world cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998.
world cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998.
when did world cup expand to 32 teams?
1998
the 1994 fifa world cup was the 15th edition of the fifa world cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. it was hosted by the united states and took place from 17 june to 17 july 1994 at nine venues across the country. the united states was chosen as the host by fifa on 4 july 1988. despite the host nation's lack of soccer tradition, the tournament was the most financially successful in world cup history; aided by the high-capacity stadiums in the united states, it broke the world cup average attendance record with more than 69,000 spectators per game, a mark that still stands. the total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the final tournament remains the highest in world cup history, despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams (and from 52 to 64 games), which was first introduced at the 1998 world cup and is the current format.
1994 fifa world cup
a total of 35 concacaf teams entered the qualification. mexico, the united states, and costa rica qualified for the world cup. during the world cup the results were mixed, losing to brazil (tournament champion) 5–2 (only team to score 2 goals against brazil at this world cup), tying with turkey (third in the championship) 1–1 and soundly beating the selection of china 2–0. this tournament it was in 3rd place in the group behind turkey on goal difference. the team finished 19 out of the 32 teams. mexico reached the finals and was placed in group g alongside italy, croatia, and ecuador. mexico opened its participation with a 1–0 win over croatia. in the second match, mexico earned a 2–1 win over ecuador with goals from jared borgetti and gerardo torrado. mexico then achieved a 1–1 draw against italy thanks to a goal from borgetti that was regarded as one of the best of the tournament. the team reached the knockout stage after a 1–1–1 record in the group stage. it started with a surprising 3–2 win over portugal, followed by a 1–1 tie with co-host and eventual fourth-place finisher, south korea. it then lost its third and final match 1–3 to poland but still qualified for the second round when park ji-sung of south korea stunned portugal with the eventual game-winning goal. this set the stage for a second round face-off with familiar continental rivals mexico. although the teams had played many times in both friendlies and in qualifying, they had never met in the world cup. the u.s. would win the game 2–0. brian mcbride opened the scoring early in the match and landon donovan scored a second goal from a header off an eddie lewis cross. mexico finished 11 out of the 32 teams. united states advanced to the quarterfinals, where they met germany. the team lost 1–0; after being denied a penalty when torsten frings handled the ball to prevent a gregg berhalter goal. at the ranking remained the 8 place.
north, central american and caribbean nations at the fifa world cup