1994 FIFA World Cup

Three nations bid for host duties: United States, Brazil, and Morocco.[6] The vote was held in Zurich on July 4, 1988, and only took one round with the United States bid receiving a little over half of the votes by the FIFA Executive Committee members.[6] FIFA hoped that by staging the world's most prestigious tournament there, it would lead to a growth of interest in the sport.[7]

An inspection committee also found that the proposed Brazilian stadiums were deficient, while the Moroccan bid relied on the construction of nine new stadiums. Conversely, all the proposed stadiums in the United States were already built and fully functioning; US Soccer spent $500 million preparing and organizing the tournament, far less than the billions other countries previously had spent and subsequently would spend on preparing for this tournament.[8] The U.S. bid was seen as the favorite and was prepared in response to losing the right to be the replacement host for the 1986 tournament following Colombia's withdrawal.[9]

One condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional soccer league – Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 and began operating in 1996.[10] There was some initial controversy[11] about awarding the World Cup to a country where soccer was not a nationally popular sport, and at the time, in 1988, the U.S. no longer had a professional league; the North American Soccer League, established in 1967, had folded in 1984 after attendance faded.[11] The success of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, particularly the soccer tournament that drew 1.4 million spectators throughout the event, also contributed to FIFA's decision.[12]

The United States had previously bid to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup, after Colombia withdrew as the host nation in November 1982 because of economic concerns. Despite a presentation led by former North American Soccer League players Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer, as well as former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the executive committee selected Mexico.[13] There were proposals by FIFA to introduce larger goals and breaks after every quarter instead of just at half-time in order to appease US television advertisers.[14][15][16] These proposals were met with resistance,[17] and ultimately rejected.

Striker, the official mascot of the tournament.

The official mascot of this World Cup was Striker, the World Cup Pup, a dog wearing a red, white and blue soccer uniform with a ball.[18] Striker was designed by the Warner Bros. animation team.[19] A dog was picked as the mascot because dogs are a common pet in the United States.[19]

Three teams: one African, one Asian, and one European, made their debuts at the 1994 tournament. Nigeria qualified from the African zone alongside Cameroon and Morocco as CAF was granted three spots as a result of the strong performances by African teams in 1990. In the Asian zone, Saudi Arabia qualified for the first time by topping the final round group ahead of South Korea as both edged out Japan, who was close to making its own World Cup debut, but was denied by Iraq in what became known as the "Agony of Doha". In the European zone, Greece made their first World Cup appearance after topping a group from which Russia also qualified, competing independently for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The defending champions West Germany were united with their East German counterparts, representing the unified Germany for the first time since the 1938 World Cup. Norway qualified for the first time since 1938, Bolivia for the first time since 1950 (and the last time as of 2022), and Switzerland for the first time since 1966. Norway's 56-year gap between appearances in the final tournament equaled Egypt's record in the previous tournament as the longest. Mexico had its first successful qualification campaign since 1978, failing to qualify in 1982, qualifying as hosts in 1986 and being banned for the Cachirules scandal in 1990.

The qualification campaigns of both Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were affected by political events. The nation of Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1993, completing its qualifying group under the name "Representation of Czechs and Slovaks" (RCS), but failed to qualify for the finals, having been edged out by Romania and Belgium in Group 4. Yugoslavia (which was supposed to play in Group 5) was suspended from international competition in 1992 as part of United Nations sanctions against the country as a result of the Yugoslav Wars. The sanctions were not lifted until 1994, by which time it was no longer possible for the team to qualify. Chile's suspension from the 1990 FIFA World Cup, following the forced interruption of their qualification game against Brazil, extended to the 1994 qualifiers as well.

This was the first World Cup since World War II in which none of the UK Home Nations of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales qualified (they withdrew their FIFA memberships between 1928 and 1946, during the first three tournaments), with England (finishing third behind Norway and Netherlands in Group 2) missing out after having finished fourth in the 1990 tournament, and Scotland (who finished fourth in Group 1) failing to qualify for the first time since 1970. France, who had been already designated as hosts of the 1998 tournament, also missed out following surprise home losses to Israel and Bulgaria. This was the second World Cup in a row for which France had failed to qualify, and the last one to date not to feature England, France, and Japan. Other notable absentees were 1990 Round of 16 participants Uruguay, UEFA Euro 1992 champions Denmark, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal and Hungary.

