1990 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
The quarter-finals started badly as Westmead Lodge was knocked over; this was followed by Druids Johno catching Slippy Blue to win heat two with Shanavulin Bingo and Slippys Quest taking the remaining quarter-finals. Prince Edward watched Druids Johno win his semifinal at odds on from outsiders Burnt Oak Champ and Slippy Blue before the second decider ended with Galtymore Lad beating Fires of War and Fair Hill Boy.


1990 English Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Patsy Byrne now a trainer in his own right after having previous finalists Easy Prince and Stouke Whisper as an owner had brought Irishman Pa Fitzgerald to run his kennel and the pair trained Druids Johno, the odds on favourite for the Derby final. As the traps rose Slippy Blue trained by Kenny Linzell and owned by Eileen Fenn went into an early lead and maintained it to the finish. The blue dog had been backed ante post at 100-1 and 20-1 on course during the first show of the final. Druids Johno finished runner-up.


1990 English National Badminton Championships
The 1990 English National Badminton Championships were held in Crawley, from 18-19 December, 1989. The event was sponsored by Oracle UK and was held in the December 1989 instead of early 1990 to avoid a clash with the 1990 Commonwealth Games.


1990 English cricket season
The 1990 English cricket season was the 91st in which the County Championship had been an official competition. The size of the seam on the cricket ball had been reduced markedly from 1989, and along with dry conditions and the extension of four-day cricket this enabled batsmen to make large scores and Graham Gooch became one of a handful of players to average over 100 in a first-class season. The County Championship was won by Middlesex. England defeated both New Zealand and India 1-0 in respective Test series.


1990 English cricket season, Other tours, Zimbabwe tour
The Zimbabwe national cricket team made a short tour of England in May, playing two limited overs and three first-class matches against county opposition.


1990 Epsom Derby
The 1990 Epsom Derby was a horse race which took place at Epsom Downs on Wednesday 6 June 1990. It was the 211th running of the Derby, and it was won by Quest for Fame. The winner was ridden by Pat Eddery and trained by Roger Charlton. The pre-race favourite Razeen finished fourteenth.


1990 Epsom Derby, Full result
* The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter. hd = head; nk = neck.† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.


1990 Epsom Derby, Form analysis, Two-year-old races
Notable runs by the future Derby participants as two-year-olds in 1989.


1990 Epsom Derby, Form analysis, The road to Epsom
Early-season appearances in 1990 and trial races prior to running in the Derby.


1990 Epsom Derby, Form analysis, Subsequent Group 1 wins
Group 1 / Grade I victories after running in the Derby.


1990 Epsom Derby, Subsequent breeding careers, Other Stallions
Blue Stag (2nd) - Exported to BrazilKaheel (4th) - Exported to West IndiesDuke of Paducah (6th) - Exported to AmericaMissionary Ridge (10th) - Exported to AmericaDigression (11th) - Exported to AmericaRazeen (14th) - Exported to IndiaRiver God (16th) - Minor jumps winnerAromatic (17th) - Exported to America


1990 Eravur massacre
The 1990 Eravur massacre was a massacre of Sri Lankan Muslims in Eravur by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE denied its involvement, but eyewitnesses and observers claim it was an LTTE massacre. The casualty figure is unclear, ranging from 116 - 173.


1990 Eravur massacre, Background
Following the breakdown of the June 1990 peace talks, Tamil-Muslim relations in the Eastern Province deteriorated rapidly. Many Muslims in the East took a pro-army stance in the war. Some acted as informants for the army, identifying LTTE hideouts and LTTE supporters. Beginning in July, there were a number of massacres of Muslims in the East, generally believed to have been perpetrated by the LTTE. Following calls by Muslim leaders for protection, the government created Muslim home guard units. A tit-for-tat situation emerged when home guards would attack Tamil villagers in response to attacks on Muslims.


