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The FIFA World Cup History

History of the FIFA World Cup - Timeline of Events 1990-2002

History of the World Cup - Italy 1990:

No expense was spared by the Italian FA who built two new stadiums, and 11 others were given expensive facelifts in preparation for the 1990 World Cup.

However, Italia '90 was widely regarded as one of the dullest tournaments in the history of the World Cup, as over-cautious teams playing overly defensive tactics led to many games being low scoring affairs, and many knock-out matches had to be settled on penalties.

There was some romance in the tournament: Cameroon, nicknamed the Lions, stunned the Argentines by beating them in the opening game 1-0 with striker Roger Milla becoming a household name. At the age of 38 Milla became the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history, and was instantly memorable thanks to his hip-swivelling samba celebration dance when he scored.

The Lions roared their way to the quarter-final with some colourful displays, and were on the verge of knocking out England, leading 2-1 with only ten minutes remaining, but Gary Lineker held his nerve to score two late penalties to set up an England v West Germany semi-final.

Argentina found themselves a new hero in goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea, the replacement for Nery Pumpido who had broken his leg earlier in the tournament. Goycochea's amazing performances were one of the main factors behind the Argentinean's run, especially his expertise in penalty shoot-outs, as he kept out Italian and Yugoslavian shots to ensure that Argentina progressed to the final.

The Italians had their own star of the tournament with super-sub Salvatore “Toto” Schillaci scoring in every match leading to the final. After the World Cup, Toto and his career faded as quickly as it had lit up, and he was soon playing in the lower Italian leagues.

England came unstuck against the old enemy once again, as a penalty shoot-out was needed to find a winner between them and a victorious West Germany. Italy beat England in the play-off to seal third place.

The 1990 World Cup final was a poor spectacle, as Argentina became the first team to have two players sent off in a final. A disputable penalty, scored by West Germany's Andreas Brehme, was enough to separate the two teams and for the well drilled German side, managed by Franz Beckenbauer, to win the World Cup.

History of the World Cup - USA 1994:

Eyebrows were raised when the USA was chosen for the World Cup, as it was seen as a nation dominated by American Football, basketball, and baseball, and only had a small professional “soccer” league to its name. There was no need to worry, however, as an exciting tournament helped erase the memories of Italia '90.

The number of teams participating continued to grow, as 133 teams entered qualification, but unfortunately this superb tournament was settled by a penalty shoot-out in a dull final.

There was plenty of drama, as fallen hero Diego Maradona returned for Argentina with a triumphant display, only later to fail a drug test for cocaine. Columbian defender Andres Escobar's own goal sealed his nation's fate in the first round, and just days later he was shot dead in his homeland because of the incident. South Africa finally made the finals after a long exclusion from world football.

European champions Denmark, together with England and France were some of the big teams who failed to make it to the finals. Bulgaria surprised most as their fantastic run saw them make the semi-finals, and on the way beat the German's 2-1 to stun the footballing world.

Cameroon returned, as did Roger Milla, but were hammered 6-1 by Russia in the group stages, sealing their fate. Their consolation goal was scored by Milla, making him the oldest goalscorer at a World Cup Finals at the age of 42.

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The USA made it through the group stages, and lost in a respectable performance to Brazil in the second round. Saudi Arabia made it through after striker Saed Owairan scored one of the goals of the tournament with a wonderful finish against Morocco.

The sublime skills of Romanian play-maker Georgie Hagi was another highlight, dazzling crowds with his range and stunning goals. Hagi was responsible for knocking Argentina out of the tournament.

In the semi-finals, Brazil beat Holland 3-2 in a cracking affair, and Italy sneaked past Spain.

The final was between Italy and Brazil, two of the most attractive teams in the 1994 World Cup tournament, but the final was a damp squib and went to penalties for the first time in the World Cup's history. Italian golden boy Baggio ballooned his penalty over the bar, and Brazil were world champions once again.

History of the World Cup - France 1998:

The 1998 World Cup tournament had grown in size, with 32 teams in the finals, split into eight groups, allowing more nations from Asia and Africa to be represented.

The draw threw up some exciting ties, and Spain once again showed nerves at the highest level as they were beaten by Nigeria, and despite hammering Bulgaria, they failed to make it through the group stages.

England needed a sublime free-kick from David Beckham to see off Columbia, and England then met Argentina in the second round. The tie in St Etienne was a monumental clash, with Michael Owen announcing himself to the world with a wonder goal. However, the game ended 2-2 and went to penalties after the referee disallowed a Sol Campbell header, and sent Beckham off for a petulant kick. England lost on penalties in a major tournament once again, and the fall-out from the result was that Beckham returned home a national villain.

Croatia were the surprise package of the tournament. Led by the goal scoring talents of Davor Suker, they made the semi-final after beating Germany 3-0. There they took the lead against France, but Thuram managed to pull the French team from the brink.

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Brazil met France in the final. Brazil had cruised through the rounds without much fuss, but on the eve of the final, star player Ronaldo collapsed, and even though he played in the end, he was a shadow of the player that had tormented many teams in the past few weeks.

The effect on the Brazilian team was obvious. Zinedine Zidane capped a fine individual performance with two goals, and a late third from Petit meant that, despite only having ten-men for the last 20 minutes, the French team were World Champions amid wild scenes of celebrations on the streets of France.

History of the World Cup – South Korea & Japan 2002:

Both South Korea and Japan applied to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup competition in their own right, yet FIFA made the unprecedented step of a dual-hosted tournament. The 2002 tournament was also the first World Cup competition to be held in Asia.

The tournament was a wonderful spectacle played in fantastically modern stadiums. There were surprises from the outset, as Senegal humbled France 1-0 in the opening match. Things only got worse for France as they drew a blank against Uruguay, then were beaten by Denmark, and they left the tournament without a goal to their name.

Group F was seen as the group of death, as England and Sweden were drawn with Argentina and Nigeria. After England and Sweden drew in the opening match, England faced Argentina. Still smarting over the defeat in France four years ago, England put on a wonderfully combative display, and won 1-0 thanks to a penalty taken by David Beckham, in which he exorcised the demons of the past to become a national hero.

With England drawing against Nigeria, Argentina could find no way past a solid Sweden, and the pre-tournament favourites failed to progress from the group stages.

Japan did a nation proud by qualifying, but lost in the second round to the eventual third placed team Turkey. Senegal kept on surprising the world with their attacking flair, but also fell to Turkey in the quarter-finals.

South Korea were the real story of the 2002 World Cup, as the host nation managed to knock out Portugal's best team since the days of Eusebio in the group stage, went on to beat Italy on a golden goal, and then defeated Spain on penalties to cue wild celebrations in the Far-East.

After being hammered 5-1 by England in the qualifiers, and scraping through the play-off to make the finals, the Germans were not fancied at all. Yet a succession of 1-0 victories in the knockout stages saw them beat South Korea in the semi-final and incredibly make the 2002 World Cup final.

Brazil once again played with irrepressible flair and made it through the knockout rounds by seeing off Paraguay, England, and Turkey.

Germany was without the suspended and influential figure of Ballack in midfield, and all was set for Ronaldo to finally bury the disappointments of France 1998. He did it in style with a wonderful performance, scoring twice in the final, meaning he had scored in every round, and ended the tournament with 8 goals.

Brazil lifted the World Cup for the fifth time, and have now won it on every continent.

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