Football World Cup 1994

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 {{Wc|2006}} is less than 3.5 million.

Related Topics:
1994 - Football World Cup - USA - Brazil - Italy - Penalty kicks - FIFA - 1988 - 1950 - 1998 - 2010

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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.

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

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