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. 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, figures that stood unsurpassed as of 2022 despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams starting with the 1998 World Cup.
| World Cup USA '94 | |
|---|---|
Making Soccer History | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | June 17 – July 17 |
| Teams | 24 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 9 (in 9 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Brazil (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Italy |
| Third place | Sweden |
| Fourth place | Bulgaria |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 52 |
| Goals scored | 141 (2.71 per match) |
| Attendance | 3,597,042 (69,174 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Hristo Stoichkov Oleg Salenko (6 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Romário |
| Best young player | Marc Overmars |
| Best goalkeeper | Michel Preud'homme |
| Fair play award | 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.