1990 FIFA World Cup

1990 FIFA World Cup



1990 FIFA World Cup - Italy
Italia 90

Teams 24 (from 116 entrants)

Host Italy

Champions West Germany (3rd title)

Matches played 52
Goals scored 115 (average 2.212 per match)
Attendance 2,517,348 (average 48,411 per match)
Top scorer(s) Salvatore Schillaci
6 goals

The 1990 FIFA World Cup was designated by FIFA in 1984 to be held in Italy, making it the second country to host the event twice. It was won by West Germany, who in a rematch of the 1986 World Cup final beat Argentina 1-0 to lift the trophy.


Ciao, the mascot.


Qualifying countries
Venues
• Stadio Olimpico, Rome - 81,000 [R1,R2,QF,F matches]
• Stadio San Paolo, Naples - 74,000 [R1,R2,QF,SF matches]
• Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin - 68,000 [R1,R2,SF matches]
• Stadio San Nicola, Bari - 56,000 [R1,R2,3P matches]
• Stadio Comunale (now Stadio Artemio Franchi), Florence - 41,000 [R1,QF matches]
• Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan - 85,700 [R1,R2,QF matches]
• Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genova - 35,000 [R1,R2 matches]
• Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna - 39,000 [R1,R2 matches]
• Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona - 42,000 [R1,R2 matches]
• Stadio Friuli, Udine - 38,000 [R1 matches]
• Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari - 40,000 [R1 matches]
• Stadio La Favorita (now Stadio Renzo Barbera), Palermo - 36,000 [R1 matches]

Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1990 FIFA World Cup squads

Tournament
With its third title (and three second place finishes) West Germany became the most successful World Cup nation for four years, until Brazil won their fourth title in 1994. West German team manager Franz Beckenbauer became the second footballer, after Mario Zagallo of Brazil, to become World Champion as a player (in 1974) and as team manager. In doing so, Beckenbauer also became the first captain of a winning team to later manage a winning squad.
The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1986: 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four. 16 teams would qualify for the knockout competition: six group winners, six second place finishers, and four best third place finishers. Three nations qualified for the first time in their history: Costa Rica, the Republic of Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.
The World Cup began with an upset. Defending champion Argentina fell 0-1 to Cameroon in the opening match. The match was held in Milan, where Diego Maradona of Argentina, striker for AC Napoli, was deeply despised: this resulted in an unexpected public support for Cameroon. The goal was headed in by François Omam-Biyik. Cameroon went on to become the surprise team of the tournament, becoming the first African nation to go to the quarter-finals and losing there 2-3 in extra time to England after leading 2-1. Cameroon's Roger Milla, who came out of retirement for the World Cup, became an international superstar at age 38, long after most top-level footballers typically retire.
Argentina recovered from their defeat and went all the way to the final. On their way, they defeated Brazil in the round of 16 and, in the semi-final, were the first team in this tournament to score a goal against the hosts Italy, winning through a penalty shootout after a 1-1 score after extra time. Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea saved two penalty kicks.
Italian Salvatore Schillaci won the Golden Boot with six goals, scoring a goal in every game that he appeared in. Amazingly, 'Totò' had played for Italy only once prior to the tournament.
The World Cup 1990 is widely regarded as one of the least spectacular and most cynical World Cups ever. It generated a record-low goals-per-game average and (at the time) record 16 red cards. Most teams relied heavily on defensive play and hard tackling, as well as aggressive intimidation of the referee. In the knock-out stage of the cup, many teams would "play it safe" for 120 minutes and try their luck in the penalty shootout, rather than risk going forward. Runners-up Argentina were the prime example of this trend, taking the gold-plated medal (for second place) despite scoring only five goals in seven games (they had, however, lost half their team to injury or suspension by the final). World Champions West Germany were one of the few teams to choose an attacking style of play, although they too became more defensive as the tournament progressed.
The final was one of the ugliest games ever seen in a World Cup. The fraught atmosphere was not helped by a number of questionable penalty decisions by the Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal, who denied clear penalties first to German player Klaus Augenthaler and then to Argentine player Pedro Monzón. Six minutes from the end, Codesal awarded a highly debatable penalty for the Germans, which was put away by Andreas Brehme. West Germany won 1-0 and the match ended amid scenes of unprecedented chaos with Argentina reduced to nine men, Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti having been sent off. [1]
First round
All kick-off times local (CET)
Group A
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
Italy
6 3 3 0 0 4 0 +4
Czechoslovakia
4 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3
Austria
2 3 1 0 2 2 3 -1
USA
0 3 0 0 3 2 8 -6
June 9, 1990
21:00
Italy
1–0 Austria
Stadio Olimpico,Rome
Ref: Jose Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance: 73,303
Schillaci 78'

