andre Kana sent off for a serious foul. In their second game the introduction of Roger Milla was the catalyst for a 2–1 win over Romania, Milla scoring twice from the bench (making him the oldest goalscorer in the tournament). With progression assured, Cameroon slumped to a 4–0 defeat in their final group game to the Soviet Union (in what would be their last World Cup due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union), who were striving to stay in the tournament on goal difference after successive 2–0 defeats. Argentina lost their veteran goalkeeper, Nery Pumpido, to a broken leg during their victory over the USSR: his replacement, Sergio Goycochea, proved to be one of the stars of their tournament. In the final match, a 1–1 draw between Romania and Argentina sent both through, equal on points and on goal difference but Romania having the advantage on goals scored: Romania were thus second, Argentina qualified as one of the best third-placed teams.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cameroon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Romania | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Soviet Union | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| 8 June 1990 | |||
| Argentina | 0–1 | Cameroon | San Siro, Milan |
| 9 June 1990 | |||
| Soviet Union | 0–2 | Romania | Stadio San Nicola, Bari |
| 13 June 1990 | |||
| Argentina | 2–0 | Soviet Union | Stadio San Paolo, Naples |
| 14 June 1990 | |||
| Cameroon | 2–1 | Romania | Stadio San Nicola, Bari |
| 18 June 1990 | |||
| Argentina | 1–1 | Romania | Stadio San Paolo, Naples |
| Cameroon | 0–4 | Soviet Union | Stadio San Nicola, Bari |
Group C edit
Costa Rica beat Scotland 1–0 in their first match, lost 1–0 to Brazil in their second, then saw off Sweden 2–1 to claim a place in the second round. Brazil took maximum points from the group. They began with a 2–1 win over Sweden, then beat both Costa Rica and Scotland 1–0. Scotland's 2–1 win over Sweden was not enough to save them from an early return home as one of the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Scotland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Sweden | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| 10 June 1990 | |||
| Brazil | 2–1 | Sweden | Stadio delle Alpi, Turin |
| 11 June 1990 | |||
| Costa Rica | 1–0 | Scotland | Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa |
| 16 June 1990 | |||
| Brazil | 1–0 | Costa Rica | Stadio delle Alpi, Turin |
| Sweden | 1–2 | Scotland | Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa |
| 20 June 1990 | |||
| Brazil | 1–0 | Scotland | Stadio delle Alpi, Turin |
| Sweden | 1–2 | Costa Rica | Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa |
Group D edit
Group D featured the most goals of all the groups, most due to two large wins of West Germany and defensive inadequacies of a United Arab Emirates team that lost 2–0 to Colombia, 5–1 to West Germany and 4–1 to Yugoslavia. The West Germans topped the group after a 4–1 opening victory over group runners-up Yugoslavia.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Colombia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| 9 June 1990 | |||
| United Arab Emirates | 0–2 | Colombia | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna |
| 10 June 1990 | |||
| West Germany | 4–1 | Yugoslavia | San Siro, Milan |
| 14 June 1990 | |||
| Yugoslavia | 1–0 | Colombia | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna |
| 15 June 1990 | |||
| West Germany | 5–1 | United Arab Emirates | San Siro, Milan |
| 19 June 1990 | |||
| West Germany | 1–1 | Colombia | San Siro, Milan |
| Yugoslavia | 4–1 | United Arab Emirates | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna |
Group E edit
The winners of Group E were Spain, for whom Míchel hit a hat-trick as they beat South Korea 3–1 in an unbeaten group campaign. Belgium won their first two games against South Korea and Uruguay to ensure their progress; Uruguay's advance to the second round came with an injury time winner against South Korea to edge them through as the weakest of the third-placed sides to remain in the tournament.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Belgium | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 4 | |
| 3 | Uruguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | South Korea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
| 12 June 1990 | |||
| Belgium | 2–0 | South Korea | Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona |
| 13 June 1990 | |||
| Uruguay | 0–0 | Spain | Stadio Friuli, Udine |
| 17 June 1990 | |||
| Belgium | 3–1 | Uruguay | Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona |
| South Korea | 1–3 | Spain | Stadio Friuli, Udine |
| 21 June 1990 | |||
| Belgium | 1–2 | Spain | Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona |
| South Korea | 0–1 | Uruguay | Stadio Friuli, Udine |
Group F edit
Group F featured the Netherlands, England, the Republic of Ireland and Egypt. In the six group games, no team managed to score more than once in a match. England beat Egypt 1–0, the only match with a decisive result, and that was enough to win the group. England took the lead with an early goal for Lineker against Ireland, but Sheedy's late equalizer secured a draw. The Netherlands drew with Egypt: they had taken a 1–0 lead, but Egypt equalised with a penalty by Abdelghani. England then drew 0–0 with the Netherlands; a goal from a free-kick by Pearce was disallowed. For the second World Cup in succession, however, England lost their captain Bryan Robson to an injury which put him out of the tournament, just over halfway through their second match. Ireland missed a number of scoring opportunities in the second half of the other 0–0 draw against Egypt.[33] After the first four matches all four teams had equal records with two draws, one goal for and one goal against. England's victory over Egypt, thanks to a 58th-minute goal from Mark Wright, put them top of the group: in the other match, Gullit gave the Netherlands the lead against Ireland, but Niall Quinn scored a second-half equalizer and the two teams finished in second and third, still with identical records. Both teams qualified but they had to draw lots to place the teams in second and third place.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Republic of Ireland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | |
| 3 | Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | |
| 4 | Egypt | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| 11 June 1990 | |||
| England | 1–1 | Republic of Ireland | Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari |
| 12 June 1990 | |||
| Netherlands | 1–1 | Egypt | Stadio La Favorita, Palermo |
| 16 June 1990 | |||
| England | 0–0 | Netherlands | Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari |
| 17 June 1990 | |||
| Republic of Ireland | 0–0 | Egypt | Stadio La Favorita, Palermo |
| 21 June 1990 | |||
| England | 1–0 | Egypt | Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari |
| Republic of Ireland | 1–1 | Netherlands | Stadio La Favorita, Palermo |
Ranking of third-placed teams edit
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | D | Colombia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | F | Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | E | Uruguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 5 | A | Austria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 6 | C | Scotland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 |
Ireland won the drawing of lots against the Netherlands for second place in Group F: the Netherlands were the only third-placed team not to have won any matches - or lost any: they progressed with three draws (3 points).
Knockout stage edit
The knockout stage involved the 16 teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament. There were four rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round. The successive rounds were: round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. There was also a play-off to decide third/fourth place. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by 30 minutes of extra time; if scores were still level there would be a penalty shoot-out (five penalties each, if neither team already had a decisive advantage, and more if necessary) to determine who progressed to the next round. Scores after extra time are indicated by (a.e.t.) and penalty shoot-outs are indicated by (pen.).
