The 1994 Football World Cup held in the USA was won by Brazil who beat Italy 3-2 on penalty kicks after the game and extra time ended 0-0. FIFA's decision in 1988 to hold the event in the United States surprised many considering the relative lack of soccer fans there (aside from a significant fanbase within the Latin American immigrant population). Despite these misgivings, in terms of attendance the event was a rousing success. The average attendance of nearly 69,000 shattered a record that had stood since 1950. The total attendance for the final tournament of nearly 3.6 million remains the greatest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition to 32 teams in 1998. The overall attendance record will not be broken until at least 2010, as the maximum possible attendance for the 2006 World Cup is less than 3.5 million.

The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1990: 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four. Sixteen teams would qualify for the knockout competition: six group winners, six second place finishers, and four best third place finishers. This World Cup was the first in which winners of group matches received three points for a win instead of two.

For full details of the competition, see Football World Cup 1994 (match reports) article.

Venues

Venue Name	Stadium	Location	Capacity
Boston	Foxboro Stadium	Foxboro, Massachusetts	61,000
Chicago	Soldier Field	Chicago, Illinois	67,000
Dallas	Cotton Bowl	Dallas, Texas	67,000
Detroit	Pontiac Silverdome	Pontiac, Michigan	80,000
Los Angeles	Rose Bowl	Pasadena, California	91,000
NY/NJ	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, New Jersey	77,000
Orlando	Citrus Bowl	Orlando, Florida	70,000
San Francisco	Stanford Stadium	Palo Alto, California	80,000
Washington	RFK Stadium	Washington, D.C.	56,000

First round

Half-time scores are in brackets

Group A

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Romania 6 3 2 0 1 5 5 Switzerland 4 3 1 1 1 5 4 USA 4 3 1 1 1 3 3 Colombia 3 3 1 0 2 4 5

USA 1 - 1 Switzerland Romania 3 - 1 Colombia Switzerland 4 - 1 Romania USA 2 - 1 Colombia Colombia 2 - 0 Switzerland Romania 1 - 0 USA

June 18, 1994

USA	1 - 1 (1-1)	Switzerland	17:35 EST - Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac Ref: Francisco Óscar Lamolina (Argentina) Attendance: 73,425
Wynalda 45'		Brégy 39'
Romania	3 - 1 (2-1)	Colombia	16:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria) Attendance: 91,586
Răducioiu 15'		Valencia 43'
Hagi 34'
Răducioiu 89'

June 22, 1994

Switzerland	4 - 1 (1-1)	Romania	16:05 EST - Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac Ref: Neji Jouini (Tunisia) Attendance: 61,428
Sutter 16'		Hagi 43'
Chapuisat 52'
Knup 65'
Knup 72'
USA	2 - 1 (1-0)	Colombia	16:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Fabio Baldas (Italy) Attendance: 93,689
Escobar (og) 35'		Valencia 90'
Stewart 52'

June 26, 1994

Colombia	2 - 0 (1-0)	Switzerland	13:05 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) Attendance: 83,401
Gaviria 44'
Lozano 58'
Romania	1 - 0 (1-0)	USA	13:05 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Attendance: 93,869
Petrescu 18'

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Group B

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Brazil 7 3 2 1 0 6 1 Sweden 5 3 1 2 0 6 4 Russia 3 3 1 0 2 7 6 Cameroon 1 3 0 1 2 3 11

Cameroon 2 - 2 Sweden Brazil 2 - 0 Russia Brazil 3 - 0 Cameroon Sweden 3 - 1 Russia Russia 6 - 1 Cameroon Brazil 1 - 1 Sweden

June 19, 1994

Cameroon	2 - 2 (1-1)	Sweden	16:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Alberto Tejada Noriega (Peru) Attendance: 93,194
Embe 31'		Ljung 8'
Omam-Biyik 47'		Dahlin 75'

June 20, 1994

Brazil	2 - 0 (1-0)	Russia	13:05 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius) Attendance: 81,061
Romário 26'
Raí (p) 52'

June 24, 1994

Brazil	3 - 0 (1-0)	Cameroon	13:05 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 83,401
Romário 39'
Márcio Santos 66'
Bebeto 73'
Sweden	3 - 1 (1-1)	Russia	19:35 EST - Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac Ref: Joel Quiniou (France) Attendance: 71,528
Brolin (p) 37'		Salenko (p) 4'
Dahlin 59'
Dahlin 81'

