FIFA World Cup History – FIFA World Cup 1990, Germans triumph
FIFA World Cup 1990 was hosted by Italy from 8th June to 8th of July. Italy was the second country after Mexico to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice. Twenty two teams qualified for this World Cup and it is regarded as one of the poorest FIFA World Cup ever. This was because of the fact that this World Cup had low scoring matches and a record 16 red cards, including the first elimination of a player in the final. The back pass rule was introduced after this World Cup; the rule states that a goalkeeper cannot hold the ball after his teammate passes the ball back to him, deliberately.
The 22 teams that qualified for this FIFA World Cup were; Italy, Argentina, Brazil, West Germany, Belgium, England, Austria, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Sweden, Uruguay, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Egypt, Korea Republic, United Arab Emirates and United States.
There were 6 groups of four teams and the top two would qualify for the pre quarter finals; along with the 4 best third place teams.
In group 1, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Austria and United States took part to qualify for the pre quarter finals. Italy won all the matches and qualified for the next round. The Czechs won 2 of their matches and easily ended as runner ups, while Austria and United States didn’t even end in the top third place teams.
In group 2, Cameroon and Romania surprised the big guns Argentina and Soviet Union. Cameroon defeated Argentina in the first game and Romania defeated the Soviets to cause the fits two upsets of the tournament. In the second round, Argentina defeated the Soviets to bring back some hope of qualifying in the next round, while the Soviets were already out of the tournament. Cameroon won its match against Romania to top the group, while Romania suffered a loss from the Soviets which meant absolutely nothing. Cameroon topped the group with Romania standing as runner-ups. Argentina, however, qualified with their points being equal to Romania and Argentina was in the top 4 best third placed teams of the group stages.
In group 3, Brazil were the favourites and they proved why. Brazil won all the three matches against Costa Rica, Scotland and Sweden; and Costa Rica followed by winning the rest two matches they had. Scotland and Sweden did not manage to qualify in the next round and were not even in the 4 third place teams.
In group 4, the favourites were the West Germans. They won their matches against Yugoslavia, UAE and drew the match with Colombia, to top the group. On the other hand, Yugoslavia proved to be a good team and ended up as runner-ups to qualify for the pre quarter finals. Colombia, however, managed to impress and did enough to end up in the 4 best third placed teams.
In the fifth group, Spain, Belgium and Uruguay had to fight each other for the top two spots, as Korea Republic could not even win a single game and were knocked out. Spain topped the group with 5 points; they won the matches against Belgium, Korea Republic and drew against Uruguay. Belgium were the runner-ups by scoring 4 points; they won two matches against Korea and Uruguay and lost to Spain. Uruguay however, drew 1 match and won 1 to score 3 points and lead their team to the next round by being able to qualify through the top 4 third placed teams.
In the last group, England topped the group by winning a single game against the new entrants, Egypt, and drawing the other two against Ireland and Netherlands. Ireland and Netherlands, both, drew all their three games and Ireland came on top through goal scored and qualified for the next round. Netherlands, however, scored 3 points and were one of the top 4 third placed teams that qualified for the pre quarter finals.
In the pre quarter finals, the first match was between the host nation Italy and the South Americans, Uruguay. Italy won the match 2-0 to qualify for the quarter finals. The second match was between Romania, Ireland, and the match ended in a dramatic penalty shootout, as the fans saw Ireland scoring all the penalties and denying one to qualify for the quarter finals.
In a match between Yugoslavia and Spain, Spain lost the match 2-1 in extra time. Then in a very dramatic South American tie, Brazil went on to face Argentina and lost the match which helped Argentina advance to the quarter finals. West Germans met their fellow European side, Dutch. West Germany won the match 2-1 to qualify for the next round. Czechoslovakia defeated Costa Rica 4-1 and qualified for the next round. In the match between England and Belgium, the match ended in a tie and went into extra time, where England scored in the first half to qualify for the quarter finals. The last pre quarter final match was between Cameroon and Colombia. Cameroonians looked very impressive throughout the world cup and they won this match 2-1 in extra time to qualify for the quarter finals for the first time ever.
In the quarter finals, the host nation Italy had to face Ireland in the first match. The match was boring, as the Italians scored a goal and kept defending till the end of the match and it ended 1-0 for the Italians.
In the second quarter final, Argentineans had to face Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia put in all of its efforts to score a goal but Argentina defended the match really well and the match ended in a goalless draw. After it got carried on to extra time and penalties, Argentina eventually won the match 3-2 over penalties to qualify for the semi finals.
Then the Czechs faced the very impressive side West Germany, for a spot in the semi finals. Germans defeated the Czechs 1-0 to qualify for the semi finals.
The last match was between England and the very impressive side Cameroon. The match was full of action as the Cameroonians shocked the world by scoring two goals over the European giants. The match tied 2-2 when they match ended but England were able to win it in extra time by scoring one goal, to qualify for the next round.
The two semi finals were played between Italy and Argentina; and West Germany and England. Argentina and Italy were playing really good but Italy scored a goal and became a bit defensive. Argentina came back in the second half to score a goal to equalize and then eventually won the match over penalties. The other match was between West Germany and England, the two teams who had a story back then. The match ended in a 1-1 draw and the Germans advanced by winning over penalties.
Finally, it came down to the final. It was between Diego Maradona’s Argentina and the West Germans. The match was filled with excitement but the fans expected more than what happened. The only goal that was scored was from a penalty, which Sensini awarded to the Germans after he fouled Voller and was red carded, leaving Argentina with a man down right at the end of the match. Brehme converted the penalty into a goal in the 85th minute and won it for the Germans. This was the 3rd title for the Germans. Italian player Scillaci scored 6 goals to win the golden shoe and golden ball award; and England won the FIFA fair play award.
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