________________________________________
June 10, 1990
17:00
USA
1–5 Czechoslovakia
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
Ref: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)
Attendance: 33,266
Caligiuri 61'
Skuhravý 25'
Bílek 39' pen
Hašek 50'
Skuhravý 78'
Luhový 90'

________________________________________
June 14, 1990
21:00
Italy
1–0 USA
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Ref: Edgardo Codesal (Mexico)
Attendance: 73,423
Giannini 11'

________________________________________
June 15, 1990
17:00
Austria
0–1 Czechoslovakia
Stadio Artemio Franchi,Florence
Ref: George Smith (Scotland)
Attendance: 38,962
Bilek 30' pen

________________________________________
June 19, 1990
21:00
Austria
2–1 USA
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
Ref: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)
Attendance: 34,857
Ogris 52'
Gerhard Rodax 65'
Murray 85'

________________________________________
June 19, 1990
21:00
Italy
2–0 Czechoslovakia
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Ref: Joel Quiniou (France)
Attendance: 73,303
Schillaci 9'
Baggio 78'


Group B
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
Cameroon
4 3 2 0 1 3 5 -2
Romania
3 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1
Argentina
3 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1
USSR
2 3 1 0 2 4 4 0
June 8, 1990
18:00
Argentina
0–1 Cameroon
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Michel Vautrot (France)
Attendance: 73,780
Biyik 67'

________________________________________
June 9, 1990
17:00
USSR
0–2 Romania
Stadio San Nicola, Bari
Ref: Juan Daniel Cardellino (Uruguay)
Attendance: 42,907
Lacatus 42', 57'

________________________________________
June 13, 1990
21:00
Argentina
2–0 USSR
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Ref: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)
Attendance: 55,759
Troglio 27'
Burruchaga 79'

________________________________________
June 14, 1990
17:00
Cameroon
2–1 Romania
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Hernan Silva Arce (Chile)
Attendance: 38,687
Milla 76', 86'
Balint 88'

________________________________________
June 18, 1990
21:00
Cameroon
0–4 USSR
Stadio San Nicola, Bari
Ref: Jose Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance: 37,307
Protasov 20',
Zygmantovich 29'
Zavarov 55'
Dobrovolski 63'

________________________________________
June 18, 1990
21:00
Argentina
1–1 Romania
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Ref: Carlos Alberto Silva Valente (Portugal)
Attendance: 52,733
Monzon 63'
Balint 68'

Group C
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
Brazil
6 3 3 0 0 4 1 +3
Costa Rica
4 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1
Scotland
2 3 1 0 2 2 3 -1
Sweden
0 3 0 0 3 3 6 -3
June 10, 1990
21:00
Brazil
2–1 Sweden
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Ref: Tullio Lanese (Italy)
Attendance: 62,628
Careca 40', 63'
Brolin 68'

________________________________________
June 11, 1990
17:00
Costa Rica
1–0 Scotland
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Ref: Juan Loustau (Argentina)
Attendance: 30,867
Cayasso 49'

________________________________________
June 16, 1990
17:00
Brazil
1–0 Costa Rica
Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin
Ref: Neji Jouini (Tunisia)
Attendance: 58,007
Müller 33'

________________________________________
June 16, 1990
21:00
Scotland
2–1 Sweden
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Ref: Carlos Maciel (Paraguay)
Attendance: 31,823
McCall 10'
Johnston 80' pen
Strömberg 86'