June 28, 1994

Russia	6 - 1 (3-0)	Cameroon	13:05 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria) Attendance: 74,914
Salenko 15'		Milla 46'
Salenko 41'
Salenko 44'
Salenko 72'
Salenko 75'
Radchenko 81'
Brazil	1 - 1 (0-1)	Sweden	16:05 EST - Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac Ref: Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Attendance: 77,217
Romário 46'		K. Andersson 23'

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Group C

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Germany 7 3 2 1 0 5 3 Spain 5 3 1 2 0 6 4 South Korea 2 3 0 2 1 4 5 Bolivia 1 3 0 1 2 1 4

Germany 1 - 0 Bolivia South Korea 2 - 2 Spain Germany 1 - 1 Spain South Korea 0 - 0 Bolivia Spain 3 - 1 Bolivia Germany 3 - 2 South Korea

June 17, 1994

Germany	1 - 0 (0-0)	Bolivia	14:05 CST - Soldier Field, Chicago Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 63,117
Klinsmann 61'
South Korea	2 - 2 (0-0)	Spain	18:35 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) Attendance: 56,247
Hong 85'		Julio Salinas 19'
Seo 90'		Goikoetxea 55'

June 21, 1994

Germany	1 - 1 (0-1)	Spain	15:05 CST - Soldier Field, Chicago Ref: Filippi Cavani (Uruguay) Attendance: 63,113
Klinsmann 48'		Goikoetxea 14'

June 23, 1994

South Korea

0 - 0 (0-0)

Bolivia

19:35 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Leslie Mottram (Scotland) Attendance: 54,453

June 27, 1994

Spain	3 - 1 (1-0)	Bolivia	15:05 CST - Soldier Field, Chicago Ref: Rodrigo Badilla Sequeira (Costa Rica) Attendance: 63,089
Guardiola (p) 19'
Caminero 67'
Caminero 70'
		Sanchez 67'

Germany	3 - 2 (3-0)	South Korea	16:05 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Joel Quiniou (France) Attendance: 63,998
Klinsmann 12'		Hwang 52'
Riedle 20'		Hong 63'
Klinsmann 37'

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Group D

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Nigeria 6 3 2 0 1 6 2 Bulgaria 6 3 2 0 1 6 3 Argentina 6 3 2 0 1 6 3 Greece 0 3 0 0 3 0 10

Argentina 4 - 0 Greece Nigeria 3 - 0 Bulgaria Argentina 2 - 1 Nigeria Bulgaria 4 - 0 Greece Bulgaria 2 - 0 Argentina Nigeria 2 - 0 Greece

June 21, 1994

Argentina	4 - 0 (2-0)	Greece	12:05 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Artur Angeles (USA) Attendance: 54,456
Batistuta 2'
Batistuta 44'
Maradona 60'
Batistuta (p) 89'
Nigeria	3 - 0 (2-0)	Bulgaria	18:35 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Rodrigo Badilla Sequeira (Costa Rica) Attendance: 44,132
Yekini 21'
Amokachi 43'
Amunike 55'

June 25, 1994

Argentina	2 - 1 (2-1)	Nigeria	16:05 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Bo Jonas Hil Karlsson (Sweden) Attendance: 54,453
Caniggia 21'		Siasia 8'
Caniggia 28'

June 26, 1994

Bulgaria	4 - 0 (1-0)	Greece	11:35 CST - Soldier Field, Chicago Ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Attendance: 63,160
Stoitchkov (p) 5'
Stoitchkov (p) 55'
Letchkov 66'
Borimirov 90'

June 30, 1994

Bulgaria	2 - 0 (0-0)	Argentina	18:35 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Neji Jouini (Tunisia) Attendance: 63,998
Stoitchkov 61'
Sirakov 90'
Nigeria	2 - 0 (1-0)	Greece	19:35 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Leslie Mottram (Scotland) Attendance: 53,001
Finidi 45'
Yekini 90'

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Group E

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Mexico 4 3 1 1 1 3 3 Rep. of Ireland 4 3 1 1 1 2 2 Italy 4 3 1 1 1 2 2 Norway 4 3 1 1 1 1 1

Rep. of Ireland 1 - 0 Italy Norway 1 - 0 Mexico Italy 1 - 0 Norway Mexico 2 - 1 Rep. of Ireland Italy 1 - 1 Mexico Rep. of Ireland 0 - 0 Norway

June 18, 1994

Rep. of Ireland	1 - 0 (1-0)	Italy	16:05 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Attendance: 75,338
Houghton 11'