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| 24 June – Turin | ||||||||||||||
| Brazil | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 30 June – Florence | ||||||||||||||
| Argentina | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Argentina (pen.) | 0 (3) | |||||||||||||
| 26 June – Verona | ||||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 0 (2) | |||||||||||||
| Spain | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 3 July – Naples | ||||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Argentina (pen.) | 1 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 25 June – Genoa | ||||||||||||||
| Italy | 1 (3) | |||||||||||||
| Republic of Ireland (pen.) | 0 (5) | |||||||||||||
| 30 June – Rome | ||||||||||||||
| Romania | 0 (4) | |||||||||||||
| Republic of Ireland | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 25 June – Rome | ||||||||||||||
| Italy | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Italy | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 8 July – Rome | ||||||||||||||
| Uruguay | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Argentina | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 23 June – Bari | ||||||||||||||
| West Germany | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 1 July – Milan | ||||||||||||||
| Costa Rica | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 24 June – Milan | ||||||||||||||
| West Germany | 1 | |||||||||||||
| West Germany | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 4 July – Turin | ||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 1 | |||||||||||||
| West Germany (pen.) | 1 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 23 June – Naples | ||||||||||||||
| England | 1 (3) | Third place | ||||||||||||
| Cameroon (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 1 July – Naples | 7 July – Bari | |||||||||||||
| Colombia | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Cameroon | 2 | Italy | 2 | |||||||||||
| 26 June – Bologna | ||||||||||||||
| England (a.e.t.) | 3 | England | 1 | |||||||||||
| England (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Belgium | 0 | |||||||||||||
All times listed are local (UTC+2)
Round of 16 edit
Two of the ties—Brazil vs Argentina and Italy vs Uruguay—pitted former champion countries against each other and West Germany met the Netherlands in a rematch of the 1974 World Cup Final. The all-South American game was won for Argentina by a goal from Claudio Caniggia with 10 minutes remaining after a run through the Brazilian defence by Diego Maradona and a strong performance from their goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea. It would later come to light that Branco had been offered water spiked with tranquillisers by Maradona and Ricardo Giusti during half time, to slow him down in the second half. Initially discredited by the press, Branco would be publicly proven right years later, when Maradona confessed the episode on a TV show in Argentina.[34] Hosts Italy beat Uruguay 2–0, thanks to goals from Schillaci and Aldo Serena.
The match between West Germany and the Netherlands was held in Milan, and both sides featured players from the two Milanese clubs (Germans Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann for Internazionale, and Dutchmen Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard for Milan). After 22 minutes Rudi Völler and Rijkaard were both dismissed after a number of incidents between the two players, including Rijkaard spitting on Völler. As the players walked off the pitch together, Rijkaard spat on Völler a second time. Early in the second half, Jürgen Klinsmann put the West Germans ahead and Andreas Brehme added a second with eight minutes left. A Ronald Koeman penalty for the Netherlands in the 89th minute narrowed the score to 2–1 but the Germans saw the game out to gain some revenge for their exit to the Dutch in the previous European Championship.
Meanwhile, in Cameroon v. Colombia, Roger Milla was introduced as a second-half substitute with the game goalless, eventually breaking the deadlock midway in extra time. Three minutes later he netted a second after Colombian goalkeeper, René Higuita was dispossessed by Milla while well out of his goal, leaving the striker free to slot the ball into the empty net. Though the deficit was soon reduced to 2–1, Cameroon held on to become the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Costa Rica were beaten 4–1 by Czechoslovakia, for whom Tomáš Skuhravý scored the tournament's second and final hat-trick.
The Republic of Ireland's match with Romania remained goalless after extra time and the Irish side won 5–4 on penalties. David O'Leary converted the penalty that clinched Ireland's place in the quarter-finals. Ireland thus became the first team since Sweden in 1938 to reach the last eight in a World Cup finals tournament without winning a match outright. Yugoslavia beat Spain 2–1 after extra time, with Dragan Stojković scoring both the Yugoslavs' goals. England were the final qualifier against Belgium, as midfielder David Platt's swivelling volley broke the stalemate with the game moments away from a penalty shoot-out.
| Czechoslovakia | 4–1 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Skuhravý 12', 63', 82' Kubík 76' | Report | González 55' |
| West Germany | 2–1 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Klinsmann 51' Brehme 85' | Report | R. Koeman 89' (pen.) |
| Spain | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Yugoslavia |
|---|---|---|
| Salinas 84' | Report | Stojković 78', 93' |
Quarterfinals edit
The first game of the last 8 saw Argentina and a Yugoslav side, reduced to 10 men after only half an hour, play out a goalless stalemate. The holders reached the semi-finals after winning the penalty shoot-out 3–2, despite Maradona having his penalty saved. A second Argentine miss (by Pedro Troglio) looked to have eliminated them until goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea – playing because first choice Nery Pumpido broke his leg during the group stage – rescued his side by stopping the Yugoslavs' final two spotkicks.
The Republic of Ireland's World Cup run was brought to an end by a single goal from Schillaci in the first half of their quarter-final with hosts Italy, thus becoming the team who advanced the furthest in a World Cup without winning a single match. West Germany beat Czechoslovakia with a 25th minute Lothar Matthäus penalty.
The quarter-final between England and Cameroon was the only quarter-final to produce more than one goal. Despite Cameroon's heroics earlier in the tournament, David Platt put England ahead in the 25th minute. At half-time, Milla was brought on. In the second half, the game was turned on its head during a five-minute stretch: first Cameroon were awarded a penalty from which Emmanuel Kunde scored the equaliser; then in the 65th minute Eugene Ekeke put Cameroon ahead. Cameroon came within eight minutes of reaching the semi-finals before they conceded a penalty, which Gary Lineker converted. Midway through extra time, England were awarded another penalty and Lineker again scored from the spot. England were through to the semi-finals for the first time since 1966.
| Republic of Ireland | 0–1 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Schillaci 38' |
| Czechoslovakia | 0–1 | West Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Matthäus 25' (pen.) |
Semifinals edit
The first semi-final featured the host nation, Italy, and the world champions, Argentina in Naples. 'Toto' Schillaci scored yet again to put Italy ahead in the 17th minute, but Claudio Caniggia equalised midway through the second half, breaking Walter Zenga's clean sheet streak throughout the tournament. There were no more goals in the 90 minutes or in extra time despite Maradona (who played for Naples in Serie A at the time) showing glimpses of magic, but there was a sending-off: Ricardo Giusti of Argentina was shown the red card in the 13th minute of extra time. Argentina went through on penalties, winning the shoot-out 4–3 after more heroics from Goycochea.
The semi-final between West Germany and England at Juventus' home stadium in Turin was goalless at half-time. Then, in the 60th minute, a free-kick tapped to Andreas Brehme resulted in a shot which was deflected off Paul Parker into his own net. England equalised with ten minutes left; Gary Lineker was the scorer. The game ended 1–1. Extra time yielded more chances. Klinsmann was guilty of two glaring misses and both sides struck a post. England had another Platt goal disallowed for offside. The match went to penalties, and West Germany went on to win the shoot-out 4–3.[35]
The two matches had the exact same score at 1–1, an identical penalty shootout score at 4–3, and the same order of penalties scored.