1990 Eravur massacre, Background
Nine days before this massacre, the LTTE massacred 147 Muslim men and boys in Kattankudy. Two days after, there was a Muslim attack on a Tamil village in retaliation, killing 33 Tamils. On 10 August Defense Minister Ranjan Wijeratne announced that 100 Muslim youths had been inducted into Sri Lankan army's volunteer service. Not long before the attack, eight Tamils had been killed in the Eravur hospital by unknown armed men.


1990 Eravur massacre, Background
Some believe the Eravur massacre was in retaliation for the killing of the 33 Tamil villagers; others point to the induction of the Muslims youths into the volunteer force as the LTTE's motive.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
According to a survivor of the Eravur massacre, Tamils in the Eravur area had been advised to leave the area hours before the attack.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
On the evening of 11 August 1990, about 30 or 40 LTTE militants split up into three groups in five villages in the Eravur area. They broke into the homes of Muslims of Eravur, dragged them into the street, and then murdered them. After spending 90 minutes in Eravur, they moved to Saddam Hussein village where they engaged in more massacring. The other attacked villages included Surattayankuda, Michnagar, Meerakerni, and Punnakuda. In one case, the LTTE militants slit a pregnant Muslim woman's stomach and then stabbed the unborn baby.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
A Muslim intellectual from Eravur, whose family once had good relations with the LTTE, recounted his family's experience and his perceptions on LTTE motives for the attacks:


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
I will give you incontrovertible proof that it was the LTTE that was responsible for the massacre in my village on 12th August 1990. There were firing noises and those at home thought that the LTTE and the army were fighting. Everyone gathered at my cousin's house. LTTE men then came to my cousin's and called him by name. He went out thinking they were tired and wanted water. They were the very persons who had come home and collected food packets from us during Ramazan.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
Those who survived can swear to this, though their names are not known with certainty. The others were then dragged out, including the children. Everyone was asked to face the wall. Realising what was coming my cousin, who was a Tamil poet, went down on his knees and pleaded. When the Tigers opened fire he died on his knees. My father and mother and two elder sisters were among those killed. The second of my elder sisters died shielding my eldest sister's daughter and son. The daughter was killed while the son escaped. All were killed except the boy mentioned, my uncle and my 19 year old younger sister. They fell, injured by riochettring bullets. Among the 13 members of my family killed were 7 children - one of them just 4 months and another a year.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
Why did the LTTE  do this to my family? I am convinced that they hoped that by killing a family with LTTE connections, the blame would fall on the army. In this they miscalculated and failed. The LTTE's intention is to enslave the Muslims. Eravur has only recently started producing intellectuals. Why do you think the LTTE killed our cluster principal, Dawood? They want to get rid of educated Muslims. There is no prospect of peace between the Muslims and the LTTE.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
Some survivors claimed that a few of the assailants were speaking in Sinhala, casting doubt on the LTTE's involvement in the attack. However, others stated that the Sinhala was spoken haltingly, and that the Sinhala speakers switched to Tamil. Another survivor claimed that he saw LTTE badges on the attackers.


1990 Eravur massacre, Incident
According to the government's accounting, the breakdown of Muslim fatalities was as follows: 115 men, 27 women, and 31 children.


1990 Eravur massacre, Response, Sri Lankan Government
The army arrived in Eravur on the morning of 12 August after the massacre had taken place. Brigadier A. M. U. Seneviratne claimed that villagers had delayed in informing the army because they were afraid of travelling in the night while the LTTE was still active. Muslim leaders were flown to Eravur from Colombo soon after. In response to the August massacres as a whole, the government formed Muslim home guard units in late August 1990.


1990 Eravur massacre, Response, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The LTTE denied its involvement in the massacre, claiming that it was a government effort to divide Tamils and Muslims. Lawrence Thilakar, an LTTE leader in London, stated, "Why should we attack Muslims? We need the fullest cooperation of the Muslim people, who are also suppressed at the hands of the Government."


1990 Eravur massacre, Response, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
The SLMC issued a statement saying "the massacre of Eravur Muslims is raising the doubt whether the LTTE is going ahead with its barbaric attacks on the Muslims with the connivance of the government", referring to the slow response of the government to the massacre.