June 19, 1994

Norway	1 - 0 (0-0)	Mexico	16:05 EST - RFK Stadium, Washington Ref: Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Attendance: 52,395
Rekdal 84'

June 23, 1994

Italy	1 - 0 (0-0)	Norway	16:05 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Hellmut Krug (Germany) Attendance: 74,624
D. Baggio 69'

June 24, 1994

Mexico	2 - 1 (1-0)	Rep. of Ireland	12:35 EST - Citrus Bowl, Orlando Ref: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland) Attendance: 60,790
Luis García 42'		Aldridge 84'
Luis García 65'

June 28, 1994

Italy	1 - 1 (0-0)	Mexico	12:35 EST - RFK Stadium, Washington Ref: Francisco Óscar Lamolina (Argentina) Attendance: 52,535
Massaro 48'		Bernal 57'
Rep. of Ireland	0 - 0 (0-0)	Norway	12:35 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Jose Torres Cadena (Colombia) Attendance: 72,404

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Group F

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Netherlands 6 3 2 0 1 4 3 Saudi Arabia 6 3 2 0 1 4 3 Belgium 6 3 2 0 1 2 1 Morocco 0 3 0 0 3 2 5

Belgium 1 - 0 Morocco Netherlands 2 - 1 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 2 - 1 Morocco Belgium 1 - 0 Netherlands Saudi Arabia 1 - 0 Belgium Netherlands 2 - 1 Marokko

June 19, 1994

Belgium	1 - 0 (1-0)	Morocco	12:35 EST - Citrus Bowl, Orlando Ref: Jose Torres Cadena (Colombia) Attendance: 61,219
Degryse 11'

June 20, 1994

Netherlands	2 - 1 (0-1)	Saudi Arabia	12:35 EST - RFK Stadium, Washington Ref: Manuel Diaz Vega (Spain) Attendance: 50,535
Jonk 50'		Amin 18'
Taument 86'

June 25, 1994

Saudi Arabia	2 - 1 (2-1)	Morocco	12:35 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Philip Don (England) Attendance: 76,322
Al Jaber (p) 7'		Chaouch 26'
Amin 45'
Belgium	1 - 0 (0-0)	Netherlands	12:35 EST - Citrus Bowl, Orlando Ref: Renato Marsiglia (Brazil) Attendance: 62,387
Albert 65'

June 29, 1994

Saudi Arabia	1 - 0 (1-0)	Belgium	12:35 EST - RFK Stadium, Washington Ref: Hellmut Krug (Germany) Attendance: 52,959
Owairan 5'
Netherlands	2 - 1 (1-0)	Morocco	12:35 EST - Citrus Bowl, Orlando Ref: Alberto Tejada Noriega (Peru) Attendance: 60,578
Bergkamp 43'
Roy 77'
		Nader 47'

Round of Sixteen

July 2, 1994

Germany	3 - 2 (3-1)	Belgium	12:00 CST - Soldier Field, Chicago Ref: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland) Attendance: 60,246
Völler 6'		Grun 8'
Klinsmann 11'		Albert 90'
Völler 40'
Spain	3 - 0 (1-0)	Switzerland	16:35 EST - RFK Stadium, Washington Ref: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Attendance: 53,121
Hierro 15'
Luis Enrique 74'
Beguiristain (p) 86'

July 3, 1994

Saudi Arabia	1 - 3 (0-1)	Sweden	12:05 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Renato Marsiglia (Brazil) Attendance: 60,277
Al Ghesheyan 85'		Dahlin 6'
		K. Andersson 51'
		K. Andersson 88'
Romania	3 - 2 (2-1)	Argentina	13:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy) Attendance: 90,469
Dumitrescu 11'		Batistuta (p) 16'
Dumitrescu 18'		Balbo 75'
Hagi 58'

July 4, 1994

Netherlands	2 - 0 (2-0)	Rep. of Ireland	12:05 EST - Citrus Bowl, Orlando Ref: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) Attendance: 61,355
Bergkamp 11'
Jonk 41'
Brazil	1 - 0 (0-0)	USA	12:35 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Joel Quiniou (France) Attendance: 84,147
Bebeto 72'

July 5, 1994

Nigeria	1 - 1 (1-0)	Italy	13:05 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 54,367
after extra-time:	1 - 2 (1-2)
Amunike 25'		R. Baggio 88'
		R. Baggio (p) 100'
Mexico	1 - 1 (1-1)	Bulgaria	16:35 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria) Attendance: 71,030
after extra-time:	1 - 1 (1-1)
Garcia Aspe (p) 18'		Stoitchkov 6'
Penalty shootout
Mexico		1 - 3	Bulgaria
Garcia Aspe: out		0-0	Balakov: Campos saved
Bernal: Mikhailov saved		0-1	Guenchev: goal
Rodriguez: Mikhailov saved		0-2	Borimirov: goal
Suárez: goal		1-3	Letchkov: goal

