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1994 FIFA World Cup

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.[1] Despite soccer's relative lack of popularity in the host nation, the tournament was the most financially successful[2][3] in World Cup history. It broke tournament records with overall attendance of 3,587,538 and an average of 68,991 per game,[4] figures that stood unsurpassed as of 2022[5] despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams starting with the 1998 World Cup.[6]

"1994 World Cup" redirects here. For other uses, see 1994 World Cup (disambiguation).

World Cup USA '94

United States

June 17 – July 17

24 (from 5 confederations)

9 (in 9 host cities)

 Brazil (4th title)

 Italy

 Sweden

52

141 (2.71 per match)

3,597,042 (69,174 per match)

 Brazil

Brazil was crowned the winner 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; Russia also appeared as a separate nation for the first time, 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 the quarterfinals 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 as a response to the criticism of the defensive tactics and low-scoring matches of the 1990 World Cup. This resulted in an average of 2.71 goals per match, compared to 2.21 in 1990.

Background and preparations[edit]

Bidding process[edit]

Three nations bid to host the event: United States, Brazil, and Morocco.[7] The vote was held in Zurich on July 4, 1988 (Independence Day in the United States), and only took one round with the United States bid receiving a little over half of the votes by the FIFA Executive Committee members.[7] FIFA hoped that by staging the world's most prestigious tournament there, it would lead to a growth of interest in the sport.[8]


An inspection committee also found that the proposed Brazilian stadiums were deficient, while the Moroccan bid relied on the construction of nine new stadiums. Conversely, all the proposed stadiums in the United States were already built and fully functioning; U.S. Soccer spent $500 million preparing and organizing the tournament, far less than the billions other countries previously had spent and subsequently would spend on preparing for this tournament.[9] The U.S. bid was seen as the favorite and was prepared in response to losing the right to be the replacement host for the 1986 tournament following Colombia's withdrawal.[10]


One condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional soccer league – Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 and began operating in 1996.[11] There was some initial controversy[12] about awarding the World Cup to a country where soccer was not a nationally popular sport, and at the time, in 1988,[13] the U.S. no longer had a professional league; the North American Soccer League, established in 1967, had folded in 1984 after attendance faded.[12] The success of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, particularly the soccer tournament that drew 1.4 million spectators throughout the event, also contributed to FIFA's decision.[14]


The United States had previously bid to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup, after Colombia withdrew as the host nation in November 1982 because of economic concerns. Despite a presentation led by former North American Soccer League players Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer, as well as former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the executive committee selected Mexico.[15] There were proposals by FIFA to introduce larger goals and breaks after every quarter instead of just at half-time in order to appease U.S. television advertisers.[16][17][18] These proposals were met with resistance,[19] and ultimately rejected.

Draw[edit]

Seeding and drawing[edit]

The FIFA Organizing Committee upheld the tradition to seed the hosts (United States) and holders (Germany), along with the other four teams ranked in the top five based on their results obtained in the last three FIFA World Cups. The newly introduced FIFA World Ranking was not used as part of the calculated ranking for the seeding in this World Cup, as FIFA considered it to be too new.[35] Despite that it was not used in any way, for comparison purposes the teams' pre-tournament FIFA World ranking position from June 1994 are shown in parentheses,[36] followed by the official and used ranking (OR) position determined by the results obtained in the last three world cups.


The six top-seeded teams, were allocated in pot 1 and would be drawn into the first position of the six groups playing in the group stage. The remaining 18 teams were allocated into three pots based on geographical sections, with the: six qualified teams from Africa and Americas in pot 2, the top-6 ranked European teams in pot 3, while pot 4 comprised the 7th-10th best qualified European teams along with the two qualified Asian teams.


The principle of the draw was that each of the six drawn groups would have one team drawn respectively from pot 1, 2, 3 and 4; while respecting the following geographical limitations:

Pld = total games played

W = total games won

D = total games drawn (tied)

L = total games lost

GF = total goals scored (goals for)

GA = total goals conceded (goals against)

GD = goal difference (GF−GA)

Pts = total points accumulated

Statistics[edit]

Goalscorers[edit]

Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals.[54] In total, 141 goals were scored by 81 players, with only one of them credited as an own goal.


6 goals

Although USA '94 marked the seventh time FIFA hosted the World Cup in the Americas (after being held in , Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and twice by Mexico in 1970 and 1986), the United States became the first host in the Americas outside of the Latin American spectrum, and the first in the Anglosphere outside of England.

