Football World Cup 1994 - Definition and Overview

The 1994 Football World Cup was held in the USA. It was won by Brazil, who beat Italy 3-2 on penalties, after the game and extra time ended 0-0.

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. The total attendance for the final tournament remains the greatest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition to 32 teams in 1998.

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: six group winners, six second place finishers, and four best third place finishers.

For full details of the competition, see 1994 World Cup Tournament article.

Venues

• Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts (61,000)
• Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois (67,000)
• Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas (67,000)
• Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan (80,000)
• Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California (91,000)
• Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey (77,000)
• Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida (70,000)
• Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, California (80,000)
• RFK Stadium, Washington, DC (56,500)

Squads

For a list of all squads that disputed the final tournament, see Football World Cup 1994 (squads).

First round

Half-time scores are in brackets

Group A

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Romania 6 3 2 0 1 5 5 Switzerland 4 3 1 1 1 5 4 USA 4 3 1 1 1 3 3 Colombia 3 3 1 0 2 4 5

USA 1 - 1 Switzerland Colombia 1 - 3 Romania Romania 1 - 4 Switzerland USA 2 - 1 Colombia Switzerland 0 - 2 Colombia USA 0 - 1 Romania

June 18, 1994

June 22, 1994

June 26, 1994

Group B

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Brazil 7 3 2 1 0 6 1 Sweden 5 3 1 2 0 6 4 Russia 3 3 1 0 2 7 6 Cameroon 1 3 0 1 2 3 11

Cameroon 2 - 2 Sweden Brazil 2 - 0 Russia Brazil 3 - 0 Cameroon Sweden 3 - 1 Russia Russia 6 - 1 Cameroon Brazil 1 - 1 Sweden

June 19, 1994

June 20, 1994

June 24, 1994

June 28, 1994

Group C

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Germany 7 3 2 1 0 5 3 Spain 5 3 1 2 0 6 4 South Korea 2 3 0 2 1 4 5 Bolivia 1 3 0 1 2 1 4

Germany 1 - 0 Bolivia Spain 2 - 2 South Korea Germany 1 - 1 Spain South Korea 0 - 0 Bolivia Bolivia 1 - 3 Spain Germany 3 - 2 South Korea

June 17, 1994

June 21, 1994

June 23, 1994

June 27, 1994

Group D

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Nigeria 6 3 2 0 1 6 2 Bulgaria 6 3 2 0 1 6 3 Argentina 6 3 2 0 1 6 3 Greece 0 3 0 0 3 0 10

Argentina 4 - 0 Greece Nigeria 3 - 0 Bulgaria Argentina 2 - 1 Nigeria Bulgaria 4 - 0 Greece Argentina 0 - 2 Bulgaria Greece 0 - 2 Nigeria

June 21, 1994

June 25, 1994

June 26, 1994

June 30, 1994

Group E

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Mexico 4 3 1 1 1 3 3 Rep. of Ireland 4 3 1 1 1 2 2 Italy 4 3 1 1 1 2 2 Norway 4 3 1 1 1 1 1

Italy 0 - 1 Rep. of Ireland Norway 1 - 0 Mexico Italy 1 - 0 Norway Mexico 2 - 1 Rep. of Ireland Italy 1 - 1 Mexico Rep. of Ireland 0 - 0 Norway

June 18, 1994

June 19, 1994

June 23, 1994

June 24, 1994

June 28, 1994

Group F

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Netherlands 6 3 2 0 1 4 3 Saudi Arabia 6 3 2 0 1 4 3 Belgium 6 3 2 0 1 2 1 Morocco 0 3 0 0 3 2 5

Belgium 1 - 0 Morocco Netherlands 2 - 1 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 2 - 1 Morocco Belgium 1 - 0 Netherlands Belgium 0 - 1 Saudi Arabia Morocco 1 - 2 Netherlands

June 19, 1994

June 20, 1994

June 25, 1994

June 29, 1994

Round of sixteen

July 2, 1994

Germany	3 - 2 (3-1)	Belgium	12:00 CST - Soldier Field, Chicago Ref: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland) Attendance: 60,246
Völler 6'		Grun 8'
Klinsmann 11'		Albert 90'
Völler 40'
Spain	3 - 0 (1-0)	Switzerland	16:35 EST - RFK Stadium, Washington Ref: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Attendance: 53,121
Hierro 15'
Luis Enrique 74'
Beguiristain (p) 86'

