Winners Italy
Teams 24
Host Spain
Teams in qualifiers 109
Notable absentees Netherlands, Mexico
Surprises Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand
Golden Boot Paolo Rossi (Italy) - 6
Stats A total of 146 goals were scored (2.81 per match); France (16) scored the most
Format Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second round, where they split into four groups of three. The winners of each group advanced to the semi-finals
Number of matches 52
Innovations
• A complete overhaul of the structure and an expansion to 24 teams in the finals to allow more teams from Africa and Asia
• Penalty shoot-outs to decide semi-final and final matches
Controversies
• In the game between France and Kuwait, the Kuwaitis protested about a goal, claiming they had stopped because of a whistle. Prince Fahid, the Kuwaiti FA president, walked onto the pitch to argue with the referee and threatened to withdraw his team. The referee reversed his decision, but France still won 4-1. The referee was suspended, and Fahid was fined US$14,000
• The format meant that England and Cameroon were knocked out despite not losing a match
• West Germany and Austria went into their last group game knowing a German win would mean both qualified for the next round and, to the disgust of the vociferous crowd, neither made any attempt to score after Germany took an early lead. Algeria, who had beaten West Germany in the opening game, were the real victims as they went out as a result
• In the semi-final, German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher was responsible for one of the game's most appalling fouls when he charged out his area and poleaxed France's Patrick Battiston. To the astonishment of players and spectators, the referee took no action and Schumacher showed not a jot of concern for the unconscious Battison, who was stretchered off with a damaged spine and missing teeth
Trivia
• Italy's captain, Dino Zoff, was 40 when he played in the final and remains the oldest man to receive a winner's medal
• France's Alain Giresse scored the first goal in a penalty shoot-out. France lost the semi-final to West Germany 4-5
• Hungarian substitute László Kiss scored a hat-trick in eight minutes in a record 10-1 rout of El Salvador
• Italy's Giampiero Marini was booked inside a minute in the game against Poland
• Northern Ireland's Norman Whiteside, at the age of 17 years and 42 days, became the youngest player to appear in the finals
• Algeria's captain, Salah Asad, was executed during a government crackdown on Islamic fundamentalists in 1992
• England's Bryan Robson scored against France after 27 seconds, a record at the time
• Peru's 67-year-old coach Elba de Pádua Lima, better known as Tim, had appeared in the World Cup 44 years earlier as a player for Brazil
• The total attendance figure of 2,109,723 was the first time it had topped two million
Source: FIFA, ESPN, AllSports & Getty