From Wiki: The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Mexico in 1986). Teams representing 116 national football associations entered and qualification began in April 1988. 22 teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy and defending champions Argentina.
The tournament was won by West Germany, for the third time. They beat Argentina 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, a rematch of the previous final four years earlier. Italy finished third and England fourth, after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts. This was the last tournament to feature a team from West Germany, with the country being reunified with East Germany a few months later in October, as well as teams from the Eastern Bloc prior to the end of the Cold War in 1991, as the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia teams made last appearances. Costa Rica, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates made their first appearances in the finals. As of 2022, this was the last time the United Arab Emirates qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico.
The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups in terms of the games.[1][2][3][4] It generated an average 2.2 goals per game - a record low that still stands[5] - and a then-record 16 red cards, including the first ever dismissal in a final. The tournament also had a significant lasting influence on the game as a whole. In England, the team's success in this tournament led to the resurgence of the domestic top-flight, which had suffered from violence on the pitch and hooliganism by spectators throughout the 1980s.[6] It saw the introduction of the pre-match Fair Play Flag (then inscribed with "Fair Play Please") to encourage fair play. Overly defensive tactics led to the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992 and three points for a win instead of two, both of which have encouraged attacking play, increasing spectator interest in the sport. The tournament also produced some of the World Cup's best remembered moments and stories, including the emergence of African nations, in addition to what has become the World Cup soundtrack: "Nessun dorma".[6]
The 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers over the course of the tournament.[7] This was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japan's NHK.[8] The huge success of the broadcasting model has also had a lasting impact on the sport.[6] At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, but was bettered by the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.[9]
1 GK Peter Shilton 18 September 1949 (aged 40) 118 England Derby County
2 DF Gary Stevens 27 March 1963 (aged 27) 39 Scotland Rangers
3 DF Stuart Pearce 24 April 1962 (aged 28) 24 England Nottingham Forest
4 MF Neil Webb 30 July 1963 (aged 26) 19 England Manchester United
5 DF Des Walker 26 November 1965 (aged 24) 18 England Nottingham Forest
6 DF Terry Butcher 28 December 1958 (aged 31) 72 Scotland Rangers
7 MF Bryan Robson (c) 11 January 1957 (aged 33) 85 England Manchester United
8 MF Chris Waddle 14 December 1960 (aged 29) 52 France Marseille
9 FW Peter Beardsley 18 January 1961 (aged 29) 40 England Liverpool
10 FW Gary Lineker 30 November 1960 (aged 29) 51 England Tottenham Hotspur
11 MF John Barnes 7 November 1963 (aged 26) 53 England Liverpool
12 DF Paul Parker 4 April 1964 (aged 26) 5 England Queens Park Rangers
13 GK Chris Woods 14 November 1959 (aged 30) 16 Scotland Rangers
14 DF Mark Wright 1 August 1963 (aged 26) 24 England Derby County
15 DF Tony Dorigo 31 December 1965 (aged 24) 3 England Chelsea
16 MF Steve McMahon 20 August 1961 (aged 28) 12 England Liverpool
17 MF David Platt 10 June 1966 (aged 23) 5 England Aston Villa
18 MF Steve Hodge 25 October 1962 (aged 27) 22 England Nottingham Forest
19 MF Paul Gascoigne 27 May 1967 (aged 23) 11 England Tottenham Hotspur
20 MF Trevor Steven 21 September 1963 (aged 26) 26 Scotland Rangers
21 FW Steve Bull 28 March 1965 (aged 25) 7 England Wolverhampton Wanderers
22 GK David Seaman* 19 September 1963 (aged 26) 3 England Queens Park Rangers