1994 FIFA World Cup facts for kids
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | 17 June – 17 July |
| Teams | 24 |
| Venue(s) | 9 (in 9 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Brazil (4th title) |
| Runners-up |  Italy |
| Third place |  Sweden |
| Fourth place |  Bulgaria |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 52 |
| Goals scored | 141 (2.71 per match) |
| Attendance | 3,587,538 (68,991 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Hristo Stoichkov Oleg Salenko(6 goals) |
| Best player | Romário |
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was a huge international football tournament. It took place in the USA from June 17 to July 17, 1994. This exciting event brought together 24 national teams from all over the world. They competed to see who would be crowned the world champion.
In the end, Brazil won the championship. They beat Italy in a very tense final match. The game went to a penalty shootout, where Italy's star player, Roberto Baggio, famously missed the last penalty. This gave Brazil their fourth World Cup title.
Contents
Teams That Played
Many countries sent their best football teams to the 1994 World Cup. A total of 24 teams qualified for the tournament. They came from different parts of the world, making it a truly global competition.
Teams from Africa
Teams from Asia
Teams from Europe
Belgium- Bulgaria
Germany
Greece- Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Republic of Ireland
Romania- Russia
Spain- Sweden
Switzerland
Teams from North and Central America
Mexico
United States (the host country)
Teams from South America
How the Tournament Unfolded
The World Cup started with a group stage. The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four teams each. In this stage, each team played against the other teams in their group once. Teams earned points for wins and draws. The top teams from each group moved on to the next round. Some of the best third-place teams also advanced.
Group Stage Highlights
- Group A: Romania, Switzerland, and the United States all made it to the next round.
- Group B: Brazil and Sweden showed strong performances and advanced.
- Group C: Germany and Spain secured their spots in the knockout stage.
- Group D: Nigeria, Bulgaria, and Argentina all moved forward.
- Group E: This group was very close! Mexico, Italy, and the Republic of Ireland all finished with the same number of points. They all advanced.
- Group F: The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Belgium qualified for the next round.
Knockout Stage: The Road to the Final
After the group stage, the tournament became a knockout competition. If a team lost a match, they were out! This stage included the Round of 16, Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, and finally, the Final.
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| 3 July - Pasadena | ||||||||||||||
| Romania |
3 | |||||||||||||
| 10 July - Stanford | ||||||||||||||
 Argentina |
2 | |||||||||||||
| Romania |
2 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 3 July - Dallas | ||||||||||||||
| Sweden (pen.) |
2 (5) | |||||||||||||
 Saudi Arabia |
1 | |||||||||||||
| 13 July - Pasadena | ||||||||||||||
| Sweden |
3 | |||||||||||||
| Sweden |
0 | |||||||||||||
| 4 July - Orlando | ||||||||||||||
| Brazil |
1 | |||||||||||||
| Netherlands |
2 | |||||||||||||
| 9 July - Dallas | ||||||||||||||
| Republic of Ireland |
0 | |||||||||||||
| Netherlands |
2 | |||||||||||||
| 4 July - Stanford | ||||||||||||||
| Brazil |
3 | |||||||||||||
| Brazil |
1 | |||||||||||||
| 17 July - Pasadena | ||||||||||||||
| United States |
0 | |||||||||||||
| Brazil (pen.) |
0 (3) | |||||||||||||
| 5 July - East Rutherford | ||||||||||||||
| Italy |
0 (2)
|
|||||||||||||
| Mexico |
1 (1) | |||||||||||||
| 10 July - East Rutherford | ||||||||||||||
| Bulgaria (pen.) |
1 (3) | |||||||||||||
| Bulgaria |
2 | |||||||||||||
| 2 July - Chicago | ||||||||||||||
| Germany |
1 | |||||||||||||
| Germany |
3 | |||||||||||||
| 13 July - East Rutherford | ||||||||||||||
| Belgium |
2 | |||||||||||||
| Bulgaria |
1 | |||||||||||||
| 5 July - Foxborough | ||||||||||||||
| Italy |
2
|
Third place | ||||||||||||
 Nigeria |
1 | |||||||||||||
| 9 July - Foxborough | 16 July - Pasadena | |||||||||||||
| Italy (aet) |
2 | |||||||||||||
| Italy |
2 | Sweden |
4 | |||||||||||
| 2 July - Washington | ||||||||||||||
| Spain |
1
|
Bulgaria |
0 | |||||||||||
| Spain |
3 | |||||||||||||
 Switzerland |
0
|
|||||||||||||
The Final Match
The big final game was played on July 17, 1994, in Pasadena, California. It was a match between two football giants: Brazil and Italy. Both teams played very hard, but neither could score a goal during regular time or extra time. The score remained 0-0.
This meant the winner would be decided by a penalty shootout. Each team took turns shooting penalties. Brazil won the shootout 3-2 after Italy's Roberto Baggio missed his crucial penalty kick. This made Brazil the champions of the 1994 FIFA World Cup!
Images for kids
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Striker, the official mascot of the tournament.
-
Countries qualified for World Cup Country failed to qualify Countries that did not enter or were banned from the World Cup Country not a FIFA member
-
Lothar Matthäus scoring a penalty kick in Germany's quarter-final against Bulgaria at Giants Stadium on July 10. Bulgaria came back to win the game.
-
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Claudio Caniggia scoring for the second goal, Argentina 2 v 1 Nigeria at Foxboro Stadium
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Italy and Norway getting ready to play at Giants Stadium
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The large capacity stadiums enabled huge, enthusiastic crowds to attend the games, such as this one at the Giants Stadium quarter-final game.
See also
In Spanish: Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 1994 para niños
