1994 FIFA World Cup
| 1994 FIFA World Cup - U.S. World Cup '94 |
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|---|---|
 Official Logo |
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| Teams | 24 (from 147 entrants) |
| Host | U.S. |
| Champions |  Brazil (4th title) |
| Matches played | 52 |
| Goals scored | 141 (average 2.712 per match) |
| Attendance | (average per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Hristo Stoichkov Oleg
Salenko6 goals |
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the 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, as 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.
The average attendance for the tournament was 69,000 while the total attendance was 3.6 million. The 1994 World Cup holds the record for the highest attendance in World Cup history. It was also the highest attended sporting event in United States history.
Qualification
Greece, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. Russia, competing independently for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, also qualified. The defending champions West Germany were united with their East German counterparts, representing the unified Germany for the first time 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. On the other hand, for the first, and so far the only time, 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 considering the perception that the United States had a relative lack of soccer fans. FIFA hoped that by staging the world's premier soccer tournament there, it would lead to America's growth of interest in soccer. (One condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional soccer league, as Major League Soccer started play in 1996.) Despite these misgivings, in terms of attendance the event was a rousing success. 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. The overall attendance record will not be broken until at least 2010.
The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1990: 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four. 16 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 time in which three points were awarded for a win instead of two, as FIFA hoped to encourage attacking football after the defensive display four years before.
- Further information: 1994 FIFA World Cup (match reports)
This tournament saw the end of Diego Maradona's World Cup career. Hero in 1986 as he led Argentina to the World Cup title, he was expelled from the tournament after he failed a drug test. One tragic story of the cup was that of Colombia's Andrés Escobar. In a first round match with the United States, he scored an own goal as the U.S. went on win, 2-1. The Colombian team was subsequently eliminated. When Escobar returned to Colombia, he was shot to death outside a bar in a Medellín suburb only 10 days after the match.
Brazil and Italy, both three-time World Cup champions at that time, met in the final. While Brazil's path was relatively smooth as they defeated the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden (it was the second game between Sweden and Brazil in the tournament, the first ending 1-1) in the knockout stage, the same cannot be said for Italy. During the group stage the Italian team struggled and narrowly advanced to the next round, despite losing 1-0 to the Republic of Ireland. Roberto Baggio, who was expected to be the shining star, had not scored a goal. During the Round of 16 match against Nigeria, Italy was trailing 1-0 in the dying minutes. With three minutes left in regulation, Baggio scored the equalizer forcing the game into extra time. He then scored again on a penalty kick in extra time. He scored another game winning goal in the quarter-final against Spain, and both goals in Italy's victory over Bulgaria in the semi-finals.
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. After 120 goalless minutes, the World Cup title would be decided for the first time by penalty kicks. After four rounds, Brazil led 3-2, and Baggio, playing injured, had to make his kick to keep Italy's hopes alive. He missed by shooting it over the bar, and 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, the team which scored more goals than any other, in this world cup, and Bulgaria, with their top goalscorer Hristo Stoichkov. Sweden won convincingly with 4-0, showing the world why they had come so far in this tournament. One of Sweden's World Cup-profiles - Thomas Brolin - also got in the Allstar-team.
The tournament's Golden Boot went jointly to Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria, who was instrumental in leading the team to an upset win over defending champions Germany, 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.
Venues
| Boston | Chicago | Dallas | Detroit | |
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| Foxboro Stadium | Soldier Field | Cotton Bowl | Pontiac Silverdome | |
| Capacity: 61,000 | Capacity: 67,000 | Capacity: 67,000 | Capacity: 80,000 | |
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| Los Angeles | New Jersey | Orlando | San Francisco | Washington DC |
| Rose Bowl | Giants Stadium | Citrus Bowl | Stanford Stadium | RFK Stadium |
| Capacity: 91,000 | Capacity: 77,000 | Capacity: 70,000 | Capacity: 80,000 | Capacity: 57,000 |
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Match officials
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Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1994 FIFA World Cup squads.
Results
First round
All kick-off times local. (EDT/UTC-4, CDT/UTC-5,
PDT/UTC-7)
Group A
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
 Switzerland |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 |
 USA |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
 Colombia |
3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 |
| June 18, 1994 11:35 EDT |
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USA  |
1–1 | Switzerland |
Pontiac Silverdome,
Pontiac Attendance: 63,425 Referee: Lamolina (ARG) |
| Wynalda 45' | (Report) | Bregy 39' |
| June 18, 1994 16:35 PDT |
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Colombia  |
1–3 | |
Rose Bowl, Pasadena Attendance: 91,586 Referee: Al Sharif (SYR) |
| Valencia 43' | (Report) | Răducioiu 16', 89' Hagi 34' |
| June 22, 1994 16:05 EDT |
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| Romania |
1–4 | Switzerland |
Pontiac Silverdome,
Pontiac Attendance: 61,428 Referee: Jouini (TUN) |
| Hagi 36' | (Report) | Sutter 16' Chapuisat 53' Knup 66' Bregy 72' |
| June 22, 1994 16:35 PDT |
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| USA |
2–1 | Colombia |
Rose Bowl, Pasadena Attendance: 93,689 Referee: Baldas (ITA) |
