The 1990 World Cup (abbreviated as the 1990 World Cup) was outstanding for many reasons. During its holding, many significant events happened that deserve attention. Therefore, in this article you will learn what exactly outstanding happened during the 1990 World Cup, and also trace the paths of the teams that took part in it.
Group stage
At the group stage of the 1990 World Cup there were six groups, in which there were four teams - a similar format could be seen at the European Championships, held this year in France. From each group there were two teams that took the first two places, and of the six teams that took third places - only four.
The teams of Italy and Czechoslovakia quite calmly left Group A: the Italians won all their matches, and the Czechs lost only to the Italians. In group B, everything was not so clear: the current world champions Argentines managed to lose the national team of Cameroon and draw with the Romanians. As a result, it was Cameroon and Romania that went directly to the playoffs, and the Argentines took third place. In group C, the situation was the same as in the first: the Brazilians beat all the participants, and the Costa Rica team lost only to Brazil.
In group D, Yugoslavia and Colombia fought for second place, the Yugoslavs turned out to be more successful, and last year’s finalist - the German team - came in first place without much difficulty. In group E, the Spaniards took the first place with the same ease, while the Belgians were able to snatch the second from the Uruguayan team. Well, in the last group F, the situation was the most tense: after the first two rounds, all four teams had not only the same number of points, but also the same number of goals scored and missed. And only in the third round did the English, defeating the Egyptians, come out on top, and the second divided between the teams of Ireland and Holland.
But what about third places? Of the six teams, two did not qualify for the playoffs: Austria and Scotland, while Argentina, Colombia, Holland and Uruguay ended up in the final of the 1990 World Cup.
Playoffs
In the eighth finals of the 1990 World Cup, there were quite interesting couples. Cameroon and Colombia were unable to identify the winner in regular time, and in extra Cameroon were stronger. The same thing happened in the matches Spain-Yugoslavia and England-Belgium. Thanks to goals scored in extra time, the Yugoslavs and the British went further.
The Irish with the Romanians also did not score in regular time, but in the added goal they could not hit. The Irish were stronger in the penalty shootout. The Argentines barely defeated the Brazilians with a score of 1: 0, the German national team also won the Dutch not without difficulty - the final score in the match 2: 1. The Italians felt the most relaxed, having beaten the Uruguayans 2: 0, as well as the Czechoslovakians, who defeated the Costa Ricans 4: 1.
In the quarterfinals, of course, there were no such simple matches: only two of them ended in regular time and both 1-0. The Italians beat the Irish, and the FRG national team of Czechoslovakia. In two other matches, the outcome was decided in a dramatic penalty shootout and in overtime. In the first case, the Argentines beat the Yugoslavs, and in the second, after a 2-2 draw, in the main time the British won against the opening team of Cameroon.
So, the Argentina-Italy and Germany-England couples ended up in the semifinals. Both matches ended with a score of 1: 1 and were decided in a penalty shootout. The Argentines won for the second time in a row due to the skill of their goalkeeper, and the Germans were lucky, as the British “missed” the last penalty, not even getting on target.
The national teams of Germany and Argentina were in the final, and the Italians and the British played the match for third place. As a result, the bronze of the World Cup in 1990 went to the Italian team, which beat the England team with a score of 2: 1. Well, the final turned out to be incredibly dramatic: the whole match was not scored a single goal, and only at 85 minutes a penalty was awarded to the Argentines, which the Germans calmly realized, becoming world champions.
Top scorers of the tournament
At the 1990 World Cup there was no particular struggle for the title of top scorer. Four players scored four goals at once, but this was not enough to succeed. Czechoslovakia striker Tomas Skuhrava, who scored five goals, was very close to the title, but still the Golden Boot went to another player - Italian Salvatore Skillaci, who scored six goals in this tournament.
Symbolic tournament team
After the World Cup ended, a group of experts identified a symbolic team, in which there were three Italians, two Germans and an Argentine, two Cameroonians, one Englishman and one Czech. Goicochea, who was already mentioned above, turned up at the gates - he defended the tournament at the height, fending off so many penalty shootouts that everyone was surprised. The defense line consisted of Breme, Onana and Baresi, German, Cameroonian and Italian. In midfield there was also full national diversity: Maradona, Matteus, Donadoni and Gascoigne were recognized as the best. Well, the Skilachi and Skuhravy mentioned above were the best strikers; Cameroonian Milla, who scored four goals, was added to them.
What happened for the first time?
Well, it's time to talk about the very events that were striking for the football community of that time. For example, this final was the third for the German national team in a row. Moreover, there are other impressive facts regarding the pair of finalists of the tournament (Germany and Argentina). The 1990 World Cup became the second consecutive World Cup at which the composition of the finalists was repeated. In addition, it was the first championship in history, at which the same teams played in the final match as before. For the first time in history, so few goals were scored in the final - the score 1-0 in the final match was registered for the first time. In addition, never before in the final two players were removed at once.
We should also say about the main discovery and the main disappointment of the tournament. The discovery was the Cameroon team, which turned out to be the first African team in history to reach the quarter finals of the World Cup. But the main disappointment of the tournament was the USSR team. The football of the 1990 World Cup, which was shown by Cameroonians, could only be envied, but the Soviet players performed disgustingly and for the first time in history did not even leave the group.
What happened the last time?
For the last time in history at a major tournament, a system was used in which two points are awarded for a victory. Also, for the last time at the World Championship, four teams played at once: the USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and the Federal Republic of Germany. The first three ceased to exist due to the collapse of countries, and the fourth - due to the accession to the FRG of the GDR.