________________________________________
June 20, 1990
21:00
Brazil
1–0 Scotland
Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin
Ref: Helmut Kohl (Austria)
Attendance: 62,502
Müller 82'

________________________________________
June 20, 1990
21:00
Sweden
1–2 Costa Rica
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Ref: Zoran Petrovic (Yugoslavia)
Attendance: 30,223
Ekström 32'
Flores 75'
Medford 88'

[edit]
Group D
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
West Germany
5 3 2 1 0 10 3 +7
Yugoslavia
4 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1
Colombia
3 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1
United Arab Emirates
0 3 0 0 3 2 11 -9
June 9, 1990
17:00
United Arab Emirates 0–2 Colombia
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna
Ref: George Courtney (England)
Attendance: 30,791
Redin 50'
Valderrama 85'

________________________________________
June 10, 1990
21:00
West Germany
4–1 Yugoslavia
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)
Attendance: 74,765
Matthäus 28',65'
Klinsmann 39'
Völler 71'
Jozić 55'

________________________________________
June 14, 1990
17:00
Yugoslavia
1–0 Colombia
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna
Ref: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)
Attendance: 32,257
Jozić 75'

________________________________________
June 15, 1990
21:00
West Germany
5–1 United Arab Emirates
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Alexey Spirin (Soviet Union)
Attendance: 71,169
Völler 35',75'
Klinsmann 36'
Matthäus 47'
Bein 59'
Mubarak 46'

________________________________________
June 19, 1990
17:00
West Germany
1–1 Colombia
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Alan Snoddy (England)
Attendance: 72,510
Littbarski 89'
Rincón 90'

________________________________________
June 19, 1990
17:00
Yugoslavia
4–1 United Arab Emirates
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna
Ref: Shizuo Takada (Japan)
Attendance: 27,833
Sušić 5'
Pančev 9',46'
Prosinečki 90'
Jumaa 22'


Group E
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
Spain
5 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3
Belgium
4 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3
Uruguay
3 3 1 1 1 2 3 -1
Korea Republic
0 3 0 0 3 1 6 -5
June 12, 1990
17:00
Belgium
2–0 Korea Republic
Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona
Ref: Vincent Mauro (USA)
Attendance: 32,790
Degryse 53'
De Wolf 64'

________________________________________
June 13, 1990
17:00
Uruguay
0–0 Spain
Stadio Friuli, Udine
Ref: Helmut Kohl (Austria)
Attendance: 35,713

________________________________________
June 17, 1990
21:00
Spain
3–1 Korea Republic
Stadio Friuli, Udine
Ref: Elias Jacome Guerrero (Ecuador)
Attendance: 32,733
Míchel 22', 61', 81'
Hwang 42'

________________________________________
June 17, 1990
21:00
Belgium
3–1 Uruguay
Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona
Ref: Siegfried Kirschen (East Germany)
Attendance: 33,759
Clijsters 16'
Scifo 22'
Ceulemans 48'
Bengoechea 74'

________________________________________
June 21, 1990
17:00
Korea Republic
0–1 Uruguay
Stadio Friuli, Udine
Ref: Tullio Lanese (Italy)
Attendance: 29,039
Fonseca 90'

________________________________________
June 21, 1990
17:00
Belgium
1–2 Spain
Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona
Ref: Juan Loustau (Argentina)
Attendance: 35,950
Vervoort 28'
Míchel 20' pen
Gorriz 38'

[edit]
Group F
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
England
4 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1
Republic of Ireland
3 3 0 3 0 2 2 0
Netherlands
3 3 0 3 0 2 2 0
Egypt
2 3 0 2 1 1 2 -1
Note: Republic of Ireland awarded second place by drawing of lots
June 11, 1990
21:00
England
1–1 Republic of Ireland
Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari
Ref: Aron Schmidhuber (West Germany)
Attendance: 35,238
Lineker 8'
Sheedy 73'

________________________________________
June 12, 1990
21:00
Netherlands
1–1 Egypt
Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Ref: Emilio Soriano Aladren (Spain)
Attendance: 33,421
Kieft 58'
El Ghani 83' pen

