USA 1994 World Cup Finals

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USA
USA by frank mckenna on Unsplash.

USA - Hosted the fifteenth World Cup, in 1994.

The Ball is Round Football Index: World Cup Finals: USA 1994.

USA Flag

The Americans put money before passion to bid for the 15th World Cup. Maybe the finals should have gone to Morocco, who would have been the first African nation to host the tournament.

Instead, it was the United States who were given the honour and publishers got to work on producing hardbacks to explain the game to the host nation; and hopefully turn a quick profit.

World Cup History - USA 1994

The World Cup (US 94) was a marketing treat for the already large enough sponsors, a money-making enterprise for the merchandisers (although they lost a little by producing England World Cup caps and shirts (before the team had even qualified) but what of soccer in the States after that?

A condition for the event to be staged in USA was that they form a Major League, to be inaugurated in 1995. There was already a large football following in the States, the game with a round ball that is kicked with the foot, but they were mostly Latinos and schoolkids.

Fans in America for the World Cup had to cover a great distance, at least once, in the first round group stage. Those with money flew, although they saw little of the land, while the more adventurous trickled around on Amtrak and Greyhound.

Once Team US had played a few games (notching up a draw against Switzerland and a win, now worth three points, against Colombia) to move onto the Second Round (for a match against Brazil on July 4th) most of the nation knew that they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.

While the United States could thank their lucky stars, for a (2:1) win over Colombia, Andres Escobar, the unlucky scorer of an own goal, was shot dead when he returned home. The Americans were stunned and thought the followers of this sport the craziest on the planet.

On the other hand, Brazil fans were drumming up plenty of support with their Samba beat, during their first round presence in San Francisco, that the date of America's Independence just added to the party atmosphere when the two teams met.

Nobody watching the evening fireworks, down at Fisherman's Wharf, expected the US to overcome Brazil but it would have been nice if Team US had made more of a game out of it.

Bebeto and Romario are a fearful duo and even with eight opponents constantly trying to block their telepathy they manage to break through to beat United States by a solitary goal.

What a shame that Brazil met Holland, in Dallas, in the quarter-finals. With 5 goals in the second half, the Cotton Bowl match was the stuff of legends; worthy of the final itself.

Instead, the Rose Bowl final was an anti-climax as Italy tried to hold Brazil and score on the break, like they did against Spain, but glamour boy Baggio didn't find the net; not even when the final ended (0:0 after extra-time) and he stepped up to take his penalty-kick. The ball flew high over the bar.

Brazil were crowned World Cup Champions, for a record fourth time, and Samba had found a new audience.

24 Countries Competed at USA 1994

Argentina Argentina
Group 4 (4:0) (2:1) (0:2); Second Round (2:3).

Belgium Belgium
Group 6 (1:0) (1:0) (0:1); Second Round (2:3).

Bolivia Bolivia
Group 3 (0:1) (0:0) (1:3).

Brazil Brazil
Group 2 (2:0) (3:0) (1:1); Second Round (1:0); Quarter-finals (3:2); Semi-finals (1:0); Winner (0:0 aet) (3:2 pens).

Bulgaria Bulgaria
Group 4 (0:3) (4:0) (2:0); Second Round (1:1 aet) (3:1 pens); Quarter-finals (2:1); Semi-finals (1:2); Third place (0:4).

Cameroon Cameroon
Group 2 (2:2) (0:3) (1:6).

Colombia Colombia
Group 1 (1:3) (1:2) (2:0).

Germany Germany
Group 3 (1:0) (1:1) (3:2); Second Round (3:2); Quarter-finals (1:2).

Greece Greece
Group 4 (0:4) (0:4) (0:2).

Holland Holland
Group 6 (2:1) (0:1) (2:1); Second Round (2:0); Quarter-finals (2:3).

Italy Italy
Group 5 (0:1) (1:0) (1:1); Second Round (2:1 aet); Quarter-finals (2:1); Semi-finals (2:1); Finalist (0:0 aet) (2:3 pens).

Mexico Mexico
Group 5 (0:1) (2:1) (1:1); Second Round(1:1 aet) (1:3 pens).

Morocco Morocco
Group 6 (0:1) (0:1) (1:2).

Nigeria Nigeria
Group 4 (3:0) (1:2) (2:0); Second Round (1:2 aet).

Norway Norway
Group 5 (1:0) (0:1) (0:0).

Ireland Republic of Ireland
Group 5 (1:0) (1:2) (0:0); Second Round (0:2).

Romania Romania
Group 1 (3:1) (1:4) (1:0); Second Round (3:2); Quarter-finals (2:2 aet) (4:5 pens).

Russia Russia
Group 2 (0:2) (1:3) (6:1).

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
Group 6 (1:2) (2:1) (1:0); Second Round (1:3).

