The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Mexico in 1986). Teams representing 116 national football associations entered and qualification began in April 1988. 22 teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy and defending champions Argentina.
The tournament was won by West Germany, for the third time. They beat Argentina 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, a rematch of the previous final four years earlier. Italy finished third and England fourth, after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts. This was the last tournament to feature a team from West Germany, with the country being reunified with East Germany a few months later in October, as well as teams from the Eastern Bloc prior to the end of the Cold War in 1991, as the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia teams made last appearances. Costa Rica, Ireland and the UAE made their first appearances in the finals. As of 2018, this was the last time the UAE qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico.
The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups in terms of the games. It generated an average 2.2 goals per game – a record low that still stands – and a then-record 16 red cards, including the first ever dismissal in a final. The tournament also had a significant lasting influence on the game as a whole. In England, the team's success in this tournament led to the resurgence of the domestic top-flight, which had suffered from violence on the pitch and hooliganism by spectators throughout the 1980s. It saw the introduction of the pre-match Fair Play Flag (then inscribed with "Fair Play Please") to encourage fair play. Overly defensive tactics led to the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992 and three points for a win instead of two, both of which have encouraged attacking play, increasing spectator interest in the sport. The tournament also produced some of the World Cup's best remembered moments and stories, including the emergence of African nations, in addition to what has become the World Cup soundtrack: "Nessun dorma".
The 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers over the course of the tournament. This was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japan's NHK. The huge success of the broadcasting model has also had a lasting impact on the sport. At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, but was bettered by the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.
Match Schedule GROUP A Jun 09 Rome Italy v Austria 1-0 Jun 10 Florence Czechoslovakia v United States 5-1 Jun 14 Rome Italy v United States 1-0 Jun 15 Florence Austria v Czechoslovakia 0-1 Jun 19 Rome Czechslovakia v Italy 0-2 Jun 19 Florence United States v Austria 1-2 P W D L Gls Pts ITALY 3 3 0 0 4-0 6 CZECHOSLOVAKIA 3 2 0 1 6-3 4 Austria 3 1 0 2 2-3 2 United States 3 0 0 3 2-8 0 GROUP B Jun 08 Milan Argentina v Cameroon 0-1 Jun 09 Bari Soviet Union v Romania 0-2 Jun 13 Naples Argentina v Soviet Union 2-0 Jun 14 Bari Cameroon v Romania 2-1 Jun 18 Bari Soviet Union v Cameroon 4-0 Jun 18 Naples Romania v Argentina 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts CAMEROON 3 2 0 1 3-5 4 ROMANIA 3 1 1 1 4-3 3 ARGENTINA 3 1 1 1 3-2 3 Soviet Union 3 1 0 2 4-4 2 GROUP C Jun 10 Turin Brazil v Sweden 2-1 Jun 11 Genoa Scotland v Costa Rica 0-1 Jun 16 Turin Brazil v Costa Rica 1-0 Jun 16 Genoa Sweden v Scotland 1-2 Jun 20 Genoa Costa Rica v Sweden 2-1 Jun 20 Turin Scotland v Brazil 0-1 P W D L Gls Pts BRAZIL 3 3 0 0 4-1 6 COSTA RICA 3 2 0 1 3-2 4 Scotland 3 1 0 2 2-3 2 Sweden 3 0 0 3 3-6 0 GROUP D Jun 09 Bologna Colombia v UA Emirates 2-0 Jun 10 Milan West Germany v Yugoslavia 4-1 Jun 14 Bologna Colombia v Yugoslavia 0-1 Jun 15 Milan UA Emirates v West Germany 1-5 Jun 19 Milan West Germany v Colombia 1-1 Jun 19 Bologna Yugoslavia v UA Emirates 4-1 P W D L Gls Pts WEST GERMANY 3 2 1 0 10- 3 5 YUGOSLAVIA 3 2 0 1 6- 5 4 COLOMBIA 3 1 1 1 3- 2 3 United Arab Emirates 3 0 0 3 2-11 0 GROUP E Jun 12 Verona Belgium v South Korea 2-0 Jun 13 Udine Spain v Uruguay 0-0 Jun 17 Udine Spain v South Korea 3-1 Jun 17 Verona Uruguay v Belgium 1-3 Jun 21 Verona Belgium v Spain 1-2 Jun 21 Udine South Korea v Uruguay 0-1 P W D L Gls Pts SPAIN 3 2 1 0 5-2 5 BELGIUM 3 2 0 1 6-3 4 URUGUAY 3 1 1 1 2-3 3 South Korea 3 0 0 3 1-6 0 GROUP F Jun 11 Cagliari England v Rep of Ireland 1-1 Jun 12 Palermo Netherlands v Egypt 1-1 Jun 16 Cagliari Netherlands v England 0-0 Jun 17 Palermo Egypt v Rep of Ireland 0-0 Jun 21 Cagliari England v Egypt 1-0 Jun 21 Palermo Rep of Ireland v Netherlands 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts ENGLAND 3 1 2 0 2-1 4 REP. OF IRELAND 3 0 3 0 2-2 *3 NETHERLANDS 3 0 3 0 2-2 *3 Egypt 3 0 2 1 1-2 2 * Second and third places decided by lots. SECOND ROUND Jun 23 Naples Cameroon v Colombia aet 2-1 Jun 23 Bari Czechoslovakia v Costa Rica 4-1 Jun 24 Turin Brazil v Argentina 0-1 Jun 24 Milan West Germany v Netherlands 2-1 Jun 25 Genoa Rep of Ireland v Romania (5-4)0-0 Jun 25 Rome Italy v Uruguay 2-0 Jun 26 Verona Spain v Yugoslavia aet 1-2 Jun 26 Bologna England v Belgium aet 1-0 QUARTERFINALS Jun 30 Florence Argentina v Yugoslavia (3-2)0-0 Jun 30 Rome Italy v Rep of Ireland 1-0 Jul 01 Milan West Germany v Czechoslovakia 1-0 Jul 01 Naples Cameroon v England aet 2-3 SEMIFINALS Jul 03 Naples Italy v Argentina (3-4)1-1 Jul 04 Turin West Germany v England (4-3)1-1 3rd/4th PLACE PLAY-OFF Jul 07 Bari Italy v England 2-1 WORLD CUP FINAL Jul 08 Rome West Germany v Argentina 1-0