________________________________________
June 16, 1990
21:00
England
0–0 Netherlands
Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari
Ref: Zoran Petrovic (Yugoslavia)
Attendance: 35,267

________________________________________
June 17, 1990
17:00
Republic of Ireland 0–0 Egypt
Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Ref: Marcel Van Langenhove (Belgium)
Attendance: 33,288

________________________________________
June 21, 1990
21:00
England
1–0 Egypt
Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari
Ref: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)
Attendance: 34,959
Wright 64'

________________________________________
June 21, 1990
21:00
Netherlands
1–1 Republic of Ireland
Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
Ref: Michel Vautrot (France)
Attendance: 33,288
Gullit 10'
Quinn 71'

________________________________________

Knockout stages
Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

June 24 - Milan


West Germany
2
July 1 - Milan

Netherlands
1
West Germany
1
June 23 - Bari

Czechoslovakia
0
Czechoslovakia
4
July 4 - Turin

Costa Rica
1
West Germany (pen)
1 (4)
June 26 - Bologna

England
1 (3)
England (aet)
1
July 1 -Naples

Belgium
0
England (AET) 3
June 23 - Naples

Cameroon
2
Cameroon (aet)
2
July 8 - Rome

Colombia
1
West Germany
1
June 25 - Rome

Argentina
0
Italy
2
June 30 - Rome

Uruguay
0
Italy
1
June 25 - Genoa

Republic of Ireland
0
Republic of Ireland (pen)
0 (5)
July 3 - Naples

Romania
0 (4)
Italy
1 (3)
June 26 - Verona

Argentina (pen) 1 (4) Third place
Yugoslavia (aet) 2
June 30 - Florence
July 7 - Bari

Spain
1
Yugoslavia
0 (2) Italy
2
June 24 - Turin

Argentina (pen) 0 (3) England
1
Argentina
1

Brazil
0

Round of 16
June 23, 1990
17:00
Cameroon
2–1 (AET)
Colombia
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Ref: Tullio Lanese (Italy)
Attendance: 50,026
Milla 106', 109'
Redin 115'

________________________________________
June 23, 1990
21:00
Czechoslovakia
4–1 Costa Rica
Stadio San Nicola, Bari
Ref: Siegfried Kirschen (East Germany)
Attendance: 47,673
Skuhravý 12', 63', 82'
Kubík 75'
González 54'

________________________________________
June 24, 1990
17:00
Argentina
1–0 Brazil
Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin
Ref: Joel Quiniou (France)
Attendance: 61,381
Caniggia 80'

________________________________________
June 24, 1990
21:00
West Germany
2–1 Netherlands
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Juan Loustau (Argentina)
Attendance: 74,559
Klinsmann 51'
Brehme 82'
R. Koeman 89' pen

________________________________________
June 25, 1990
17:00
Republic of Ireland 0–0 (AET)
(5–4 PSO)
Romania
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Ref: Jose Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance: 31,818

Penalties
Sheedy : scored
Houghton : scored
Townsend : scored
Cascarino : scored
O'Leary : scored
5–4 Hagi : scored
Lupu : scored
Rotariu : scored
Lupescu : scored
Timofte : Bonner saved

________________________________________
June 25, 1990
21:00
Italy
2–0 Uruguay
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Ref: George Courtney (England)
Attendance: 73,303
Schillaci 65'
Serena 85'

________________________________________
June 26, 1990
17:00
Spain
1–2 (AET)
Yugoslavia
Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona
Ref: Aron Schmidhuber (West Germany)
Attendance: 35,500
Salinas 83'
Stojković 78', 92'

________________________________________
June 26, 1990
21:00
England
1–0 (AET)
Belgium
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna
Ref: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)
Attendance: 34,520
Platt 119'

[edit]
Quarter-finals
June 30, 1990
17:00
Argentina
0–0 (AET)
(3–2 PSO)
Yugoslavia
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
Ref: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)
Attendance: 38,971

