| Host country | Italy |
|---|---|
| Dates | 8 June – 8 July (31 days) |
| Teams | 24 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 12 (in 12 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  West Germany (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Argentina |
| Third place |  Italy |
| Fourth place |  England |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 52 |
| Goals scored | 115 (2.21 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,516,215 (48,389 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Salvatore Schillaci (6 goals) |
| Best player | Salvatore Schillaci |
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| Official Logo |
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice (the first being Mexico in 1986). Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated continents entered the competition, with its qualification process beginning in April 1988. A total of 22 teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy and defending champion Argentina. The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico. The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup that was officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with the Japanese NHK broadcaster.
The tournament was won by West Germany, who claimed their third World Cup title by defeating reigning champions Argentina 1–0 in the final, a rematch of the previous final four years earlier. Hosts Italy beat England 2–1 to finish third after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts. It would be the last tournament to feature a German side representing the divided Germany, with the country being reunified later in 1990. Costa Rica, Ireland and United Arab Emirates made their first appearances in the finals, and Egypt its first since 1934.
The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups ever. It generated a record low goals-per-game average of just 2.21 – a record that still stands to date[6] – and a then-record 16 red cards were handed out, including the first ever dismissal in a final. Despite this, the 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament. At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, but was subsequently bettered by the 1994 and 2002 FIFA World Cups.
Following the 1990 World Cup, the back-pass rule was introduced in 1992 to discourage time-wasting and overly defensive play, and wins were awarded three points in the group stage of the 1994 FIFA World Cup to encourage more attack-minded tactics and discourage the strategy of playing for a draw.
The vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 19 May 1984 in Zürich, Switzerland. Here, the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the only rival bid, the USSR, by 11 votes to 5. This awarding made Italy only the second nation to host two World Cup tournaments, after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging. Italy had previously had the event in 1934, where they had won their first championship.
Austria, England, France, Greece, West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for 31 July 1983 deadline. A month later, only England and Greece remained in the hunt with Italy and the Soviet Union after the other contenders all withdrew. All four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983, with the final decision overrunning into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved.In early 1984, England and Greece also withdrew, leading to a two-horse race in the final vote. The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games announced on the eve of the World Cup decision was speculated to have been a major factor behind Italy winning the vote so decisively, although this was dismissed by FIFA President João Havelange.
Winner: West Germany
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