FIFA World Cup 1994

The 1994 FIFA World Cup was held in the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1988. Brazil became the first nation to win four World Cup titles when they beat Italy 3-2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 0-0 after extra-time, the first final to be decided by penalties.

Qualification

Greece, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. Germany qualifed for the first time as a united country since the 1938 World Cup. Due to the strong performances by African teams in 1990, Africa were given three spots for the first time, with Nigeria joining Cameroon and Morocco. There were no British teams competed in a World Cup since they started to participate in the tournament in 1950.

Summary

FIFA’s decision to hold the event in the United States over the bids of Morocco and Brazil surprised many due to the perception that the United States had a relative lack of soccer fans. The average attendance of nearly 69,000 shattered a record that had stood since 1950, due to the bigger capacities of the American stadiums compared to those of Europe and Latin America. To this day, the total attendance for the final tournament of nearly 3.6 million remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition to 32 teams in 1998. Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Italy and the USA were seeded for the final draw that took place in Las Vegas, on December 19, 1993.

The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1990: 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four. Sixteen teams would qualify for the knockout competition: the six group winners, the six group runners-up, and the four third-placed teams with the best records. This was the last time this format was used, due to the expansion of the finals tournament in 1998 to 32 teams. This World Cup was the first in which three points were awarded for a win instead of two. FIFA instituted this feature to encourage attacking football after the defensive display of many teams at Italia ’90.

The tournament saw the end of Diego Maradona ‘s World Cup career. There was also the tragic story of Colombia ‘s Andrés Escobar.  On the field, the biggest surprise of the tournament was Bulgaria. They defeated Mexico 3-1 on penalties in the second round and then produced a major shock, defeating the reigning world champions, Germany, in the quarter-finals. Bulgaria eventually finished in fourth place.

Brazil and Italy, both three-time World Cup champions at that time, contested the final.

The final match at the Rose Bowl was tense but devoid of scoring chances. Despite the strategies disposed by the FIFA to promote offensive play, both teams lacked the energy to produce a goal.  Brazil won the penalty shoot-out 3-2, Baggio missed the resultative penalty. Brazil were crowned champions. One of the most famous moments of the World Cup was Baggio standing in front of the goal with his arms at his sides in disbelief.The third-place playoff was set between Sweden and Bulgaria. Sweden won convincingly with a 4-0 victory, showing the world why they had come so far in this tournament. One of Sweden’s World Cup profiles – Thomas Brolin – was named to the All-star team.

The tournament’s Golden Boot went jointly to Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria and Oleg Salenko of Russia , who scored a record five goals in their match against Cameroon . Both players scored six goals in the tournament. Brazil’s Romário , with five goals, won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.

Mascot

The official mascot of this World Cup was Striker, a dog, wearing a red, white and blue uniform with a soccer ball.

Results

Round of 16

1994 – 07-02 Germany 3 – 2 Belgium

Soldier Field, Chicago
Attendance: 60,246
Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)

Völler 6′ 40′  Klinsmann 11′ (Report) Grün 8′ Albert 90′

1994 – 07-02 Spain 3 – 0 Switzerland

RFK Stadium, Washington
Attendance: 53,121
Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

Hierro 15′ Luis Enrique 74′ Begiristain 86′ ( pen. ) (Report)

1994 – 07-03 Saudi Arabia 1 – 3 Sweden

Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Attendance: 60,277
Referee: Renato Marsiglia (Brazil)

Al-Ghesheyan 85′ (Report) Dahlin 6′ K. Andersson 51′ 88′

1994 – 07-03 Romania 3 – 2 Argentina

Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Attendance: 90,469
Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)

Dumitrescu 11′ 18′ Hagi 58′ (Report) Batistuta 16′ ( pen. ) Balbo 75′

1994 – 07-04 Netherlands 2 – 0 Republic of Ireland

Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Attendance: 61,355
Referee: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)

Bergkamp 11′ Jonk 41′ (Report)

1994 – 07-04 Brazil 1 – 0 USA

Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto
Attendance: 84,147
Referee: Joel Quiniou (France)

Bebeto 72′ (Report)

1994 – 07-05 Nigeria 1 – 2 ( a.e.t. ) Italy

Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough
Attendance: 54,367
Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)

Amuneke 25′ (Report) R. Baggio 88′ 100′ ( pen. )

1994 – 07-05 Mexico 1 – 1 ( a.e.t. ) (1 – 3 pen. ) Bulgaria

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 71,030
Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

García Aspe 18′ ( pen. ) (Report) Stoichkov 6′

Quarter-finals

1994 – 07-09 Italy 2 – 1 Spain

Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough
Attendance: 53,400
Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary)

D. Baggio 25′ R. Baggio 87′ (Report) Caminero 58′

1994 – 07-09 Netherlands 2 – 3 Brazil

Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Attendance: 63,500
Referee: Rodrigo Badilla (Costa Rica)

Bergkamp 64′ Winter 76′ (Report) Romário 53′ Bebeto 63′ Branco 81′

1994 – 07-10 Bulgaria 2 – 1 Germany

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 72,000
Referee: José Torres Cadena (Colombia)

Stoichkov 75′ Letchkov 78′ (Report) Matthäus 47′ ( pen. )

1994 – 07-10 Sweden 2 – 2 ( a.e.t. ) (5 – 4 pen. ) Romania

Stanford Stadium, Stanford
Attendance: 83,500
Referee: Philip Don (England)

Brolin 78′ K. Andersson 115′ (Report) Raducioiu 88′ 101′

Semi-finals

1994 – 07-13 Italy 2 – 1 Bulgaria

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 74,110
Referee: Joel Quiniou (France)

R. Baggio 20′ 25′ (Report) Stoichkov 44′ ( pen. )

1994 – 07-13 Brazil 1 – 0 Sweden

Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Attendance: 91,856
Referee: José Torres Cadena (Colombia)

Romário 80′ (Report)

Third place match

1994 – 07-16 Sweden 4 – 0 Bulgaria

Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Attendance: 91,500
Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)

Brolin 8′ Mild 30′ Larsson 37′ K. Andersson 40′ (Report)

Final

1994 – 07-17 Brazil 0 – 0 ( a.e.t. ) (3 – 2 pen. ) Italy

Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Attendance: 94,194
Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary)

Winner

1994 FIFA World Cup Winners 
Brazil
Fourth title

Awards

• Golden Shoe Winners:Hristo Stoichkov Oleg Salenko
• Golden Ball Winner: Romário
• Yashin Award FIFA:  Michel Preud’homme
• Fair Play Trophy : Brazil
• Most Entertaining Team : Brazil

All-star team

GoalkeeperMichel Preud’homme

Defenders

Jorginho
Márcio Santos
Paolo Maldini

Midfielders

Dunga
Krassimir Balakov
Gheorghe Hagi
Tomas Brolin

Forwards

Romário
Hristo Stoichkov
Roberto Baggio