The following 24 teams, shown with their pre-tournament FIFA World Ranking from June 1994,[30] qualified for the final tournamentː

AFC (2)  Saudi Arabia (34)  South Korea (37) CAF (3)  Cameroon (24)  Morocco (28)  Nigeria (11) OFC (0) None qualified

CONCACAF (2)  Mexico (16)  United States (23) (hosts) CONMEBOL (4)  Argentina (8)  Brazil (3)  Bolivia (43)  Colombia (17)

UEFA (13)  Belgium (27)  Bulgaria (29)  Germany (1)  Greece (31)  Italy (4)  Netherlands (2)  Norway (6)  Republic of Ireland (14)  Romania (7)  Russia (19)  Spain (5)  Sweden (10)   Switzerland (12)

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

Teams were selected following usual FIFA rules with 22 players. Greece, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Spain were the only countries that had all their players coming from domestic teams, while the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria had no players from domestic teams. Saudi Arabia was the only team with no players from European teams.

The FIFA Organising Committee upheld the tradition to seed the hosts (United States) and holders (Germany), along with the other four teams ranked in the top five based on their results obtained in the last three FIFA World Cups. The newly introduced FIFA World Ranking, was not used as part of the calculated ranking for the seeding in this World Cup, as FIFA considered it to be too new.[31] Despite that it was not used in any way, for comparison purposes the teams' pre-tournament FIFA World ranking position from June 1994 are shown in parenthesis,[32] followed by the official and used ranking (OR) position determined by the results obtained in the last three world cups.

The six top-seeded teams, were allocated in pot 1 and would be drawn into the first position of the six groups playing in the group stage. The remaining 18 teams were allocated into three pots based on geographical sections, with the: six qualified teams from Africa and Americas in pot 2, the top-6 ranked European teams in pot 3, while pot 4 comprised the 7th-10th best qualified European teams along with the two qualified Asian teams.

The principle of the draw was that each of the six drawn groups would have one team drawn respectively from pot 1, 2, 3 and 4; while respecting the following geographical limitations:

1. At least two European teams from UEFA in all groups, with one group having three European teams.
2. United States and Mexico can not be drawn in the same group, due to the rule of only accepting maximum one CONCACAF team per group.
3. Brazil and Argentina can not be drawn with another South American team, due to the rule of only accepting maximum one CONMEBOL team per group.
4. As all qualified Asian teams from AFC were in the same pot 4, and all qualified African teams from CAF in the same pot 2, this automatically respected the rule of only allowing maximum one Asian team and maximum one African team per group, as part of the normal draw procedure - without needing to observe special restricting sub-rules for them.

• The draw took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center and was televised live on 19 December 1993 on ESPN in the United States & Eurosport in all Europe.[33]

Ahead of the draw, the FIFA Organising Committee had decided to allocate the top-seeded first group position A1 for the United States as the hosts, C1 for defending champions Germany, and E1 for the Italian team who had requested to play most of their group matches at the Giants Stadium in New York. The three other top seeded teams would be located at the first position of either group B/D/F, with the decision largely depending on the identity of the other drawn group members for the seeded teams. Therefore this last decision would only be made by a secret vote made by the FIFA Organising Committee a few minutes after all teams had been drawn for all groups, and the decision would only be announced as the last step of the televised draw event. To make this procedure possible, the six drawn groups would during the draw be given the colors green, orange, white, black, pink and blue; and the closing remarks at the event would then reveal the group letters represented by the colors. The six groups from A to F would play their group matches in the following nine cities:[34]

• Group A and B are playing in Detroit, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
• Group C and D are playing in Chicago, Dallas and Boston.
• Group E and F are playing in New York, Washington DC, and Orlando.

Procedure for the draw:[35]