Uruguay

The game between the and Switzerland at the Pontiac Silverdome on June 18 was the first to be played indoors in World Cup history: grass was grown by Michigan State University and was the first time since 1965 (the failed attempt at the Astrodome) that natural turf was used in an indoor stadium in the United States. To date, only Sapporo Dome in 2002 and Arena AufSchalke in 2006 have subsequently hosted indoor games in World Cup history.

United States

of Russia became the first player to score five goals in a single World Cup finals game in his country's group stage win over Cameroon. Cameroon's Roger Milla also scored a goal in the same game, becoming the oldest player to score a goal in a World Cup. At 42, he was also the oldest player to appear in a World Cup, a record held until 2014, when Faryd Mondragón (43 years, 3 days) of Colombia broke the record in their game against Japan at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In turn, goalkeeper Essam El Hadary (45 years, 161 days) of Egypt would surpass Mondragón against Saudi Arabia, in the Volgograd Arena, Volgograd, Russia, on June 25, 2018. However, Milla remains the oldest outfield player to perform in the World Cup.

Oleg Salenko

For the first time, during the entering of the players onto the field, the FIFA Anthem, composed by Franz Lambert, was played.

of Italy became the first goalkeeper to be sent off in a World Cup game, dismissed for handling outside his area against Norway.

Gianluca Pagliuca

Brazil's eleven goals in their seven games was a record for the lowest average goals scored per game for any World Cup-winning side, but this record was broken by Spain's eight goals in 2010. The three goals Brazil conceded in those seven games was at the time also the lowest average goals conceded per game, although this was subsequently surpassed by France in 1998, Italy in 2006, and Spain in 2010.

The finals were the first time FIFA decided to experiment with the style of jerseys worn by officials, forgoing the traditional black. They could choose between burgundy, yellow or silver shirts depending on what was necessary to avoid a clash of colors with the two competing teams. This custom has since been followed, but with black shirts added as an option later.

The finals were also the first time that players had their shirt numbers printed on the center front (or on the right or left breast, in Morocco's and Russia's case respectively) of the shirt, as well as their names printed on the back of their jerseys in a World Cup, just as other American sports did, to make their identification easier for sportscasters. This custom followed from , and has continued ever since (although numbers printed on the center front had been experimented during the 1991 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Portugal).

Euro 92

The finals were the first to award in the group stage to motivate teams to play an attacking style.

3 points for a win

In disciplinary matters, for the first time accumulated in the group stage were wiped clean after its completion, and players started with a clean slate at the start of the knockout stage. Previously, players were suspended for one game if accumulating two yellow cards throughout the tournament. Now, players were suspended for one game after accumulating two yellow cards in the group stage, or two yellow cards in the knockout stage. This was in response to the situation in 1990, where players such as Claudio Caniggia and Paul Gascoigne were suspended for the later games.

yellow cards

The 1994 World Cup revolutionized television coverage of sports in the United States through the sponsored scoreboard and game clock that were constantly shown on screen throughout the game. Television sports coverage in the United States had long been dependent upon commercial breaks, a feature suitable for sports such as , basketball, ice hockey and American football (which all have breaks in the action), but long considered incompatible with soccer, due to the long stretches of uninterrupted play. Variations on it were quickly incorporated into virtually every team sports broadcast by the decade's end. The first American pro sports broadcaster to do this was Fox Sports, which won national rights to broadcast the NFL's National Football Conference from CBS six months before the 1994 World Cup began.

baseball

The 1994 World Cup final was the first (and to date only) goalless final in World Cup history. It was also the first to be decided by a penalty shootout, followed by the and 2022 finals.

2006

This was the last World Cup in which games other than the last two in each group were played simultaneously, although this only happened once in this tournament: Saudi Arabia vs. Morocco and Belgium vs. Netherlands in Group F. From onwards, each game in the first two rounds of group play and the whole knockout stage have been played separately to maximize television audiences.

France '98

This was the last World Cup featuring 24 nations, and the last in which third-placed teams were still able to progress to the round of 16. From 1998 on, there were 32 nations, with only the top two in each group progressing.

This was the first and the last World Cup in which both teams taking part in the third-place game, Sweden and Bulgaria, received bronze medals.

Soccer in the United States

– a first Women's World Cup hosted by the United States

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup

– a second Women's World Cup hosted by the United States

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup

– First edition of the Copa América hosted within the United States

Copa América Centenario

– Second edition of the Copa América hosted within the United States

2024 Copa América

– an upcoming tournament to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

2026 FIFA World Cup

FIFA.com

1994 FIFA World Cup USA

RSSSF

1994 World Cup details

(Part 2), (Part 3) and (Part 4)

FIFA Technical Report (Part 1)

(in Swedish)

The event at SVT's open archive