| Argentina | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Caniggia 67' | Report | Schillaci 17' |
| Penalties | ||
| Serrizuela Burruchaga Olarticoechea Maradona | 4–3 | Baresi Baggio De Agostini Donadoni Serena |
| West Germany | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | 1990, fifa, world, italia, italy, 1990, redirect, here, video, games, world, soccer, italia, italy, 1990, video, game, 1990, world, redirects, here, other, uses, 1990, world, disambiguation, 14th, fifa, world, quadrennial, football, tournament, senior, nationa. Italia 90 and Italy 1990 redirect here For the video games see World Cup Soccer Italia 90 and Italy 1990 video game 1990 World Cup redirects here For other uses see 1990 World Cup disambiguation The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup a quadrennial football tournament for men s senior national teams It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy the second country to host the event for a second time the first being Mexico in 1986 Teams representing 116 national football associations entered and qualification began in April 1988 22 teams qualified from this process along with the host nation Italy and defending champions Argentina 1990 FIFA World CupCoppa del Mondo Italia 90 Italian Tournament detailsHost countryItalyDates8 June 8 JulyTeams24 from 5 confederations Venue s 12 in 12 host cities Final positionsChampions West Germany 3rd title Runners up ArgentinaThird place ItalyFourth place EnglandTournament statisticsMatches played52Goals scored115 2 21 per match Attendance2 516 215 48 389 per match Top scorer s Salvatore Schillaci 6 goals Best player s Salvatore SchillaciBest young playerRobert ProsineckiFair play award England 19861994 The tournament was won by West Germany for the third time They beat defending champions Argentina 1 0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome a rematch of the previous final four years earlier Italy finished third and England fourth after both lost their semi finals in penalty shootouts This was the last tournament to feature a team from West Germany with the country being reunified with East Germany a few months later in October as well as teams from the Eastern Bloc prior to the end of the Cold War in 1991 as the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia teams made their final appearances Costa Rica Ireland and the United Arab Emirates made their first appearances in the finals As of 2022 this was the last time the United Arab Emirates qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals Cameroon went on an unexpectedly strong run in the tournament becoming the first African team to reach the quarter finals of the World Cup The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups in terms of the games 1 2 3 4 It generated an average 2 21 goals per game a record low that still stands 5 and a then record 16 red cards including the first dismissal in a final The tournament also had a significant lasting influence on the game as a whole In England the team s success in this tournament led to the resurgence of the domestic top flight which had suffered from violence on the pitch and hooliganism by spectators throughout the 1980s 6 It saw the introduction of the pre match Fair Play Flag then inscribed with Fair Play Please to encourage fair play Overly defensive tactics of many teams led to the introduction of the back pass rule in 1992 and three points for a win instead of two both of which have encouraged attacking play increasing spectator interest in the sport The tournament also produced some of the World Cup s best remembered moments and stories including the emergence of African nations in addition to what has become the World Cup soundtrack Nessun dorma 6 The 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history garnering an estimated 26 69 billion non unique viewers over the course of the tournament 7 This was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japan s NHK 8 The huge success of the broadcasting model has also had a lasting impact on the sport 6 At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non unique viewers but was bettered by the 1994 and 2002 World Cups 9 Contents 1 Host selection 2 Qualification 2 1 List of qualified teams 3 Venues 4 Squads 5 Match officials 6 Draw 6 1 Seedings 6 2 Final draw 6 3 Results of the draw 7 Summary of tournament 7 1 Negative tactics 7 2 Emergence of Cameroon 7 3 All champion final four 8 Group stage 8 1 Group A 8 2 Group B 8 3 Group C 8 4 Group D 8 5 Group E 8 6 Group F 8 7 Ranking of third placed teams 9 Knockout stage 9 1 Round of 16 9 2 Quarterfinals 9 3 Semifinals 9 4 Third place play off 9 5 Final 10 Statistics 10 1 Goalscorers 10 2 Awards 10 2 1 All star team 10 3 Final standings 10 4 Records 11 Symbols 11 1 Mascot 11 2 Match ball 11 3 Music 12 See also 13 References 14 External linksHost selection editMain article FIFA World Cup hosts The vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 19 May 1984 in Zurich Switzerland Here the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the only rival bid the USSR by 11 votes to 5 10 This awarding made Italy only the second nation to host two World Cup tournaments after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging Italy had previously held the event in 1934 where they had won their first championship Austria England France Greece West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for the 31 July 1983 deadline 11 A month later only England Greece Italy and the Soviet Union remained in the hunt after the other contenders all withdrew 12 All four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983 with the final decision over running into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved 13 In early 1984 England and Greece also withdrew leading to a two horse race in the final vote The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games announced on the eve of the World Cup decision was speculated to have been a major factor behind Italy winning the vote so decisively 14 although this was denied by the FIFA President Joao Havelange 10 Iran also planned to host the competition They proposed it to FIFA in 1977 but a few months later they withdrew their request 15 Qualification editMain article 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification 116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup including Italy as host nation and Argentina as reigning World Cup champions who were both granted automatic qualification Thus the remaining 22 finals places were divided among the continental confederations with 114 initially entering the qualification competition Due to rejected entries and withdrawals 103 teams eventually participated in the qualifying stages Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams Europe two by CONMEBOL teams South America two by CAF teams Africa two by AFC teams Asia and two by CONCACAF teams North and Central America and Caribbean The remaining place was decided by a play off between a CONMEBOL team and a team from the OFC Oceania Mexico was disqualified during the qualification process for fielding four overage players in a prior youth tournament 16 Three teams made their debuts as this was the first World Cup to feature Costa Rica and the Republic of Ireland and the only one to date to feature the United Arab Emirates As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup this is the most recent World Cup not to feature Mexico Returning after long absences were Egypt which appeared for the first time since 1934 the United States which would not miss a World Cup again until 2018 which competed for the first time since 1950 Colombia which appeared for the first time since 1962 Romania which last appeared at the Finals in 1970 and Sweden and the Netherlands both of which last qualified in 1978 Austria Cameroon Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia also returned after missing the 1986 tournament Among the teams that failed to qualify were 1986 semi finalist France missing its first World Cup since 1974 and Poland its first since 1970 List of qualified teams edit The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament AFC 2 nbsp South Korea nbsp United Arab Emirates debut CAF 2 nbsp Egypt nbsp Cameroon OFC 0 None qualified CONCACAF 2 nbsp Costa Rica debut nbsp United