The Entire Story Of The 1990 World Cup

The story of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, a tournament that produced the worst football in World Cup history and some of the most unforgettable moments the sport has ever seen. Two point two one goals per match, a record low. Sixteen red cards, a record high. Football so defensive and so cynical that FIFA rewrote the laws of the game to make sure it never happened again. And yet Italia 90 gave us Roger Milla dancing at the corner flag at thirty-eight years old after coming out of retirement because the President of Cameroon personally issued a decree ordering him back into the squad. The coach did not want him. The players did not want him. The president wanted him. Milla scored four goals, all as a substitute, robbed Rene Higuita of the ball after the Colombian goalkeeper tried to dribble out of his own penalty area, and led Cameroon to the quarter-finals, making them the first African team ever to reach that stage of a World Cup. Their run directly led to FIFA giving Africa a third World Cup spot from 1994 onwards. Toto Schillaci grew up in poverty in Palermo, started his career at the amateur team of his local bus company, spent seven years in the Italian lower leagues with Messina, and had never scored a single goal for his national team before the tournament began. He was Italy's sixth-choice striker behind Vialli, Mancini, Carnevale, Serena, and Baggio. He came off the bench in the opening match against Austria and scored the winner. Then he scored against Czechoslovakia. Then Uruguay. Then the Republic of Ireland. Then Argentina in the semi-final. He won the Golden Boot with six goals and the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona. His wide-eyed celebration became the defining image of the summer. He said somebody up there had decided that Toto Schillaci would become the hero of all Italy. He scored just one more goal for his country after the World Cup and died of colon cancer in September 2024 at the age of fifty-nine. Paul Gascoigne was twenty-three years old and burst into tears on the pitch after being booked in the semi-final against West Germany in Turin, knowing he would miss the final if England got there. Gary Lineker turned to the bench and mouthed the words have a word with him. Bobby Robson told him afterwards that he had been one of the best players in the tournament, that he had his whole life ahead of him, and that this was just his first World Cup. It turned out to be his last. He never played in another. David Platt scored one of the greatest volleys in World Cup history in the final second of extra time against Belgium after Gascoigne floated a free kick into the area, a moment Platt called one of life's rare perfect moments. Stuart Pearce had his penalty saved and Chris Waddle blazed his over the bar as England went out on penalties in the semi-final. Maradona knocked Italy out of their own World Cup in Naples, the city where he played his club football for Napoli and where he was worshipped as a god, while banners around the stadium read Diego in our hearts, Italy in our chants. Argentina had earlier beaten Brazil in the round of sixteen after Maradona set up Caniggia for the winner, a match later overshadowed by Maradona's own televised confession that his staff had spiked Brazilian defender Branco's water bottle with tranquillisers at half-time. Frank Rijkaard spat at Rudi Voller twice in the West Germany versus Netherlands match and both were sent off. The Republic of Ireland reached the quarter-finals without winning a single match in ninety minutes under Jack Charlton. Costa Rica beat Scotland and Sweden on their World Cup debut. Argentina's first-choice goalkeeper Nery Pumpido broke his leg during the group stage and backup Sergio Goycochea became the penalty shootout hero of the knockout rounds. The final between West Germany and Argentina produced two red cards, one penalty, zero entertainment, and is still cited as one of the worst World Cup finals ever played. Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti were both sent off as Argentina self-destructed. Andreas Brehme scored from the spot with five minutes remaining and Franz Beckenbauer became only the second person in history to win the World Cup as both player and manager. It was the last match ever played by a team called West Germany before reunification three months later. Nessun Dorma, Pavarotti, and the summer that changed the rules of football forever. Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus, Franz Beckenbauer, Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudi Voller, Diego Maradona, Claudio Caniggia, Sergio Goycochea, Roger Milla, Francois Omam-Biyik, Rene Higuita, Carlos Valderrama, Salvatore Schillaci, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli, Walter Zenga, Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, David Platt, Peter Shilton, Chris Waddle, Stuart Pearce, Bobby Robson, Jack Charlton, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Gheorghe Hagi, Dragan Stojkovic.