1. Pot 1 was used to draw the six top-seeded teams into the first position of the six groups designated by the colors green, orange, white, black, pink and blue. Group letters behind each color would only be decided by a following secret FIFA Organising Committee vote, and only be revealed after the draw had been completed. Although the committee had already predetermined ahead of the draw that: the United States should play in group A, Germany should play in group C, and Italy should play in group E.[34]
2. Pot 2 was used to draw one team to each of the six colored groups, with the draw conducted in the color order from left to right (green, orange, white, black, pink, blue); while this order however at the same time had to respect the following restricted geographical rules:
   • Rule 1: First two drawn non South American teams shall irrespectively of the color order, first be drawn into the two groups led by a South American team, in order to avoid the possibility for these groups later to be drawn by a second South American team.
   • Rule 2: First drawn South American team or one of the last two African teams shall irrespectively of the color order, first be drawn into the group led by the CONCACAF team, the United States, in order to avoid the possibility for this group later to be drawn by the second CONCACAF team Mexico.
   • Rule 3: One of the two South American teams or one of the last two African teams shall irrespectively of the color order, first be drawn into the first available open group being led by a European team, in order to avoid the meeting of two South American teams in the same group.
   • Rule 4: Mexico can not be drawn together with the United States as they are both CONCACAF teams, so Mexico will be grouped with the first still open available group being led by a European or South American team, as per the color order.
3. Pot 3 was used to draw one European team to each of the six colored groups, with the draw conducted in the color order from left to right (green, orange, white, black, pink, blue).
4. Pot 4 was used to draw one European/Asian team to each of six colored groups, with the draw conducted in the color order from left to right (green, orange, white, black, pink, blue). However, in order to respect the geographical rule that five of the groups shall have two European teams - and the rule that three European teams is only allowed in one group, the color order will be skipped subject to these allocation rules:
   • Rule 1: All drawn Asian (AFC) teams would not be drawn into any of the three groups led by a top-seeded CONCACAF/CONMEBOL team (United States/Brazil/Argentina), but would instead only be allowed to join a group being led by a top-seeded European team.
   • Rule 2: All drawn European (UEFA) teams, shall first be drawn into the three groups led by a top-seeded CONCACAF/CONMEBOL team (United States/Brazil/Argentina), until the point of time when only European team(s) remain to be drawn from the last pot 4.
5. The exact group position number for the teams (2, 3 or 4) in each colored group, were also drawn immediately from six special group bowls, after each respective team had been drawn from pot 2, 3 and 4.
6. Group letters behind each color (green, orange, white, black, pink and blue) would finally be decided by a final secret FIFA Organising Committee vote, being announced as the last part of the televised event.

The draw was officiated by FIFA general-secretary Sepp Blatter. Teams were drawn by German legend Franz Beckenbauer, heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and comedian and actor Robin Williams. Numbers for placement in the group were drawn by actor Beau Bridges, Women's World Cup champion Michelle Akers, model Carol Alt, artist Peter Max, racecar driver Mario Andretti and Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics Mary Lou Retton.[36][37][35]

In each group, the teams will play three matches, one against each of the other teams. After completion of the group stage, the best two teams of each group as well as the four best ranked third places, will advance to round 16 in the knockout stage. This format was identical with the tournament structure being used in 1986 and 1990. Compared to all previous editions of the World Cup, a victory in the group stage will however now be rewarded with 3 points instead of the previously granted 2 points.

The opening ceremony of the World Cup was held on June 17 at Chicago's Soldier Field. The ceremony was emceed by Oprah Winfrey, who fell off the dais in introducing Diana Ross, who gave a musical performance. Ross was also supposed to kick a soccer ball into the goal from the penalty spot at the beginning of her performance, with the goal then splitting in two as part of a pre-orchestrated stunt. She kicked the ball wide to the left, missing the goal, but the goalposts were collapsed anyway in accordance with the stunt plans. In addition, Daryl Hall and Jon Secada also gave musical performances.[45] It was officially opened by then-President Bill Clinton.[46]

The Group A game between the United States and Switzerland was the first to take place indoors, played under the roof at the Pontiac Silverdome.

Following the tournament, Colombian defender Andrés Escobar was shot dead on his return to Colombia, after his own goal had contributed to his country's elimination.

Victories against Colombia and the United States (in front of a crowd of 93,869) were enough to see Romania through as group winners, despite a 4–1 hammering by Switzerland in between. The magnitude of that victory allowed Switzerland to move ahead of the United States on goal difference, although the hosts qualified for the second round as one of the best third-placed teams.

Switzerland's 4–1 victory over Romania came nearly 40 years to the date of Switzerland's last World Cup victory, also a 4–1 victory, on that occasion over Italy. The United States' 2–1 victory over Colombia was its first World Cup victory since June 29, 1950, when it upset England 1–0 in the 1950 World Cup.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Switzerland	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
3	United States (H)	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	Colombia	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3

