FIFA World Cup History

Italy 1990 FIFA World Cup

Year: 1990

Participants: 24

Countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, England, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, United States, USSR, West Germany, Yugoslavia

Championship: West Germany 1, Argentina 0

Top goal scorer: Salvatore "Toto" Schilacci, Italy (6)

MVP: Salvatore "Toto" Schilacci, Italy

For anyone who likes to point out that there's no scoring in soccer, look no further than the 1990 World Cup. Win at all costs was replaced by a new philosophy: Try not to lose at all costs, and take your chances on penalty kicks. As a result, a meager 2.21 goals per game were scored -- the lowest-scoring Cup ever.

Defending champion Argentina got the first dose of what the brutal defensive play was all about when it was shocked by Cameroon 1-0 in the opening match in Milan. Cameroon turned out to be the Cinderella story of the tournament, winning its group and advancing to the quarterfinals before losing to England. Roger Milla, who was coaxed out of retirement before the tournament began, became the oldest player to score in the World Cup at age 38.

You want action? There wasn't much -- both semifinals were tied at 1 and had to be decided on penalty kicks. Argentina got past Italy, and West Germany -- in its last Cup before unifying with East Germany -- beat England.

The championship game put the rest of the tournament in a nice nutshell. There were two ejections -- the first time a red card had been given in a final -- Argentina had exactly one shot, and West Germany won 1-0 on a penalty kick in the 84th minute.

Despite the less-than-spectacular win, the World Cup victory put Germany in an elite group, joining Italy and Brazil as the only countries to win three World Cup titles.