Penalties
Serrizuela : scored
Burruchaga : scored
Maradona : Ivković saved
Troglio : hit a post
Dezotti : scored
3–2 Stojković : hit a crossbar
Prosinečki : scored
Savićević : scored
Brnović : Goycochea saved
Hadžibegić : Goycochea saved
________________________________________
June 30, 1990
21:00
Italy
1–0 Republic of Ireland
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Ref: Carlos Alberto Silva Valente (Portugal)
Attendance: 73,303
Schillaci 38'

________________________________________
July 1, 1990
17:00
West Germany
1–0 Czechoslovakia
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Ref: Helmut Kohl (Austria)
Attendance: 73,347
Matthäus 25' pen

________________________________________
July 1, 1990
21:00
England
3–2 (AET)
Cameroon
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Ref: Edgardo Codesal(Mexico)
Attendance: 55,205
Platt 25'
Lineker 83' pen, 105' pen
Kunde 61' pen
Ekeke 65'

Semi-finals
July 3, 1990
20:00
Argentina
1–1 (AET)
(4–3 PSO)
Italy
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Ref: Michel Vautrot (France)
Attendance: 59,978
Caniggia 67'
Schillaci 17'

Penalties
Serrizuela : scored
Burruchaga : scored
Olarticoechea : scored
Maradona : scored
4–3 Baresi : scored
Baggio : scored
de Agostini : scored
Donadoni : Goycochea saved
Serena : Goycochea saved

________________________________________
July 4, 1990
20:00
West Germany
1–1 (AET)
(4–3 PSO)
England
Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin
Ref: Jose Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance: 62,628
Brehme 60'
Lineker 80'

Penalties
Brehme : scored
Matthäus : scored
Riedle : scored
Thon : scored
4–3 Lineker : scored
Beardsley : scored
Platt : scored
Pearce : Illgner saved
Waddle : missed

[edit]
Third place match
July 7, 1990
20:00
Italy
2–1 England
Stadio San Nicola, Bari
Ref: Joel Quiniou (France)
Attendance: 51,426
Baggio 71'
Schillaci 86' pen
Platt 81'

[edit]
Final
July 8, 1990
20:00
Argentina
0–1 West Germany
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Ref: Edgardo Codesal (Mexico)
Attendance: 73,603
Brehme 85' pen

[edit]
Awards
1990 World Cup Winners

WEST GERMANY
Third Title

Golden Shoe winner:
Golden Ball winner:
FIFA Fair Play Trophy:

Salvatore Schillaci
Salvatore Schillaci
England



All-Star Team
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Fowards
Sergio Goycoechea
Andreas Brehme
Jules Onana
Franco Baresi
Diego Maradona
Lothar Matthäus
Roberto Donadoni
Paul Gascoigne
Salvatore Schillaci
Roger Milla
Tomas Skuhravy


Scorers
6 goals
• Salvatore Schillaci
5 goals
• Tomáš Skuhravý
4 goals
• Roger Milla
• Gary Lineker
• Lothar Matthäus
• Michel
3 goals
• David Platt
• Andreas Brehme
• Jürgen Klinsmann
• Rudi Völler
2 goals
• Claudio Caniggia
• Careca
• Müller
• Bernardo Redin
• Michal Bílek
• Roberto Baggio
• Gavrila Balint
• Marius Lacatus
• Davor Jozić
• Darko Pančev
• Dragan Stojković
1 goal
• Andreas Ogris
• Gerhard Rodax
• Jorge Burruchaga
• Pedro Monzon
• Pedro Troglio
• Jan Ceulemans
• Leo Clijsters
• Marc Degryse
• Enzo Scifo
• Patrick Vervoort
• Michel De Wolf
• François Omam-Biyik
• Eugène Ekeke
• Emmanuel Kunde
• Freddy Rincon
• Carlos Valderrama
• Juan Arnoldo Cayasso
• Roger Flores
• Ronald González
• Hernán Medford
• Ivan Hašek
• Luboš Kubík
• Milan Luhový
• Magdi Abdelghani
• Mark Wright
• Uwe Bein
• Pierre Littbarski
• Niall Quinn
• Kevin Sheedy
• Giuseppe Giannini
• Aldo Serena
• Ruud Gullit
• Willem Kieft
• Ronald Koeman
• Mo Johnston
• Stuart McCall
• Hwang Bo-Kwan
• Igor Dobrovolski
• Oleg Protasov
• Aleksandr Zavarov
• Andrei Zygmantovich
• Gorriz
• Julio Salinas
• Tomas Brolin
• Johnny Ekström
• Glenn Strömberg
• Ali Thani Jumaa
• Khalid Mubarak
• Paul Caligiuri
• Bruce Murray
• Pablo Bengoechea
• Daniel Fonseca
• Robert Prosinečki
• Safet Sušić