States CONMEBOL 4 nbsp Argentina holders nbsp Brazil nbsp Colombia nbsp Uruguay UEFA 14 nbsp Austria nbsp Belgium nbsp Czechoslovakia nbsp England nbsp Italy hosts nbsp Netherlands nbsp Republic of Ireland debut nbsp Romania nbsp Scotland nbsp Soviet Union nbsp Spain nbsp Sweden nbsp West Germany nbsp Yugoslavia nbsp Countries qualified for World Cup Country did not qualify Countries that did not enter the World Cup or were expelled from the tournament by FIFA prior to playing a match Country not a FIFA memberVenues editTwelve stadiums in twelve cities were selected to host matches at the 1990 World Cup The Stadio San Nicola in Bari and Turin s Stadio delle Alpi were completely new venues opened for the World Cup Of the twelve stadiums used only four San Siro Luigi Ferraris Comunale of Florence and Renato Dall Ara had been used for the 1934 FIFA World Cup while Trieste was the only host city from 1934 not to be selected for the 1990 tournament The ten existing venues all underwent extensive programmes of improvements in preparation for the tournament forcing many of the club tenants of the stadia to move to temporary homes Additional seating and roofs were added to most stadia with further redevelopments seeing running tracks removed and new pitches laid Due to structural constraints several of the existing stadia had to be virtually rebuilt to implement the changes required Like Espana 82 and Mexico 86 the group stage of this tournament was organized so an individual group only played in two cities in close proximity to each other Group A only played in Rome and Florence hosts Italy played all but two competitive matches in Rome their semi final match was played in Napoli and their third place match in Bari Group B played their matches in Naples and Bari except for Argentina vs Cameroon which was the opening match of the tournament played in Milan Group C played their matches in Turin and Genoa Group D played all their matches in Milan and Bologna Group E played only in Udine and Verona and Group F played in the insular cities of Cagliari and Palermo The cities that hosted the most World Cup matches were the two biggest cities in Italy Rome and Milan each hosting six matches and Bari Naples and Turin each hosted five matches Cagliari Udine and Palermo were the only cities of the 12 selected that did not host any knockout round matches The England national team at the British government s request played all 3 of their group stage matches in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia 17 Hooliganism rife in English football in the 1980s had spilled over onto the European continent when 39 mostly Italian Juventus supporters were killed and 600 were injured at the 1985 European Cup Final in Brussels while trying to flee from an attack by Liverpool supporters This hooliganism had followed the England national team while they played friendlies on the European continent the distrust of English fans was high enough that the English Football Association s reputation and even diplomatic relations between the UK and Italy were seen to be at risk if England played any group stage matches on the Italian mainland Thanks largely to British Sports Minister Colin Moynihan s negative remarks about English fans weeks before the match security around Cagliari during England s three matches there was heavy in addition to 7 000 local police the Carabinieri and special forces of the Italian military were also there patrolling the premises The Italian authorities presence proved to be justified as there were several riots during the time England were playing their matches in Cagliari leading to a number of injuries arrests and even deportations 18 19 Most of the construction cost in excess of their original estimates and total costs ended up being over 550 million approximately 935 million Rome s Stadio Olimpico which hosted the final was the most expensive project overall while Udine s Stadio Friuli the newest of the existing stadia opened 14 years prior cost the least to redevelop Milan Rome Turin Naples San Siro Stadio Olimpico Stadio delle Alpi Stadio San Paolo 45 28 40 89 N 9 7 27 14 E 45 4780250 N 9 1242056 E 45 4780250 9 1242056 San Siro 41 56 1 99 N 12 27 17 23 E 41 9338861 N 12 4547861 E 41 9338861 12 4547861 Stadio Olimpico 45 06 34 42 N 7 38 28 54 E 45 1095611 N 7 6412611 E 45 1095611 7 6412611 Stadio delle Alpi 40 49 40 68 N 14 11 34 83 E 40 8279667 N 14 1930083 E 40 8279667 14 1930083 Stadio San Paolo Capacity 74 559 20 21 Capacity 73 603 20 21 Capacity 62 628 20 21 Capacity 59 978 20 21 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Bari nbsp nbsp Rome nbsp Milan nbsp Naples nbsp Turin nbsp Bari nbsp Verona nbsp Florence nbsp Cagliari nbsp Bologna nbsp Udine nbsp Palermo nbsp Genoa Florence Stadio San Nicola Stadio Comunale 41 5 5 05 N 16 50 24 26 E 41 0847361 N 16 8400722 E 41 0847361 16 8400722 Stadio San Nicola 43 46 50 96 N 11 16 56 13 E 43 7808222 N 11 2822583 E 43 7808222 11 2822583 Stadio Artemio Franchi Capacity 51 426 20 21 Capacity 38 971 20 21 nbsp nbsp Verona Udine Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi Stadio Friuli 45 26 7 28 N 10 58 7 13 E 45 4353556 N 10 9686472 E 45 4353556 10 9686472 Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi 46 4 53 77 N 13 12 0 49 E 46 0816028 N 13 2001361 E 46 0816028 13 2001361 Stadio Friuli Capacity 35 950 20 21 Capacity 35 713 20 21 nbsp nbsp Cagliari Bologna Palermo Genoa Stadio Sant Elia Stadio Renato Dall Ara Stadio La Favorita Stadio Luigi Ferraris 39 11 57 82 N 9 8 5 83 E 39 1993944 N 9 1349528 E 39 1993944 9 1349528 Stadio Sant Elia 44 29 32 33 N 11 18 34 80 E 44 4923139 N 11 3096667 E 44 4923139 11 3096667 Stadio Renato Dall Ara 38 9 9 96 N 13 20 32 19 E 38 1527667 N 13 3422750 E 38 1527667 13 3422750 Stadio Renzo Barbera 44 24 59 15 N 8 57 8 74 E 44 4164306 N 8 9524278 E 44 4164306 8 9524278 Stadio Luigi Ferraris Capacity 35 238 20 21 Capacity 34 520 20 21 Capacity 33 288 20 21 Capacity 31 823 20 21 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Squads editMain article 1990 FIFA World Cup squads Squads for the 1990 World Cup consisted of 22 players as for the previous tournament in 1986 Replacement of injured players was permitted during the tournament at FIFA s discretion Two goalkeepers Argentina s Angel Comizzo and England s Dave Beasant entered their respective squads during the tournament to replace injured players Nery Pumpido and David Seaman Match officials edit41 match officials from 34 countries were assigned to the tournament to serve as referees and assistant referees Officials in italics were only used as assistants during the tournament Referees dressed only in traditional black jerseys for the final time at a World Cup a red change shirt was used for two Group C games in which Scotland wore their navy blue shirts List of match officials Africa nbsp Mohamed Hansal nbsp Neji Jouini nbsp Jean Fidele Diramba Asia nbsp Jamal Al Sharif nbsp Jassim Mandi nbsp Shizuo Takada Europe nbsp Luigi Agnolin nbsp Emilio Soriano Aladren nbsp George Courtney nbsp Pietro D Elia nbsp Erik Fredriksson nbsp Siegfried Kirschen nbsp Helmut Kohl nbsp Tullio Lanese nbsp Michal Listkiewicz nbsp Rosario Lo Bello nbsp Carlo Longhi nbsp Pierluigi Magni nbsp Peter Mikkelsen nbsp Pierluigi Pairetto nbsp Zoran Petrovic nbsp Joel Quiniou nbsp Kurt Rothlisberger nbsp Aron Schmidhuber nbsp Carlos Silva Valente nbsp George Smith nbsp Alan Snoddy nbsp Alexey Spirin nbsp Marcel Van Langenhove nbsp Michel Vautrot North and Central America nbsp Edgardo Codesal nbsp Vincent Mauro nbsp Berny Ulloa Morera Oceania nbsp Richard Lorenc South America nbsp Juan Daniel Cardellino nbsp Armando Perez Hoyos nbsp Elias Jacome nbsp Juan Carlos Loustau nbsp Carlos Maciel nbsp Hernan Silva nbsp Jose Roberto WrightDraw editSeedings edit The six seeded teams for the 1990 tournament were announced on 7 December 1989 two days ahead of the draw The FIFA Organising Committee also decided ahead of the draw to allocate the six seeded teams into the first position of the six groups in the alphabetic order of their seeding rank first seed to Group A second seed to Group B etc 22 The seeds were decided by FIFA primarily based on the nations ranked position in the 1986 World Cup counting double with the ranked position in the 1982 World Cup also considered as a secondary influence counting