| Escobar 34' (OG) Stewart 52' |
(Report) | Valencia 89' |
| June 26, 1994 13:05 PDT |
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Switzerland  |
0–2 | Colombia |
Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Attendance: 83,401 Referee: Mikkelsen (DEN) |
| (Report) | Gaviria 44' Lozano 89' |
| June 26, 1994 13:05 PDT |
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| USA |
0–1 | |
Rose Bowl, Pasadena Attendance: 93,869 Referee: van der Ende (NED) |
| (Report) | Petrescu 17' |
Group B
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil |
7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 |
 Sweden |
5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 |
| Russia |
3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 |
 Cameroon |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | -8 |
| June 19, 1994 16:35 PDT |
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Cameroon  |
2–2 | Sweden |
Rose Bowl, Pasadena Attendance: 93,194 Referee: Noriega (PER) |
| Embé 31' Omam-Biyik 47' |
(Report) | Ljung 8' Dahlin 75' |
| June 20, 1994 13:05 PDT |
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Brazil  |
2–0 | Russia |
Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Attendance: 81,061 Referee: Chong (MRI) |
| Romário 26' Raí 52' (pen) |
(Report) |
| June 24, 1994 13:05 PDT |
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| Brazil |
3–0 | Cameroon |
Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Attendance: 83,401 Referee: Brizio Carter (MEX) |
| Romário 39' Márcio Santos 66' Bebeto 73' |
(Report) |
| June 24, 1994 19:35 EDT |
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Sweden  |
3–1 | Russia |
Pontiac Silverdome,
Pontiac Attendance: 71,528 Referee: Quiniou (FRA) |
| Brolin 37' (pen) Dahlin 59', 81' |
(Report) | Salenko 4' (pen) |
| June 28, 1994 13:05 PDT |
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Russia  |
6–1 | Cameroon |
Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Attendance: 74,914 Referee: Al Sharif (SYR) |
| Salenko 15', 41', 44' (pen), 72', 75' Radchenko 81' |
(Report) | Milla 46' |
| June 28, 1994 16:05 EDT |
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| Brazil |
1–1 | Sweden |
Pontiac Silverdome,
Pontiac Attendance: 77,217 Referee: Puhl (HUN) |
| Romário 46' | (Report) | K. Andersson 23' |
Group C
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Germany |
7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 |
 Spain |
5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 |
 Korea Republic |
2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 |
 Bolivia |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| June 17, 1994 14:05 CDT |
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Germany  |
1–0 | Bolivia |
Soldier Field, Chicago Attendance: 63,117 Referee: Carter (MEX) |
| Klinsmann 61' | (Report) |
| June 17, 1994 18:35 CDT |
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Spain  |
2–2 | Korea Republic |
Cotton Bowl, Dallas Attendance: 56,247 Referee: Mikkelsen (DEN) |
| Salinas 51' Goikoetxea 55' |
(Report) | Hong Myung-Bo 85' Seo Jung-Won 90' |
| June 21, 1994 15:05 CDT |
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| Germany |
1–1 | Spain |
Soldier Field, Chicago Attendance: 63,113 Referee: Cavani (URU) |
| Klinsmann 48' | (Report) | Goikoetxea 14' |
| June 23, 1994 19:35 EDT |
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Korea Republic  |
0–0 | Bolivia |
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough Attendance: 54,453 Referee: Mottram (SCO) |
| (Report) |
| June 27, 1994 15:05 CDT |
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Bolivia  |
1–3 | Spain |
Soldier Field, Chicago Attendance: 63,089 Referee: Badilla (CRC) |
| E. Sánchez 67' | (Report) | Guardiola 19' (pen) Caminero 66', 70' |
| June 27, 1994 15:05 CDT |
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| Germany |
3–2 | Korea Republic |
Cotton Bowl, Dallas Attendance: 63,998 Referee: Quiniou (FRA) |
| Klinsmann 12', 37' Riedle 20' |
(Report) | Hwang Sun-Hong 52' Hong Myung-Bo 63' |
Group D
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nigeria |
6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
| Bulgaria |
6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 |
 Argentina |
6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 |
 Greece |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | -10 |
| June 21, 1994 12:35 EDT |
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Argentina  |
4–0 | Greece |
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough Attendance: 54,456 Referee: Angeles (USA) |
| Batistuta 2', 45', 89' (pen) Maradona 60' |
(Report) |
| June 21, 1994 18:35 CDT |
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Nigeria  |
3–0 | Bulgaria |
Cotton Bowl, Dallas Attendance: 44,132 Referee: Badilla (CRC) |
| Yekini 21' Amokachi 43' Amuneke 55' |
(Report) |
| June 25, 1994 16:05 EDT |
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| Argentina |
2–1 | Nigeria |
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough Attendance: 54,453 Referee: Karlsson (SWE) |
| Caniggia 21', 28' | (Report) | Siasia 8' |
| June 26, 1994 11:35 CDT |
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Greece  |
0–4 | Bulgaria |
Soldier Field, Chicago Attendance: 63,160 Referee: Bujsaim (UAE) |
| (Report) | Stoichkov 5' (pen), 55'
(pen) Letchkov 65' Borimirov 90' |
| June 30, 1994 18:35 CDT |
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| Argentina |
0–2 | Bulgaria |
Cotton Bowl, Dallas Attendance: 63,998 Referee: Jouini (TUN) |
| (Report) | Stoichkov 61' Sirakov 90' |
| June 30, 1994 19:35 EDT |
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| Greece |
0–2 | Nigeria |
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough Attendance: 53,001 Referee: Mottram (SCO) |
| (Report) | George 45' Amokachi 90' |
Group E
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mexico |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
 Republic of Ireland |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
 Italy |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
 Norway |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| June 18, 1994 16:05 EDT |
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Italy  |
0–1 | Republic of Ireland |
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Attendance: 75,338 Referee: van der Ende (NED) |
| (Report) | Houghton 11' |
| June 19, 1994 16:05 EDT |
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Norway  |
1–0 | Mexico |
RFK Stadium,
Washington Attendance: 52,395 Referee: Puhl (HUN) |
| Rekdal 84' | (Report) |
| June 23, 1994 16:05 EDT |
| Italy |