Firsts
• For the first time, both World Cup semi-finals were decided by penalty shootouts.
• First appearance of Costa Rica, the Republic of Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and reappearance of the United States after a 40-year absence. Both the UAE and the USA went out in the group stage.
• For the first time the second place team of a group was decided by draw: Republic of Ireland in Group F.
• This was the first (and only, so far) World Cup in which two European teams were defeated by a Central American squad: Costa Rica, who beat Scotland 1-0, and Sweden 2-1.
The final alone had several firsts:
• For the first time a team reached three World Cup finals in a row: West Germany had already lost the finals in 1982 and 1986. This feat was later repeated by Brazil in 1994, 1998 and 2002 with better results: two titles out of three finals.
• It was the first rematch of a preceding final: The two countries had met in the 1986 FIFA World Cup final with Argentina the victors.
• Pedro Monzón of Argentina became the first player to be sent off in a World Cup final. Teammate Gustavo Abel Dezotti was also sent off.
• For the first time, the losing team did not score a goal: Germany won by a penalty, almost saved by Sergio Goycochea, scored in the 85th minute by Andreas Brehme after a disputed foul on Rudi Völler. As such, West Germany's Bodo Illgner became the first goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup final.

Trivia
• USSR was the rival of Italy's candidacy to host the event.
• The 1990 tournament had the lowest goals-per-match average of all World Cups. There were 115 goals, an average of 2.21 goals per match, and, taking account of extra time matches, 4920 minutes of play - which means 1 goal every 42.7 minutes, or only 2.1 goals for every 90 minutes.
• The Republic of Ireland reached the quarter-finals despite not winning a single game and only scoring 2 goals.
• Mexico were disqualified from the 1990 qualifiers as the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación fielded an overage player in a prior youth tournament. They have since qualified for four consecutive World Cups.
• Even though England lost the semi-final, and then the third place play-off, thousands of England fans greeted the team home as heroes, as it was the best they had done since 1966, when they won at Wembley.
• This World Cup saw The Three Tenors begin their tradition of performing on the eve of the final.
• World Cup Italia '90 was the official licensed videogame product.
• Diego Maradona seemed to confirm in 2005 a rumour that the water a member of the Argentinean staff offered to Brazilian midfielder Branco in the round of 16 Brazil vs Argentina match contained a tranquilizer.

Lasts
• This would be the last World Cup in which goalkeepers were allowed to pick up direct backpasses from teammates. The backpass rule was in use from the 1994 tournament in order to make it harder for teams to time-waste, having been introduced on July 1, 1992. It is thought that Egypt's performance in their match against the Republic of Ireland influenced the introduction of this new rule.
• This was the last World Cup in which four teams' countries existed as political entities: West Germany joined with East Germany shortly after the tournament, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, Yugoslavia dissolved into the nations Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro (the latter two were Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until 2002, and Serbia and Montenegro 2003-2006), and the USSR, which split into Russia and fourteen smaller states with the fall of the Communist regime, although eleven of the former Soviet states fielded a CIS team in the 1992 European Football Championship.
• This was also the last time World Cup finals matches awarded two points for a win during the group stage. The poor attacking play of sides prompted FIFA to introduce three points for a win for the 1994 tournament, to encourage attacking play.
• This was the last World Cup in which referees only wore traditional black jersey: starting from the 1994 FIFA World Cup, referees can choose other colours to avoid a clash with the two competing teams. This has been followed since 1994, although black has been provided as an option since 1998.
• This was also the last World Cup in which players only had their number printed in the back of their jersey. Players would have their names and numbers on their jerseys from 1994.


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