July 3, 1994

Saudi Arabia	1 - 3 (0-1)	Sweden	12:05 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Renato Marsiglia (Brazil) Attendance: 60,277
Al Ghesheyan 85'		Dahlin 6'
		K. Andersson 51'
		K. Andersson 88'
Romania	3 - 2 (2-1)	Argentina	13:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy) Attendance: 90,469
Dumitrescu 11'		Batistuta (p) 16'
Dumitrescu 18'		Balbo 75'
Hagi 58'

July 4, 1994

Netherlands	2 - 0 (2-0)	Rep. of Ireland	12:05 EST - Citrus Bowl, Orlando Ref: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) Attendance: 61,355
Bergkamp 11'
Jonk 41'
Brazil	1 - 0 (0-0)	USA	12:35 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Joel Quiniou (France) Attendance: 84,147
Bebeto 72'

July 5, 1994

Nigeria	1 - 1 (1-0)	Italy	13:05 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 54,367
after extra-time:	1 - 2 (1-2)
Amunike 25'		R. Baggio 88'
		R. Baggio (p) 100'
Mexico	1 - 1 (1-1)	Bulgaria	16:35 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria) Attendance: 71,030
after extra-time:	1 - 1 (1-1)
Garcia Aspe (p) 18'		Stoitchkov 6'
Penalty shootout
Mexico		1 - 3	Bulgaria
Garcia Aspe: out		0-0	Balakov: Campos saved
Bernal: Mihaylov saved		0-1	Guenchev: goal
Rodriguez: Mihaylov saved		0-2	Borimirov: goal
Suárez: goal		1-3	Letchkov: goal

Quarter-finals

July 9, 1994

Italy	2 - 1 (1-0)	Spain	12:05 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Attendance: 53,400
D. Baggio 11'		Caminero 58'
R. Baggio 87'
Netherlands	2 - 3 (0-0)	Brazil	14:35 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Rodrigo Badilla Sequeira (Costa Rica) Attendance: 63,500
Bergkamp 64'		Romário 53'
Winter 76'		Bebeto 63'
		Branco 81'

July 10, 1994

Bulgaria	2 - 1 (0-0)	Germany	12:05 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Jose Torres Cadena (Colombia) Attendance: 72,000
Stoitchkov 75'		Matthäus (p) 47'
Letchkov 78'
Sweden	1 - 1 (0-0)	Romania	12:35 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Philip Don (England) Attendance: 83,500
after extra-time:	2 - 2 (1-2)
Brolin 78'		Raducioiu 88'
K. Andersson 115'		Raducioiu 101'
Penalty shootout
Sweden		5 - 4	Romania
Mild: out		0-1	Raducioiu: goal
K. Andersson: goal		1-2	Hagi: goal
Brolin: goal		2-3	Lupescu: goal
Ingesson: goal		3-3	Petrescu: Ravelli saved
Nilsson: goal		4-4	Dumitrescu: goal
Larsson: goal		5-4	Belodedici: Ravelli saved

Semi-finals

July 13, 1994

Bulgaria	1 - 2 (1-2)	Italy	16:05 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Joel Quiniou (France) Attendance: 74,110
Stoitchkov (p) 44'		R. Baggio 20'
		R. Baggio 25'
Sweden	0 - 1 (0-0)	Brazil	16:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Jose Torres Cadena (Colombia) Attendance: 91,856
		Romário 80'

Third place match

July 16, 1994

Sweden	4 - 0 (4-0)	Bulgaria	12:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Attendance: 91,500
Brolin 8'
Mild 30'
Larsson 37'
K. Andersson 40'

Final

July 17, 1994

Italy	0 - 0 (0-0)	Brazil	12:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Attendance: 94,194
after extra-time:	0 - 0 (0-0)
Penalty shootout
Italy		2 - 3	Brazil
Baresi: out		0-0	Márcio Santos: Pagliuca saved
Albertini: goal		1-1	Romário: goal
Evani: goal		2-2	Branco: goal
Massaro: Taffarel saved		2-3	Dunga: goal
R. Baggio: out		2-3

World Cup Champions: BRAZIL (4th title)

Top scorers

Firsts

• Greece and Saudi Arabia played in the World Cup for the first time: there were also a record three teams representing Africa.
• The USA-Switzerland match in the Pontiac Silverdome was the first to be played indoors in World Cup history: grass had to be shipped in at great expense from California.
• Brazil became the first country to win the World Cup four times.