normal 23 Six of the final eight in 1986 had qualified for the 1990 tournament the missing nations being Mexico quarter final in 1986 and France third place Italy did not reach the final eight in 1986 but despite this were still seeded first in 1990 as hosts In total the primary seeding criteria hereby resulted in seven countries to be potentially seeded As the tournament structure only had place for the selection of six seeded teams this left FIFA needing to exclude one of the six teams qualifying for a seed based on the primary sporting criteria FIFA first decided that all qualified teams having played the 1986 semifinals Argentina Germany Belgium should be guaranteed a seeding place behind the first seeded host nation Italy Consequently one of the three qualified nations who were eliminated in the 1986 quarter finals Brazil England or Spain should not be seeded based on the secondary sporting criteria looking at their 1982 FIFA World Cup results Owing to their performance in 1982 but also to their overall World Cup record Brazil were seeded third and not considered to drop out of the seedings FIFA therefore had to choose if England or Spain should be granted the last seeding slot and ultimately opted to seed England ahead of Spain 22 Spain had only been eliminated in their 1986 quarter final on penalties albeit by fourth placed Belgium while England had been defeated in their 1986 quarter final after 90 minutes by eventual winners Argentina If the only criteria had been the 1986 ranking then Spain should have been seeded as 6 instead of England a viewpoint being supported by FIFA President Joao Havelange as late as 29 November 1989 24 If taking the 1982 ranking into consideration England however had performed slightly better than Spain as they had finished ahead of them in Group B of the second group stage If only considering the results of the 1978 event it could on the other hand have been counter argued that Spain by their group stage performance and Netherlands by their silver medal accomplishment should have been seeded rather than England and Belgium who both had failed to qualify Spanish officials believed the seeding was contrived to ensure England would be placed in Group F the group to be held off the Italian mainland in a bid to contain England s hooliganism problems 17 Their coach Luis Suarez said We feel we ve been cheated they wanted to seed England and to send it to Cagliari at all costs So they invented this formula 22 FIFA countered that the formula was based on the teams respective showings during the previous two World Cups England merited the sixth position This is in no way a concession to English hooliganism 22 Meanwhile the Netherlands also had an argument that on grounds of recent footballing form they should be seeded as the winners of the 1988 European Championship in which both Spain and England had been eliminated in the group stages while Belgium fourth in the 1986 World Cup after beating Spain and thus seeded in 1990 had failed to even qualify However this argument was countered by the fact that Netherlands had themselves failed to qualify for both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups which was considered the most important factor in the decision not to seed them 25 The arguments whether or not seeding positions were justified mainly existed ahead of the draw and rapidly fizzled out after the draw as the two teams considered the most unlucky not to be seeded Spain and Netherlands were both drawn in groups against the two teams considered the weakest of the seeded nations Belgium and England After the group stage had been completed England could be said to have justified their seeded position by winning their Group F ahead of Ireland and Netherlands while Spain seemed to have made their own point about being worth a seeded position by defeating Belgium to top their own Group E Top Seeded teams 22 hosts and top 6 ranked from 1982 amp 1986 Pot 1 26 Africa Asia amp North America CAF AFC amp CONCACAF Pot 2 26 South America amp Europe II CONMEBOL amp UEFA Pot 3 26 Best unseeded from Europe UEFA nbsp Italy hosts A1 1st nbsp Argentina holders B1 2nd nbsp Brazil C1 3rd nbsp West Germany D1 4th nbsp Belgium E1 5th nbsp England F1 6th nbsp Cameroon nbsp Costa Rica nbsp Egypt nbsp South Korea nbsp United Arab Emirates nbsp United States nbsp Colombia nbsp Czechoslovakia nbsp Republic of Ireland nbsp Romania nbsp Sweden nbsp Uruguay nbsp Austria nbsp Netherlands nbsp Scotland nbsp Spain nbsp Soviet Union nbsp Yugoslavia Final draw edit nbsp Ciao a stick figure in the colours of the Italy Tricolore was the mascot for the 1990 FIFA World Cup On 9 December 1989 the draw was conducted at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome where the teams were drawn out from the three pots to be placed with the seeded teams in their predetermined groups in alphabetic order A special draw decided teams should first be drawn from Pot 1 then from Pot 3 and finally from Pot 2 Each drawn team also had their group position number drawn from a separate group bowl in order to decide their exact match schedule The only stipulation of the draw was that no group could feature two South American teams Hence a special rule was set up that 26 27 28 Pot 2 rule final version If the two South American teams Colombia and Uruguay are drawn as the second third team from Pot 2 then they will not go into group B C as those two groups are led by the two seeded South American teams Argentina and Brazil but instead they will be placed in the next open group in the alphabet led by a seeded European team Group D E 26 27 28 The procedure for the draw was presented by FIFA at a press meeting the day before the draw However after having received objections from Italian officials FIFA opted to slightly change their special Pot 2 rule during the last 24 hours ahead of the draw Before this rule was changed into the final wording given in the paragraph above it had been intended to say 29 Pot 2 rule dropped initial version First two drawn European teams from Pot 2 shall irrespectively of the alphabet order for the open groups first be drawn into the two groups led by a seeded South American team Argentina s Group B and Brazil s Group C while the two drawn South American teams Colombia and Uruguay can not join Group B C and shall instead be drawn into the first still open group being led by a seeded European team 29 This dropped initial wording would have increased the risk for Italy in Group A to draw one of the difficult two South American teams instead of one of the easier European teams from Pot 2 because for Italy to get paired with a European Pot 2 team it would have required the less likely event that all three first drawn teams from Pot 2 should be European When FIFA accepted to change the Pot 2 rule into the final version presented at the televised draw this lowered the chance for the Italian Group A to draw a South American Pot 2 team from the 80 chance created by the initial wording to only a 33 chance two out of six teams 29 The ceremony was hosted by Italian television presenter Pippo Baudo with Italian actress Sophia Loren and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti conducting the draw alongside FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter 17 The draw show was FIFA s most ambitious yet with Pele Bobby Moore and Karl Heinz Rummenigge appearing as well as a performance of the Italian version of the tournament s official song To Be Number One by Giorgio Moroder performed as Un estate italiana by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini 30 The event also featured the official mascot of this World Cup Ciao a stick figure player with a football head and an Italian tricolor body that formed the word ITALIA when deconstructed and reconstructed 31 Its name is a greeting in Italian Results of the draw edit Group A 27 28 Group B 27 28 Group C 27 28 Group D 27 28 Group E 27 28 Group F 27 28 1 nbsp Italy 2 nbsp Austria 3 nbsp United States 4 nbsp Czechoslovakia 5 nbsp Argentina 6 nbsp Cameroon 7 nbsp Soviet Union 8 nbsp Romania 0 9 nbsp Brazil 10 nbsp Sweden 11 nbsp Costa Rica 12 nbsp Scotland 13 nbsp West Germany 14 nbsp Yugoslavia 15 nbsp United Arab Emirates 16 nbsp Colombia 17 nbsp Belgium 18 nbsp South Korea 19 nbsp Uruguay 20 nbsp Spain 21 nbsp England 22 nbsp Ireland 23 nbsp