June 18, 1994
United States	1–1	Switzerland	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac
Colombia	1–3	Romania	Rose Bowl, Pasadena
June 22, 1994
Romania	1–4	Switzerland	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac
United States	2–1	Colombia	Rose Bowl, Pasadena
June 26, 1994
Switzerland	0–2	Colombia	Stanford Stadium, Stanford
United States	0–1	Romania	Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Group B produced two of the four semi-finalists of this World Cup — Brazil and Sweden — and was also one of the two groups in which only two, rather than three, sides progressed to the second round. The match between the two eliminated teams, Cameroon and Russia, broke two World Cup records. Oleg Salenko of Russia became the first – and remains the only – man to score five goals in a single World Cup game as Russia won 6–1. The goals also ensured that Salenko finished the tournament joint-top scorer with six goals, having previously bagged one against Sweden. Cameroon left a mark too as Roger Milla, at the age of 42, became the oldest World Cup goalscorer of all time, as he grabbed his side's consolation goal in the game. The result was not enough to take Russia through following losses to Brazil and Sweden. Brazil beat Cameroon, and then confirmed the top spot with a draw to Sweden.

The Swedes also progressed, finishing in second place with five points. Sweden's 3–1 victory over Russia was the nation's first World Cup victory since July 3, 1974. Russia failed to progress to the second round for the second time, while Cameroon failed to repeat their surprise performance from the previous tournament.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Sweden	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5
3	Russia	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1	3
4	Cameroon	3	0	1	2	3	11	−8	1

June 19, 1994
Cameroon	2–2	Sweden	Rose Bowl, Pasadena
June 20, 1994
Brazil	2–0	Russia	Stanford Stadium, Stanford
June 24, 1994
Brazil	3–0	Cameroon	Stanford Stadium, Stanford
Sweden	3–1	Russia	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac
June 28, 1994
Russia	6–1	Cameroon	Stanford Stadium, Stanford
Brazil	1–1	Sweden	Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac

As was the case with Group B, Group C would only send two teams into the Round of 16 as Spain and defending champions Germany progressed to round two. Coming from two goals down with four minutes left to snatch a 2–2 draw against Spain, the South Koreans very nearly eclipsed that feat against Germany when they came from 3–0 down to lose narrowly 3–2. In spite of these comebacks, South Korea was held to a 0–0 draw against Bolivia in their other group game when a win would have seen them through. Spain's late implosion against the South Koreans effectively decided that it would be Germany who won the group and not them.

Germany, who defeated Bolivia 1–0 in the tournament's opening game, finished with seven points. Spain had to settle for second place despite leading in all three games.

Despite Bolivia finishing last in the group, Erwin Sanchez made team history after scoring the nation's first World Cup goal in a 3–1 loss to Spain. Prior to 1994, Bolivia had never scored in either of their previous appearances at the 1930 and 1950 World Cups.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Spain	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5
3	South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2
4	Bolivia	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

June 17, 1994
Germany	1–0	Bolivia	Soldier Field, Chicago
Spain	2–2	South Korea	Cotton Bowl, Dallas
June 21, 1994
Germany	1–1	Spain	Soldier Field, Chicago
June 23, 1994
South Korea	0–0	Bolivia	Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough
June 27, 1994
Bolivia	1–3	Spain	Soldier Field, Chicago
Germany	3–2	South Korea	Cotton Bowl, Dallas

Claudio Caniggia scoring for the second goal, Argentina 2 v 1 Nigeria at Foxboro Stadium

Tournament favorites Argentina led by Diego Maradona collected a maximum of six points from their opening two games after dominating Greece 4–0 in Foxboro with a Gabriel Batistuta hattrick before winning a close match against a formidable Nigeria with a 2–1 victory on the same field four days later; despite this Argentina finished third in the group. Nigeria had been very impressive on their World Cup debut, and despite the narrow loss to Argentina, had emerged as group winners following victories against Bulgaria and Greece, the latter in which Nigeria doubled its lead late on a goal from Daniel Amokachi – a goal that would allow Nigeria to top its group. Maradona only played with Argentina during their first two games, both in Foxborough (playing Greece and Nigeria and scoring his last ever World Cup goal against the former); he was thrown out of the tournament after testing positive for ephedrine.