Quarterfinals

July 9, 1994

Italy	2 - 1 (1-0)	Spain	12:05 EST - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro Ref: Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Attendance: 53,400
D. Baggio 11'		Caminero 58'
R. Baggio 87'
Netherlands	2 - 3 (0-0)	Brazil	14:35 CST - Cotton Bowl, Dallas Ref: Rodrigo Badilla Sequeira (Costa Rica) Attendance: 63,500
Bergkamp 64'		Romário 53'
Winter 76'		Bebeto 63'
		Branco 81'

July 10, 1994

Bulgaria	2 - 1 (0-0)	Germany	12:05 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Jose Torres Cadena (Colombia) Attendance: 72,000
Stoitchkov 75'		Matthäus (p) 47'
Letchkov 78'
Sweden	1 - 1 (0-0)	Romania	12:35 PST - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto Ref: Philip Don (England) Attendance: 83,500
after extra-time:	2 - 2 (1-2)
Brolin 78'		Răducioiu 88'
K. Andersson 115'		Răducioiu 101'
Penalty shootout
Sweden		5 - 4	Romania
Mild: out		0-1	Răducioiu: goal
K. Andersson: goal		1-2	Hagi: goal
Brolin: goal		2-3	Lupescu: goal
Ingesson: goal		3-3	Petrescu: Ravelli saved
Nilsson: goal		4-4	Dumitrescu: goal
Larsson: goal		5-4	Belodedici: Ravelli saved

Semifinals

July 13, 1994

Bulgaria	1 - 2 (1-2)	Italy	16:05 EST - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford Ref: Joel Quiniou (France) Attendance: 74,110
Stoitchkov (p) 44'		R. Baggio 20'
		R. Baggio 25'
Sweden	0 - 1 (0-0)	Brazil	16:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Jose Torres Cadena (Colombia) Attendance: 91,856
		Romário 80'

Third Place Match

July 16, 1994

Sweden	4 - 0 (4-0)	Bulgaria	12:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Attendance: 91,500
Brolin 8'
Mild 30'
Larsson 37'
K. Andersson 40'

Final

July 17, 1994

Brazil	0 - 0 (0-0)	Italy	12:35 PST - Rose Bowl, Pasadena Ref: Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Attendance: 94,194
after extra-time:	0 - 0 (0-0)
Penalty shootout
Italy		2 - 3	Brazil
Baresi: out		0-0	Márcio Santos: Pagliuca saved
Albertini: goal		1-1	Romário: goal
Evani: goal		2-2	Branco: goal
Massaro: Taffarel saved		2-3	Dunga: goal
R. Baggio: out		2-3

 

World Cup Champions: BRAZIL (4th title)

Top scorers

6 goals Hristo Stoitchkov Oleg Salenko 5 goals Romário Roberto Baggio Kennet Andersson Jürgen Klinsmann

4 goals Martin Dahlin Florin Răducioiu Gabriel Batistuta 3 goals Bebeto Tomas Brolin Gheorghe Hagi Dennis Bergkamp José Luis Caminero

Firsts

• Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia played in the World Cup for the first time, and Russia participated in a finals tournament for the first time since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
• There were three teams representing Africa: a record at the time.
• The United States-Switzerland match in the Pontiac Silverdome was the first to be played indoors in World Cup history: grass had to be shipped in at great expense from California.
• Brazil became the first country to win the World Cup four times.
• Oleg Salenko of Russia became the first player to score 5 goals in a single World Cup finals game in his country's group stage win over Cameroon. Roger Milla who scored a goal for Cameroon in the same match became the oldest player to score a goal in world cups. He was 42.
• This was the first, and so far the only time, that a British team has not been in the World Cup finals since they started to participate in the tournament.
• The finals were the first time FIFA decided to experiment with the style of jerseys worn by officials, foregoing the traditional black. They would choose between burgundy, yellow or white shirts depending on what was feasible to avoid a clash of colours with the two competing teams. Black shirts would, however, return 4 years later.
• The 1994 World Cup revolutionized television coverage of sports in the USA through the sponsored scoreboard and game clock that were constantly shown on screen throughout the game. Variations on it were quickly incorporated into virtually every team sports broadcast by the decade's end.