The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988. Despite soccer's relative lack of popularity in the host nation, the tournament was the most financially successful in World Cup history; it broke tournament records with overall attendance of 3,587,538 and an average of 68,991 per game, marks that stood unbroken as of 2018 despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams starting with the 1998 World Cup.
Brazil were crowned the winners after defeating Italy 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California near Los Angeles, after the game had ended 0–0 after extra time. It was the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties. The victory made Brazil the first nation to win four World Cup titles. There were three new entrants in the tournament: Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia plus Russia, following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and for the first time since 1938, a unified Germany took part in the tournament. They were also defending champions, but were eliminated in quarter-finals by Bulgaria. It was the first World Cup where three points were awarded for a victory instead of two and also the first with the back-pass rule. This was done to encourage a more attacking style of soccer after the defensive tactics and low-scoring matches of the 1990 World Cup. This resulted in an average of 2.71 goals per match.
Match Schedule GROUP A Jun 18 Detroit United States v Switzerland 1-1 Jun 18 Los Angeles Romania v Colombia 3-1 Jun 22 Detroit Switzerland v Romania 4-1 Jun 22 Los Angeles United States v Colombia 2-1 Jun 26 San Francisco Colombia v Switzerland 2-0 Jun 26 Los Angeles Romania v United States 1-0 P W D L Gls Pts ROMANIA 3 2 0 1 5-5 6 SWITZERLAND 3 1 1 1 5-4 4 UNITED STATES 3 1 1 1 3-3 4 Colombia 3 1 0 2 4-5 3 GROUP B Jun 19 Los Angeles Sweden v Cameroon 2-2 Jun 20 San Francisco Brazil v Russia 2-0 Jun 24 San Francisco Brazil v Cameroon 3-0 Jun 24 Detroit Russia v Sweden 1-3 Jun 28 San Francisco Cameroon v Russia 1-6 Jun 28 Detroit Sweden v Brazil 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts BRAZIL 3 2 1 0 6- 1 7 SWEDEN 3 1 2 0 6- 4 5 Russia 3 1 0 2 7- 6 3 Cameroon 3 0 1 2 3-11 1 GROUP C Jun 17 Chicago Germany v Bolivia 1-0 Jun 17 Dallas Spain v South Korea 2-2 Jun 21 Chicago Germany v Spain 1-1 Jun 23 Boston Bolivia v South Korea 0-0 Jun 27 Chicago Spain v Bolivia 3-1 Jun 27 Dallas South Korea v Germany 2-3 P W D L Gls Pts GERMANY 3 2 1 0 5-3 7 SPAIN 3 1 2 0 6-4 5 South Korea 3 0 2 1 4-5 2 Bolivia 3 0 1 2 1-4 1 GROUP D Jun 21 Boston Argentina v Greece 4-0 Jun 21 Dallas Nigeria v Bulgaria 3-0 Jun 25 Boston Argentina v Nigeria 2-1 Jun 26 Chicago Greece v Bulgaria 0-4 Jun 30 Boston Nigeria v Greece 2-0 Jun 30 Dallas Bulgaria v Argentina 2-0 P W D L Gls Pts NIGERIA 3 2 0 1 6- 2 6 BULGARIA 3 2 0 1 6- 3 6 ARGENTINA 3 2 0 1 6- 3 6 Greece 3 0 0 3 0-10 0 GROUP E Jun 18 New York Italy v R.of Ireland 0-1 Jun 19 Washington DC Norway v Mexico 1-0 Jun 23 New York Norway v Italy 0-1 Jun 24 Orlando Mexico v R.of Ireland 2-1 Jun 28 New York R.of Ireland v Norway 0-0 Jun 28 Washington DC Italy v Mexico 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts MEXICO 3 1 1 1 3-3 4 REP. OF IRELAND 3 1 1 1 2-2 4 ITALY 3 1 1 1 2-2 4 Norway 3 1 1 1 1-1 4 GROUP F Jun 19 Orlando Belgium v Morocco 1-0 Jun 20 Washington DC Netherlands v Saudi Arabia 2-1 Jun 25 Orlando Belgium v Netherlands 1-0 Jun 25 New York Saudi Arabia v Morocco 2-1 Jun 29 Orlando Morocco v Netherlands 1-2 Jun 29 Washington DC Saudi Arabia v Belgium 1-0 P W D L Gls Pts NETHERLANDS 3 2 0 1 4-3 6 SAUDI ARABIA 3 2 0 1 4-3 6 BELGIUM 3 2 0 1 2-1 6 Morocco 3 0 0 3 2-5 0 SECOND ROUND Jul 02 Chicago Germany v Belgium 3-2 Jul 02 Washington DC Spain v Switzerland 3-0 Jul 03 Dallas Sweden v Saudi Arabia 3-1 Jul 03 Los Angeles Romania v Argentina 3-2 Jul 04 Orlando Netherlands v R.of Ireland 2-0 Jul 04 San Francisco Brazil v United States 1-0 Jul 05 Boston Nigeria v Italy aet 1-2 Jul 05 New York Mexico v Bulgaria (1-3)1-1 QUARTERFINALS Jul 09 Boston Italy v Spain 2-1 Jul 09 Dallas Brazil v Netherlands 3-2 Jul 10 New York Germany v Bulgaria 1-2 Jul 10 San Francisco Romania v Sweden (4-5)2-2 SEMIFINALS Jul 13 New York Italy v Bulgaria 2-1 Jul 13 Los Angeles Brazil v Sweden 1-0 3rd/4th PLACE PLAY-OFF Jul 16 Los Angeles Sweden v Bulgaria 4-0 WORLD CUP FINAL Jul 17 Los Angeles Brazil v Italy (3-2)0-0