Having qualified for the tournament through a last-gasp goal against France, Bulgaria surprised many people, as the nation had never even won a game at the World Cup finals prior to this tournament. Despite losing its opening game 3–0 to Nigeria, Bulgaria came back in style with a 4–0 win over Greece (who had suffered exactly the same fate five days earlier against Argentina), and a 2–0 win against Argentina saw them advance. Argentina had actually been winning the group going into injury time, while Bulgaria played the last 25 minutes with 10 men; however, a 91st-minute header from Nasko Sirakov meant that Argentina dropped two places and finished third. Nigeria won the group on goal difference. Bulgaria's victory over Argentina earned them second place.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Bulgaria	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6
3	Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6
4	Greece	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10	0

June 21, 1994
Argentina	4–0	Greece	Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough
Nigeria	3–0	Bulgaria	Cotton Bowl, Dallas
June 25, 1994
Argentina	2–1	Nigeria	Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough
June 26, 1994
Bulgaria	4–0	Greece	Soldier Field, Chicago
June 30, 1994
Argentina	0–2	Bulgaria	Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Greece	0–2	Nigeria	Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough

Italy and Norway getting ready to play at Giants Stadium

Group E remains the only group in World Cup history in which all four teams finished with the same points and same goal difference. It began at Giants Stadium where Ray Houghton's chip ensured a shock Irish victory over the then-three-time champions Italy by 1–0, as well as gaining a measure of revenge for the previous World Cup, in which Italy both hosted and eliminated Ireland at the quarter-final stage. The next day in Washington, Norway played its first World Cup game since 1938 and Kjetil Rekdal's goal five minutes from time proved decisive in an equally tense encounter as Norway beat Mexico.

In the second round of group play, Luis García's double had Mexico 2–0 up and in control of the game before a disagreement on the touchline resulted in fines for both Republic of Ireland's manager, Jack Charlton, and their striker John Aldridge. Aldridge was able to regain concentration in time to score six minutes from the end of the game to make it 2–1. Despite their loss, Aldridge's goal proved crucial to Ireland in the final group standings.

During the previous day at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Italy's World Cup hopes seemed to be diminishing fast as goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off with the game still at 0–0. Yet despite this, Italy was still able to salvage an important 1–0 victory. Norway would ultimately pay a price for their inability to take advantage of Pagliuca's dismissal. With the four teams level on points, the final two group games would each have to finish as draws for things to stay that way. Republic of Ireland made it through after a dreary 0–0 draw with Norway; midfielders Massaro and Bernal traded strikes as Italy and Mexico played to a 1–1 draw.

Those results meant that Mexico won the group on goals scored, with three in the group. With Ireland and Italy also progressing having finished with identical records, the Irish team qualified as second place as a result of their victory against the Italians. Norway's shortcomings in attack ultimately let them down, and they exited the tournament with only one goal.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mexico	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4	Advance to knockout stage
2	Republic of Ireland	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	Italy	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Norway	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4

June 18, 1994
Italy	0–1	Republic of Ireland	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
June 19, 1994
Norway	1–0	Mexico	RFK Stadium, Washington
June 23, 1994
Italy	1–0	Norway	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
June 24, 1994
Mexico	2–1	Republic of Ireland	Citrus Bowl, Orlando
June 28, 1994
Italy	1–1	Mexico	RFK Stadium, Washington
Republic of Ireland	0–0	Norway	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford

Just as happened to Argentina in Group D, Belgium endured the same fate in Group F. Despite winning both of its first two matches 1–0 against Morocco and neighbors Netherlands, Belgium finished third as, in an upset, it lost to tournament newcomers Saudi Arabia 1–0 in the third game. During that game, Saudi player Saaed Al-Owairian ran from his own half through a maze of Belgian players to score the game's only goal.

Saudi Arabia advanced through to the Round of 16 as well, having also defeated Morocco 2–1. The Netherlands endured a somewhat nervier experience. The opening 2–1 victory against Saudi Arabia was followed by the 1–0 loss against Belgium before another 2–1 victory against Morocco, with Bryan Roy scoring the winner a mere 12 minutes from time, saw the Dutch win the group having scored more goals than Belgium and beaten Saudi Arabia. Morocco, despite losing all three of their group games, did not leave without a fight, as each of their losses were by just a single goal, 1–0 to Belgium, 2–1 to Saudi Arabia, and 2–1 to the Netherlands.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Saudi Arabia	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	Belgium	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
4	Morocco	3	0	0	3	2	5	−3	0

June 19, 1994
Belgium	1–0	Morocco	Citrus Bowl, Orlando
June 20, 1994
Netherlands	2–1	Saudi Arabia	RFK Stadium, Washington
June 25, 1994
Saudi Arabia	2–1	Morocco	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Belgium	1–0	Netherlands	Citrus Bowl, Orlando
June 29, 1994
Belgium	0–1	Saudi Arabia	RFK Stadium, Washington
Morocco	1–2	Netherlands	Citrus Bowl, Orlando

Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals.[47] In total, 141 goals were scored by 81 players, with only one of them credited as an own goal.

