The 1994 Football World Cup Tournament was held from June 18 through July 17 at various venues throughout the United States. For match results and statistics, see Football World Cup 1994.
The opening match saw the defending champions Germany defeat Bolivia 1-0.
The World Cup early on saw very few upsets, while the Italians were the only favorites who were in serious trouble after the first round. They lost their first game to Ireland, 1-0, in New Jersey. In their second group match against Norway, italian goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off for a handball in the first half. They were forced to substitute their ace striker, Roberto Baggio, for the sent-off goalkeeper, and were reduced to ten men. Early in the second half, their sweeper, Franco Baresi, severely injured his knee, and was carried off. With nothing going well for Italy, midfielder Dino Baggio headed the ball in with less than 15 minutes left, and preserved their hopes of advancing to the next round.
Another team that was the center of attention in the first round was the host team, the USA. They drew their first game against a tough Switzerland team, and gave the Americans something to cheer about. Their next game was a game to remember. They miraculously beat the higher rated Colombians, 2-1, with a help of a crucial own goal by Andrés Escobar, clinching their first appearance in the 2nd round since the 1950 World Cup due to their victory. Escobar's own goal proved to be tragic: he was murdered 10 days after returning to Colombia. A 1-0 loss to Romania in their final group game entitled the USA to advance.
In the second round, Brazil and the USA met on July 4, U.S. Independence Day. In front of a home crowd the United States held on to a 0-0 deadlock for 70 minutes.Bebeto's goal fifteen minutes from time prevented the USA from achieving a famous Independence Day win. The second round also saw Romania face an Argentina with low morale, as Diego Maradona was banned from the tournament due to a positive drug test. After eleven minutes Romania scored with a free kick from Ilie Dumitrescu. Four minutes later Batistuta converted the penalty to make the scores level. Dumitrescu scored another goal after eighteen minutes. Romania went into the second half with a 2-1 lead. Balbo reduced the debt for argentina after a deadly blunder by the Romanian goal keeper. In the 58th minute Gheorghe Hagi put Romania into the lead with a long range shot in to the back of the net.
In the quarter final, Germany faced Bulgaria. Bulgaria had not won a game in a World Cup final. They won their first game in the first round, and defeated Mexico in the round of 16 to play the defending champions, Germany, in the quarter finals. Germany had also progressed following a 3-2 win over Belguim. The experienced German team were favorites win the match. Germany took the lead in the 50th minute, when Lothar Matthäus' scored from the penalty spot. With 15 minutes remianing, Hristo Stoichkov struck a free kick superbly into the lower corner, bringing the scores level. Two minutes later, Bulgaria took a 2-1 lead with a close range header from Yordan Lechkov . Bulgaria held on to win the game and send Germany out of the FIFA World Cup.
Perhaps the most influential figure in this tournment was Roberto Baggio. After a goalless preliminary round, he went into the second round under pressure to perform. With Italy 0-1 down against Nigeria, Baggio scored with a soft shot into the corner to equalise with only a minute left in the game, before going on to score the winner in extra time. The quarter finals were equally thrilling, with the "Divine Ponytail" scoring the winner with five minutes left against Spain.
After scoring twice against Bulgaria, Baggio pulled his hamstring in the semifinals, and was said to be unavailable for the final. He surprising started the match but was unable to find a way through the Brazilian defence. He was the fifth kicker of the penalty shootout in the finals, and missed, to see the Brazilians capture their fourth World Cup. Unfortunately it is for this moment that Baggio is most remembered, despite the facts that two Italians had already missed their spot kicks and Brazil would still have had a penalty to win the tournament had Baggio scored. It should also be recognised that he almost single-handedly took his side through the knockout stages, before the disappointment of the final.
The Golden Boot was shared by Stoichkov and Russian Oleg Salenko. Both scored six goals, with Salenko scoring a World Cup record five in one game against Cameroon.
The tournament was also marked by the first World Cup appearance of Russia, following the breakup of the USSR.
