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The 1994 Football World Cup was held in the USA. It was won by Brazil who beat Italy 3-2 on penalties, after the game and extra time ended 0-0.
The opening match saw the defending champions Germany beat Bolivia by the slightest margin, 1-0.
The World Cup early on saw very few upsets, while the Italians were the only favorites who were in serious trouble after the first round. They lost their first game to Ireland, 1-0, in New York. In their second game against Norway, their goalkeeper, Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off for handball in the first half. They were forced to substitute their ace striker, Roberto Baggio, for the sent off goalkeeper, and spent the rest of the game with ten men. Early in the second half, their sweeper, Franco Baresi severely injured his knee, and was carried off. With nothing going well for Italy, the tall midfielder, Dino Baggio headed the ball in with less than 15 minutes left, and preserved their hopes of advancing to the next round.
Another team that was the center of attention in the first round was the host team, the USA. They drew their first game against a tough Switzerland team, and gave the Americans something to cheer about. Their next game was a game to remember. They miraculously beat the higher rated Colombians, 2-1, with a help of a crucial own goal by Andres Escobar, clinching their first appearance in the 2nd round since the 1950 World Cup due to their victory. Escobar's own goal proved to be tragic: he was murdered 10 days after returning to Colombia.
In the second round, Brazil and the USA met on the 4th of July. With the whole country behind them, the USA team survived the first 70 minutes without a Brazilian goal, when the undefeated Brazilians struck with a counter attack which was finished off by Bebeto.
In the quarter final, Bulgaria surprised the world. Prior to this World Cup, Bulgaria had not won a World Cup game. They won their first game in the first round, and defeated Mexico in the best of 16 to play the defending champions, Germany, in the quarter finals. The experienced Germans were expected to easily win this match. This belief became even stronger, when Lothar Matthäus' penalty kick gave the Germans the lead in the 50th minute. Bulgaria was not successful at getting many goal scoring opportunities, but a chance came, with 15 minutes left. A free kick, 20 yards out was awarded to Bulgaria and Hristo Stoichkov, their best player, struck it superbly into the lower corner, bringing the scores level. Five minutes after the free kick, Bulgaria's midfielder Yordan Lechkov slipped through the stunned German defense and headed in the winning goal.
A disappointing figure of this tournment was Roberto Baggio. He was goalless in the preliminary round, and he didn't come close to scoring in the best of 16 match against Nigeria until the last minute of the game. With Italy 0-1 down, Baggio scored with a soft shot into the corner, with only a minute left in the game. They went on to win that game in extra time, and the quarter finals were equally thrilling. Roberto Baggio scored the winner with 5 minutes left against Spain.
Baggio pulled his hamstring in the semi finals, and was said to be unavailable for the finals but, to everyone's surprise, appeared.
He was the fifth kicker of the penalty shoot out in the finals, and missed, to see the Brazilians capture their 4th World Cup.
The tournament was the first World Cup played in North America.
Greece and Saudi Arabia played in the World Cup for the first time: there were also a record three teams representing Africa.
The USA-Switzerland match in the Pontiac Silverdome was the first to be played indoors in World Cup history: grass had to be shipped in at great expense from California.
Brazil became the first country to win the World Cup four times.
| FIFA World Cup (Men) |
| Uruguay 1930 | Italy 1934 | France 1938 | Brazil 1950 | Switzerland 1954 | Sweden 1958 | Chile 1962 | England 1966 | Mexico 1970 | West Germany 1974 | Argentina 1978 | Spain 1982 | Mexico 1986 | Italy 1990 | USA 1994 | France 1998 | Korea/Japan 2002 | Germany 2006 | 2010 |
| FIFA World Cup (Women) |
| China 1991 | Sweden 1995 | USA 1999 | USA 2003 | China 2007 |
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 Football Drill Book | ||||
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 Offensive Football Strategies |
 Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream | ||||
 Wooden |