Netherlands 24 nbsp Egypt In each group the teams will play three matches one against each of the other teams Victories are granted 2 points while a draw is equal to 1 point After completion of the group stage the best two teams of each group as well as the four best ranked third places will advance to round 16 in the knockout stage This format was identical with the tournament structure being used in 1986 A total of 52 games would be played including the final and a bronze medal game between the two semifinale losers Summary of tournament editNegative tactics edit The tournament generated a record low goals per game average and a then record of 16 red cards were handed out 5 In the knockout stage many teams played defensively for 120 minutes with the intention of trying their luck in the penalty shoot out rather than risk going forward Two exceptions were the eventual champions West Germany and hosts Italy the only teams to win three of their four knockout matches in normal time There were four penalty shoot outs a record equalled with the 2006 2014 and 2018 tournaments until it was surpassed by the 2022 tournament with five 32 Eight matches went to extra time also a record tied with the 2014 tournament Losing finalists Argentina were prime examples of this trend of cautious defensive play choosing to do so because 3 of their best players were left off the squad due to injury They scored only five goals in the entire tournament a record low for a finalist Argentina also became the first team to advance twice on penalty shoot outs and the first team to fail to score and have a player sent off in a World Cup final 1 Largely as a result of this trend FIFA introduced the back pass rule in time for the 1994 tournament to make it harder for teams to time waste by repeatedly passing the ball back for their goalkeepers to pick up Three rather than two points would be awarded for victories at future tournaments to help further encourage attacking play Emergence of Cameroon edit Cameroon reached the quarter finals where they were narrowly defeated by England 1 They opened the tournament with a shock victory over reigning champions Argentina before topping the group ahead of them Romania and European Championship runners up the Soviet Union Their success was fired by the goals of Roger Milla a 38 year old forward who came out of international retirement to join the national squad at the last moment after a personal request from Cameroonian President Paul Biya Milla s four goals and flamboyant goal celebrations made him one of the tournament s biggest stars as well as taking Cameroon to the last eight 1 Most of Cameroon s squad was made up of players who played in France s premier football league Ligue 1 French is one of the officially spoken languages in Cameroon it being a former French territory In reaching this stage they had gone further than any African nation had managed in a World Cup before a feat only equalled thrice since by Senegal in 2002 Ghana in 2010 and Morocco in 2022 Their success was African football s biggest yet on the world stage and FIFA subsequently decided to allocate the CAF qualifying zone an additional place for the next World Cup tournament All champion final four edit Despite the performances of nations such as Cameroon Colombia Ireland Romania and Costa Rica the semi finalists consisted of Argentina England Italy and West Germany all previous World Cup winners with eight previous titles between them After the 1970 tournament this is only the second time in the history of the World Cup this has occurred The teams which finished first second and third had also contested both the two previous World Cup Finals between themselves Group stage editAll times are Central European Summer Time UTC 2 nbsp Champion Runner up Third place Fourth place Quarter finals Round of 16 Group stage In the following tables Pld total games played W total games won D total games drawn tied L total games lost GF total goals scored goals for GA total goals conceded goals against GD goal difference GF GA Pts total points accumulated The Group stage saw the twenty four teams divided into six groups of four teams Each group was a round robin of six games where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group Teams were awarded two points for a win one point for a draw and none for a defeat The teams coming first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16 The four best third placed teams would also advance to the next stage Typical of a World Cup staged in Europe the matches all started at either 5 00 or 9 00 in the evening this allowed for the games to avoid being played in the heat of an Italian summer which would soar past 86F 30C all over Italy If teams were level on points they were ranked on the following criteria in order Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie Drawing of lots Group A edit Main article 1990 FIFA World Cup Group A Hosts Italy won Group A with a 100 percent record They beat Austria 1 0 thanks to substitute Salvatore Toto Schillaci who had played only one international before but would become a star during the tournament A second 1 0 victory followed against a United States team already thumped 5 1 by Czechoslovakia The Czechoslovaks ended runners up in the group while the USA s first appearance in a World Cup Finals since 1950 ended with three consecutive defeats Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Italy H 3 3 0 0 4 0 4 6 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Czechoslovakia 3 2 0 1 6 3 3 4 3 nbsp Austria 3 1 0 2 2 3 1 2 4 nbsp United States 3 0 0 3 2 8 6 0Source FIFARules for classification Group stage tiebreakers H Hosts 9 June 1990 Italy nbsp 1 0 nbsp Austria Stadio Olimpico Rome 10 June 1990 United States nbsp 1 5 nbsp Czechoslovakia Stadio Comunale Florence 14 June 1990 Italy nbsp 1 0 nbsp United States Stadio Olimpico Rome 15 June 1990 Austria nbsp 0 1 nbsp Czechoslovakia Stadio Comunale Florence 19 June 1990 Italy nbsp 2 0 nbsp Czechoslovakia Stadio Olimpico Rome Austria nbsp 2 1 nbsp United States Stadio Comunale Florence Group B edit Main article 1990 FIFA World Cup Group B Cameroon defeated world champions Argentina 1 0 Despite ending the match with only nine men the African team held on for a shock 1 0 win with contrasting fortunes for the Biyik brothers Francois Omam scoring the winning goal shortly after seeing Andre Kana sent off for a serious foul In their second game the introduction of Roger Milla was the catalyst for a 2 1 win over Romania Milla scoring twice from the bench making him the oldest goalscorer in the tournament With progression assured Cameroon slumped to a 4 0 defeat in their final group game to the Soviet Union in what would be their last World Cup due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union who were striving to stay in the tournament on goal difference after successive 2 0 defeats Argentina lost their veteran goalkeeper Nery Pumpido to a broken leg during their victory over the USSR his replacement Sergio Goycochea proved to be one of the stars of their tournament In the final match a 1 1 draw between Romania and Argentina sent both through equal on points and on goal difference but Romania having the advantage on goals scored Romania were thus second Argentina qualified as one of the best third placed teams Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Cameroon 3 2 0 1 3 5 2 4 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Romania 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 3 3 nbsp Argentina 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 3 4 nbsp Soviet Union 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 2Source FIFARules for classification Group stage tiebreakers 8 June 1990 Argentina nbsp 0 1 nbsp Cameroon San Siro Milan 9 June 1990 Soviet Union nbsp 0 2 nbsp Romania Stadio San Nicola Bari 13 June 1990 Argentina nbsp 2 0 nbsp Soviet Union Stadio San Paolo Naples 14 June 1990 Cameroon nbsp 2 1 nbsp Romania Stadio San Nicola Bari 18 June 1990 Argentina nbsp 1 1 nbsp Romania Stadio San Paolo Naples Cameroon nbsp 0 4 nbsp Soviet Union Stadio San Nicola Bari Group C edit Main article 1990 FIFA World Cup Group C Costa Rica beat Scotland 1 0 in their first match lost 1 0 to Brazil in their second then saw off Sweden 2 1 to claim a place in the second round Brazil took maximum