1990 World Cup Italy

The 1990 Football World Cup, held in Italy, was won by West Germany, giving them a third title.  Franz Beckenbauer, the German manager, became only the second person to win the World Cup as a player (in 1974) and as manager.  It was also the last world cup that west Germany entered as by the next tournament East and West Germany had reunited. 

The competition format remained unchanged from 1986 with the 24 teams divided into six groups of four.  From these groups 16 teams would go through to the for the knockout competition.

Thus World Cup was noted for its generally defensive play and lack of goals - only 115 goals in 4920 minutes of play.  there were also 16 red cards.  Many teams played for penalties and both semi-finals were decided by penalty shoot-outs. 

Cameroon were the surprise package of the tournament, beating the holders Argentina in the first match and becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals where they were knocked out in extra time by England.

The final, played at the Olimpico stadium in Rome in front of over 73,000 spectators was a rematch of the previous world cup final between West Germany and Argentina.  this time West Germany won by the only goal, a penalty, of the match.  It was West Germany's third final in a row and Argentina became the first losing finalist not to score.  The Argentinean player Pedro Monzón was the first player to be sent off in a World Cup final, soon followed by his  team-mate Gustavo Abel Dezotti.

Top Scorer

6 Goals - Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)

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