South Korea South Korea
Group 3 (2:2) (0:0) (2:3).

Spain Spain
Group 3 (2:2) (1:1) (3:1); Second Round (3:0); Quarter-finals (1:2).

Sweden Sweden
Group 2 (2:2) (3:1) (1:1); Second Round (3:1); Quarter-finals (2:2 aet) (5:4 pens); Semi-finals (0:1); Third place (4:0).

Switzerland Switzerland
Group 1 (1:1) (4:1) (0:2); Second Round (0:3).

USA United States
Group 1 (1:1) (2:1) (0:1); Second Round (0:1).

First Round - Group Stage

Group 1

18th June
Detroit: United States vs Switzerland (1:1)
Los Angeles: Romania vs Colombia (3:1)

22nd June
Detroit: Switzerland vs Romania (4:1)
Los Angeles: United States vs Colombia (2:1)

26th June
Los Angeles: Romania vs United States (1:0)
San Francisco: Colombia vs Switzerland (2:0)

Romania, Switzerland and United States move to the 2nd Round.

Group 2

19th June
Los Angeles: Cameroon vs Sweden (2:2)

20th June
San Francisco: Brazil vs Russia (2:0)

24th June
Detroit: Sweden vs Russia (3:1)
San Francisco: Brazil vs Cameroon (3:0)

28th June
Detroit: Brazil vs Sweden (1:1)
San Francisco: Russia vs Cameroon (6:1)

Brazil and Sweden move to the 2nd Round.

Group 3

17th June
Chicago: Germany vs Bolivia (1:0)
Dallas: Spain vs South Korea (2:2)

21st June
Chicago: Germany vs Spain (1:1)

23rd June
Boston: South Korea vs Bolivia (0:0)

27th June
Chicago: Spain vs Bolivia (3:1)
Dallas: Germany vs South Korea (3:2)

Germany and Spain move to the 2nd Round.

Group 4

21st June
Boston: Argentina vs Greece (4:0)
Dallas: Nigeria vs Bulgaria (3:0)

25th June
Boston: Argentina vs Nigeria (2:1)

26th June
Chicago: Bulgaria vs Greece (4:0)

30th June
Boston: Nigeria vs Greece (2:0)
Dallas: Bulgaria vs Argentina (2:0)

Nigeria, Argentina and Bulgaria move to the 2nd Round.

Group 5

18th June
New York: Republic of Ireland vs Italy (1:0)

19th June
Washington: Norway vs Mexico (1:0)

23rd June
New York: Italy vs Norway (1:0)

24th June
Orlando: Mexico vs Republic of Ireland (2:1)

28th June
New York: Republic of Ireland vs Norway (0:0)
Washington: Italy vs Mexico (1:1)

Mexico, Italy and Republic of Ireland move to the 2nd Round.

Group 6

19th June
Orlando: Belgium vs Morocco (1:0)

20th June
Washington: Holland vs Saudi Arabia (2:1)

25th June
New York: Saudi Arabia vs Morocco (2:1)
Orlando: Belgium vs Holland (1:0)

29th June
Orlando: Holland vs Morocco (2:1)
Washington: Saudi Arabia vs Belgium (1:0)

Saudi Arabia, Holland and Belgium move to the 2nd Round.

Second Round - The Last 16

2nd July
Chicago: Germany vs Belgium (3:2)
Washington: Spain vs Switzerland (3:0)

3rd July
Dallas: Sweden vs Saudi Arabia (3:1)
Los Angeles: Romania vs Argentina (3:2)

4th July
Orlando: Holland vs Republic of Ireland (2:0)
San Francisco: Brazil vs United States (1:0)

5th July
Boston: Italy vs Nigeria (2:1 aet)
New York: Bulgaria vs Mexico (1:1 aet) (3:1 pens)

Quarter-Finals - 9th/10th July, 1994

9th July
Boston: Italy vs Spain (2:1)

Dallas: Brazil vs Holland (3:2)

10th July
New York: Bulgaria vs Germany (2:1)

San Francisco: Sweden vs Romania (2:2 aet) (5:4 pens)

Semi-Finals - 13th July, 1994

Los Angeles: Brazil vs Sweden (1:0)

New York: Italy vs Bulgaria (2:1)

Third Place - 16th July, 1994

Los Angeles: Sweden vs Bulgaria (4:0)

1994 World Cup Final
17th July:
Brazil vs Italy (0:0 aet) (3:2 pens)
Los Angeles.

Appearances:
How many appearances each country has made in the World Cup Finals.

World Cup Finals

Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2) on July 30th, 1930.

Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy for the home fans.

France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.

Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.

Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.

Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.

Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.

England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.

W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.

Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany, they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.

Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.

Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.

Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.

USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.

France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.

Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.

Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the semi-finals.

South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.

Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.

Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.

Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.

United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of Morocco.

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