points from the group They began with a 2 1 win over Sweden then beat both Costa Rica and Scotland 1 0 Scotland s 2 1 win over Sweden was not enough to save them from an early return home as one of the two lowest ranked third placed teams Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Brazil 3 3 0 0 4 1 3 6 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Costa Rica 3 2 0 1 3 2 1 4 3 nbsp Scotland 3 1 0 2 2 3 1 2 4 nbsp Sweden 3 0 0 3 3 6 3 0Source FIFARules for classification Group stage tiebreakers 10 June 1990 Brazil nbsp 2 1 nbsp Sweden Stadio delle Alpi Turin 11 June 1990 Costa Rica nbsp 1 0 nbsp Scotland Stadio Luigi Ferraris Genoa 16 June 1990 Brazil nbsp 1 0 nbsp Costa Rica Stadio delle Alpi Turin Sweden nbsp 1 2 nbsp Scotland Stadio Luigi Ferraris Genoa 20 June 1990 Brazil nbsp 1 0 nbsp Scotland Stadio delle Alpi Turin Sweden nbsp 1 2 nbsp Costa Rica Stadio Luigi Ferraris Genoa Group D edit Main article 1990 FIFA World Cup Group D Group D featured the most goals of all the groups most due to two large wins of West Germany and defensive inadequacies of a United Arab Emirates team that lost 2 0 to Colombia 5 1 to West Germany and 4 1 to Yugoslavia The West Germans topped the group after a 4 1 opening victory over group runners up Yugoslavia Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp West Germany 3 2 1 0 10 3 7 5 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Yugoslavia 3 2 0 1 6 5 1 4 3 nbsp Colombia 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 3 4 nbsp United Arab Emirates 3 0 0 3 2 11 9 0Source FIFARules for classification Group stage tiebreakers 9 June 1990 United Arab Emirates nbsp 0 2 nbsp Colombia Stadio Renato Dall Ara Bologna 10 June 1990 West Germany nbsp 4 1 nbsp Yugoslavia San Siro Milan 14 June 1990 Yugoslavia nbsp 1 0 nbsp Colombia Stadio Renato Dall Ara Bologna 15 June 1990 West Germany nbsp 5 1 nbsp United Arab Emirates San Siro Milan 19 June 1990 West Germany nbsp 1 1 nbsp Colombia San Siro Milan Yugoslavia nbsp 4 1 nbsp United Arab Emirates Stadio Renato Dall Ara Bologna Group E edit Main article 1990 FIFA World Cup Group E The winners of Group E were Spain for whom Michel hit a hat trick as they beat South Korea 3 1 in an unbeaten group campaign Belgium won their first two games against South Korea and Uruguay to ensure their progress Uruguay s advance to the second round came with an injury time winner against South Korea to edge them through as the weakest of the third placed sides to remain in the tournament Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp Spain 3 2 1 0 5 2 3 5 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Belgium 3 2 0 1 6 3 3 4 3 nbsp Uruguay 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 3 4 nbsp South Korea 3 0 0 3 1 6 5 0Source FIFARules for classification Group stage tiebreakers 12 June 1990 Belgium nbsp 2 0 nbsp South Korea Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi Verona 13 June 1990 Uruguay nbsp 0 0 nbsp Spain Stadio Friuli Udine 17 June 1990 Belgium nbsp 3 1 nbsp Uruguay Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi Verona South Korea nbsp 1 3 nbsp Spain Stadio Friuli Udine 21 June 1990 Belgium nbsp 1 2 nbsp Spain Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi Verona South Korea nbsp 0 1 nbsp Uruguay Stadio Friuli Udine Group F edit Main article 1990 FIFA World Cup Group F Group F featured the Netherlands England the Republic of Ireland and Egypt In the six group games no team managed to score more than once in a match England beat Egypt 1 0 the only match with a decisive result and that was enough to win the group England took the lead with an early goal for Lineker against Ireland but Sheedy s late equalizer secured a draw The Netherlands drew with Egypt they had taken a 1 0 lead but Egypt equalised with a penalty by Abdelghani England then drew 0 0 with the Netherlands a goal from a free kick by Pearce was disallowed For the second World Cup in succession however England lost their captain Bryan Robson to an injury which put him out of the tournament just over halfway through their second match Ireland missed a number of scoring opportunities in the second half of the other 0 0 draw against Egypt 33 After the first four matches all four teams had equal records with two draws one goal for and one goal against England s victory over Egypt thanks to a 58th minute goal from Mark Wright put them top of the group in the other match Gullit gave the Netherlands the lead against Ireland but Niall Quinn scored a second half equalizer and the two teams finished in second and third still with identical records Both teams qualified but they had to draw lots to place the teams in second and third place Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 nbsp England 3 1 2 0 2 1 1 4 Advance to knockout stage 2 nbsp Republic of Ireland 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3 a 3 nbsp Netherlands 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3 a 4 nbsp Egypt 3 0 2 1 1 2 1 2Source FIFARules for classification Group stage tiebreakersNotes a b The Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands finished with identical records With both teams assured of progressing they were split by the drawing of lots to determine second and third place 11 June 1990 England nbsp 1 1 nbsp Republic of Ireland Stadio Sant Elia Cagliari 12 June 1990 Netherlands nbsp 1 1 nbsp Egypt Stadio La Favorita Palermo 16 June 1990 England nbsp 0 0 nbsp Netherlands Stadio Sant Elia Cagliari 17 June 1990 Republic of Ireland nbsp 0 0 nbsp Egypt Stadio La Favorita Palermo 21 June 1990 England nbsp 1 0 nbsp Egypt Stadio Sant Elia Cagliari Republic of Ireland nbsp 1 1 nbsp Netherlands Stadio La Favorita Palermo Ranking of third placed teams edit Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 B nbsp Argentina 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 3 Advance to knockout stage 2 D nbsp Colombia 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 3 3 F nbsp Netherlands 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3 4 E nbsp Uruguay 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 3 5 A nbsp Austria 3 1 0 2 2 3 1 2 6 C nbsp Scotland 3 1 0 2 2 3 1 2Source FIFA Ireland won the drawing of lots against the Netherlands for second place in Group F the Netherlands were the only third placed team not to have won any matches or lost any they progressed with three draws 3 points Knockout stage editMain article 1990 FIFA World Cup knockout stage The knockout stage involved the 16 teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament There were four rounds of matches with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round The successive rounds were round of 16 quarter finals semi finals and the final There was also a play off to decide third fourth place For each game in the knockout stage any draw at 90 minutes was followed by 30 minutes of extra time if scores were still level there would be a penalty shoot out five penalties each if neither team already had a decisive advantage and more if necessary to determine who progressed to the next round Scores after extra time are indicated by a e t and penalty shoot outs are indicated by pen Round of 16Quarter finalsSemi finalsFinal 24 June Turin nbsp Brazil0 30 June Florence nbsp Argentina1 nbsp Argentina pen 0 3 26 June Verona nbsp Yugoslavia0 2 nbsp Spain1 3 July Naples nbsp Yugoslavia a e t 2 nbsp Argentina pen 1 4 25 June Genoa nbsp Italy1 3 nbsp Republic of Ireland pen 0 5 30 June Rome nbsp Romania0 4 nbsp Republic of Ireland0 25 June Rome nbsp Italy1 nbsp Italy2 8 July Rome nbsp Uruguay0 nbsp Argentina0 23 June Bari nbsp West Germany1 nbsp Czechoslovakia4 1 July Milan nbsp Costa Rica1 nbsp Czechoslovakia0 24 June Milan nbsp West Germany1 nbsp West Germany2 4 July Turin nbsp Netherlands1 nbsp West Germany pen 1 4 23 June Naples nbsp England1 3 Third place nbsp Cameroon a e t 2 1 July Naples7 July Bari nbsp Colombia1 nbsp Cameroon2 nbsp Italy2 26 June Bologna nbsp England a e t 3 nbsp England1 nbsp England a e t 1 nbsp Belgium0 All times listed are local UTC 2 Round of 16 edit Two of the ties Brazil vs Argentina and Italy vs Uruguay pitted former champion countries against each other and West Germany met the Netherlands in a rematch of the 1974 World Cup Final The all South American game was won for Argentina by a goal from Claudio