6 goals

• Hristo Stoichkov
• Oleg Salenko

5 goals

• Romário
• Roberto Baggio
• Jürgen Klinsmann
• Kennet Andersson

4 goals

• Gabriel Batistuta
• Florin Răducioiu
• Martin Dahlin

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Own goals

• Andrés Escobar (against the United States)

The All-star team is a squad consisting of the eleven most impressive players at the 1994 World Cup, as selected by FIFA's Technical Study Group.

After the tournament, FIFA published a ranking of all teams that competed in the 1994 World Cup finals based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.[48]

R	Team	G	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
1	Brazil	B	7	5	2	0	11	3	+8	17
2	Italy	E	7	4	2	1	8	5	+3	14
3	Sweden	B	7	3	3	1	15	8	+7	12
4	Bulgaria	D	7	3	1	3	10	11	−1	10
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5	Germany	C	5	3	1	1	9	7	+2	10
6	Romania	A	5	3	1	1	10	9	+1	10
7	Netherlands	F	5	3	0	2	8	6	+2	9
8	Spain	C	5	2	2	1	10	6	+4	8
Eliminated in the round of 16
9	Nigeria	D	4	2	0	2	7	4	+3	6
10	Argentina	D	4	2	0	2	8	6	+2	6
11	Belgium	F	4	2	0	2	4	4	0	6
12	Saudi Arabia	F	4	2	0	2	5	6	−1	6
13	Mexico	E	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5
14	United States	A	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4
15	Switzerland	A	4	1	1	2	5	7	−2	4
16	Republic of Ireland	E	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2	4
Eliminated in the group stage
17	Norway	E	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
18	Russia	B	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1	3
19	Colombia	A	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
20	South Korea	C	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2
21	Bolivia	C	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1
22	Cameroon	B	3	0	1	2	3	11	−8	1
23	Morocco	F	3	0	0	3	2	5	−3	0
24	Greece	D	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10	0

• Total number of yellow cards: 235
• Average yellow cards per game: 4.52
• Total number of red cards: 15
• Average red cards per match: 0.29
• First yellow card of the tournament: Jürgen Kohler – Germany against Bolivia
• First red card of the tournament: Marco Etcheverry – Bolivia against Germany
• Fastest yellow card from kick off: 1 minute – Sergei Gorlukovich – Russia against Sweden
• Fastest yellow card after coming on as substitute: 2 minutes – Daniel Borimirov – Bulgaria against Greece (introduced in the 82nd minute)
• Latest yellow card in a game without extra time: 90 minutes – José Luis Caminero – Spain against Bolivia, Yuri Nikiforov – Russia against Cameroon, Mohamed Al-Deayea – Saudi Arabia against Morocco
• Latest yellow card in a game with extra time: 108 minutes – Basarab Panduru – Romania against Sweden
• Fastest dismissal from kick off: 21 minutes – Gianluca Pagliuca – Italy against Norway
• Fastest dismissal of a substitute: 3 minutes – Ion Vlădoiu – Romania against Switzerland (introduced in the 80th minute)
• Latest dismissal in a game without extra time: 89 minutes – Gustavo Quinteros – Bolivia against Germany
• Latest dismissal in a game with extra time: 101 minutes – Stefan Schwarz – Sweden against Romania
• Least time difference between two yellow cards given to the same player: 21 minutes – Fernando Clavijo – United States against Brazil (booked in the 64th minute and again in the 85th minute)
• Most yellow cards (team): 23 – Bulgaria
• Most red cards (team): 2 – Bolivia, Bulgaria, Italy, Sweden
• Fewest yellow cards (team): 5 – Cameroon
• Most yellow cards (player): 4 – Zlatko Yankov
• Most red cards (player): 1 – Fernando Clavijo, Luis Cristaldo, Marco Etcheverry, Luis García, Sergei Gorlukovich, Emil Kremenliev, Leonardo, Miguel Ángel Nadal, Gianluca Pagliuca, Stefan Schwarz, Rigobert Song, Jonas Thern, Tsanko Tsvetanov, Ion Vlădoiu, Gianfranco Zola
• Most yellow cards (match): 10 – Mexico vs Bulgaria
• Most red cards (match): 2 – Mexico vs Bulgaria
• Fewest yellow cards (match): 1 – Netherlands vs Republic of Ireland
• Most cards in one match: 10 yellow cards and 2 red cards – Mexico vs Bulgaria