Caniggia with 10 minutes remaining after a run through the Brazilian defence by Diego Maradona and a strong performance from their goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea It would later come to light that Branco had been offered water spiked with tranquillisers by Maradona and Ricardo Giusti during half time to slow him down in the second half Initially discredited by the press Branco would be publicly proven right years later when Maradona confessed the episode on a TV show in Argentina 34 Hosts Italy beat Uruguay 2 0 thanks to goals from Schillaci and Aldo Serena The match between West Germany and the Netherlands was held in Milan and both sides featured players from the two Milanese clubs Germans Andreas Brehme Lothar Matthaus and Jurgen Klinsmann for Internazionale and Dutchmen Marco van Basten Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard for Milan After 22 minutes Rudi Voller and Rijkaard were both dismissed after a number of incidents between the two players including Rijkaard spitting on Voller As the players walked off the pitch together Rijkaard spat on Voller a second time Early in the second half Jurgen Klinsmann put the West Germans ahead and Andreas Brehme added a second with eight minutes left A Ronald Koeman penalty for the Netherlands in the 89th minute narrowed the score to 2 1 but the Germans saw the game out to gain some revenge for their exit to the Dutch in the previous European Championship Meanwhile in Cameroon v Colombia Roger Milla was introduced as a second half substitute with the game goalless eventually breaking the deadlock midway in extra time Three minutes later he netted a second after Colombian goalkeeper Rene Higuita was dispossessed by Milla while well out of his goal leaving the striker free to slot the ball into the empty net Though the deficit was soon reduced to 2 1 Cameroon held on to become the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter finals Costa Rica were beaten 4 1 by Czechoslovakia for whom Tomas Skuhravy scored the tournament s second and final hat trick The Republic of Ireland s match with Romania remained goalless after extra time and the Irish side won 5 4 on penalties David O Leary converted the penalty that clinched Ireland s place in the quarter finals Ireland thus became the first team since Sweden in 1938 to reach the last eight in a World Cup finals tournament without winning a match outright Yugoslavia beat Spain 2 1 after extra time with Dragan Stojkovic scoring both the Yugoslavs goals England were the final qualifier against Belgium as midfielder David Platt s swivelling volley broke the stalemate with the game moments away from a penalty shoot out 23 June 199017 00Cameroon nbsp 2 1 a e t nbsp ColombiaMilla nbsp 106 108 Report Redin nbsp 115 Stadio San Paolo NaplesAttendance 50 026Referee Tullio Lanese Italy 23 June 199021 00Czechoslovakia nbsp 4 1 nbsp Costa RicaSkuhravy nbsp 12 63 82 Kubik nbsp 76 Report Gonzalez nbsp 55 Stadio San Nicola BariAttendance 47 673Referee Siegfried Kirschen East Germany 24 June 199017 00Brazil nbsp 0 1 nbsp ArgentinaReport Caniggia nbsp 81 Stadio Delle Alpi TurinAttendance 61 381Referee Joel Quiniou France 24 June 199021 00West Germany nbsp 2 1 nbsp NetherlandsKlinsmann nbsp 51 Brehme nbsp 85 Report R Koeman nbsp 89 pen San Siro MilanAttendance 74 559Referee Juan Carlos Loustau Argentina 25 June 199017 00Republic of Ireland nbsp 0 0 a e t nbsp RomaniaReportPenaltiesSheedy nbsp Houghton nbsp Townsend nbsp Cascarino nbsp O Leary nbsp 5 4 nbsp Hagi nbsp Lupu nbsp Rotariu nbsp Lupescu nbsp TimofteStadio Luigi Ferraris GenoaAttendance 31 818Referee Jose Roberto Wright Brazil 25 June 199021 00Italy nbsp 2 0 nbsp UruguaySchillaci nbsp 65 Serena nbsp 83 ReportStadio Olimpico RomeAttendance 73 303Referee George Courtney England 26 June 199017 00Spain nbsp 1 2 a e t nbsp YugoslaviaSalinas nbsp 84 Report Stojkovic nbsp 78 93 Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi VeronaAttendance 35 500Referee Aron Schmidhuber West Germany 26 June 199021 00England nbsp 1 0 a e t nbsp BelgiumPlatt nbsp 119 ReportStadio Renato Dall Ara BolognaAttendance 34 520Referee Peter Mikkelsen Denmark Quarterfinals edit The first game of the last 8 saw Argentina and a Yugoslav side reduced to 10 men after only half an hour play out a goalless stalemate The holders reached the semi finals after winning the penalty shoot out 3 2 despite Maradona having his penalty saved A second Argentine miss by Pedro Troglio looked to have eliminated them until goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea playing because first choice Nery Pumpido broke his leg during the group stage rescued his side by stopping the Yugoslavs final two spotkicks The Republic of Ireland s World Cup run was brought to an end by a single goal from Schillaci in the first half of their quarter final with hosts Italy thus becoming the team who advanced the furthest in a World Cup without winning a single match West Germany beat Czechoslovakia with a 25th minute Lothar Matthaus penalty The quarter final between England and Cameroon was the only quarter final to produce more than one goal Despite Cameroon s heroics earlier in the tournament David Platt put England ahead in the 25th minute At half time Milla was brought on In the second half the game was turned on its head during a five minute stretch first Cameroon were awarded a penalty from which Emmanuel Kunde scored the equaliser then in the 65th minute Eugene Ekeke put Cameroon ahead Cameroon came within eight minutes of reaching the semi finals before they conceded a penalty which Gary Lineker converted Midway through extra time England were awarded another penalty and Lineker again scored from the spot England were through to the semi finals for the first time since 1966 30 June 199017 00Argentina nbsp 0 0 a e t nbsp YugoslaviaReportPenaltiesSerrizuela nbsp Burruchaga nbsp Maradona nbsp Troglio nbsp Dezotti nbsp 3 2 nbsp Stojkovic nbsp Prosinecki nbsp Savicevic nbsp Brnovic nbsp HadzibegicStadio Comunale FlorenceAttendance 38 971Referee Kurt Rothlisberger Switzerland 30 June 199021 00Republic of Ireland nbsp 0 1 nbsp ItalyReport Schillaci nbsp 38 Stadio Olimpico RomeAttendance 73 303Referee Carlos Silva Valente Portugal 1 July 199017 00Czechoslovakia nbsp 0 1 nbsp West GermanyReport Matthaus nbsp 25 pen San Siro MilanAttendance 73 347Referee Helmut Kohl Austria 1 July 199021 00Cameroon nbsp 2 3 a e t nbsp EnglandKunde nbsp 61 pen Ekeke nbsp 65 Report Platt nbsp 25 Lineker nbsp 83 pen 105 pen Stadio San Paolo NaplesAttendance 55 205Referee Edgardo Codesal Mexico Semifinals edit The first semi final featured the host nation Italy and the world champions Argentina in Naples Toto Schillaci scored yet again to put Italy ahead in the 17th minute but Claudio Caniggia equalised midway through the second half breaking Walter Zenga s clean sheet streak throughout the tournament There were no more goals in the 90 minutes or in extra time despite Maradona who played for Naples in Serie A at the time showing glimpses of magic but there was a sending off Ricardo Giusti of Argentina was shown the red card in the 13th minute of extra time Argentina went through on penalties winning the shoot out 4 3 after more heroics from Goycochea The semi final between West Germany and England at Juventus home stadium in Turin was goalless at half time Then in the 60th minute a free kick tapped to Andreas Brehme resulted in a shot which was deflected off Paul Parker into his own net England equalised with ten minutes left Gary Lineker was the scorer The game ended 1 1 Extra time yielded more chances Klinsmann was guilty of two glaring misses and both sides struck a post England had another Platt goal disallowed for offside The match went to penalties and West Germany went on to win the shoot out 4 3 35 The two matches had the exact same score at 1 1 an identical penalty shootout score at 4 3 and the same order of penalties scored 3 July 199020 00Argentina nbsp 1 1 a e t nbsp ItalyCaniggia nbsp 67 Report Schillaci nbsp 17 PenaltiesSerrizuela nbsp Burruchaga nbsp Olarticoechea nbsp Maradona nbsp 4 3 nbsp Baresi nbsp Baggio nbsp De Agostini nbsp Donadoni nbsp SerenaStadio San Paolo NaplesAttendance 59 978Referee Michel Vautrot France 4 July 199020 00West Germany nbsp 1 1 a e t 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