1990 Eravur massacre, Aftermath
Muslims in Eravur requested firearms to defend themselves from future LTTE attacks. Reprisals against Tamils rapidly ensued. On the morning of 12 August a Muslim mob killed 37 Tamils at a refugee camp. Then, on 14 August a Muslim mob attacked Chenkalady and Kudurippu with knives and axes. 85 Tamil villagers were killed and about 100 were injured. Several houses were also burnt down. Many Muslim members of the LTTE deserted after learning about the massacre. They surrendered to the army and were released after.


1990 Eravur massacre, Aftermath
Several of those who did not surrender were picked up by the army and later killed. Certain Muslims engaged in a crackdown on Muslims who had been part of the Tamil militant groups, expelling, beating, or killing them. This massacre, along with other attacks on Muslims in the east, led to Muslims fleeing predominantly Tamil areas and resettling in Muslim areas along the east coast. Rural Muslims abandoned paddy lands out of fear of being attacked by the LTTE. The lands remained inaccessible for the original Muslim owners, creating tension between Tamils and Muslims. The Muslim Information Centre claimed that at least 63,000 acres were lost in the Eastern Province due to the violence of 1990. On 20 September, 31 Tamil Christians were killed in Savukaddy by Muslim militias allied with the state in what was allegedly a revenge attack for the Eravur massacre.


1990 Espirito Santo Trophy
The 1990 Espirito Santo Trophy took place 18–21 October at Russley Golf Club in Christchurch, New Zealand.


1990 Espirito Santo Trophy
It was the 14th women's golf World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event with 26 team entries, each with three players. The best two scores for each round counted towards the team total.


1990 Espirito Santo Trophy
The United States team won the Trophy, defending their title from two years ago and earning the title for the 11th time, beating the hosting country team New Zealand by 12 strokes. New Zealand earned the silver medal while the combined team of Great Britain & Ireland took the bronze on third place another eight strokes back.


1990 Espirito Santo Trophy, Teams
26 teams entered the event and completed the competition. Each team had three players.


1990 Espirito Santo Trophy, Individual leaders
There was no official recognition for the lowest individual scores.


1990 Estonian SSR Football Championship
The 1990 Estonian SSR Football Championship was won by TVMK. Fosforiit Tallinn and Sport Tallinn played in 1990 Baltic League.


1990 Estonian Supreme Soviet election
Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Estonian SSR on 18 March 1990, the first free parliamentary election in Estonia since 1932. A total of 105 deputies were elected, of which four were from military districts. Altogether 392 candidates ran for seats in the Soviet. The opposition pro-independence Popular Front won the plurality of the seats.


1990 Estonian Supreme Soviet election
The anti-independence "Joint Council of Work Collectives", representing mostly the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia, as well as the reformed communists, who favored independence but close relations with the USSR and were supported by Indrek Toome, who was running under the Free Estonia banner, both gained around 25 seats. During its first session, the new Supreme Soviet elected the former Communist Party member Arnold Rüütel as its chairman, allowing him to stay as the nominal leader of Estonia (real powers mostly lay with the prime minister).


1990 Estonian Supreme Soviet election
The elected parliament was responsible for some of the most important decisions in the modern Estonian history, such as the declaration of a period of restoring independence from the Soviet Union on 30 March 1990, adopted by a vote of 73 for to 0 against, with 27 MPs boycotting the vote. It also adopted the new Constitution of the Republic of Estonia.


1990 Estonian Supreme Soviet election
Voting was held on the same day as an election in the Latvian SSR.


1990 Estonian Supreme Soviet election, Electoral system
Members of the Supreme Soviet were elected in 42 single-member or multi-member constituencies by single transferable vote.


1990 Estoril Open
The 1990 Estoril Open was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was the first edition of the event Estoril Open for the men (the 2nd for the women), and was part of the ATP World Series of the 1990 ATP Tour. It took place at the Estoril Court Central, in Oeiras, Portugal, from 2 April through 8 April 1990 for the men's tournament and from 16 July through 22 July 1990 for the women's tournament. Emilio Sánchez and Federica Bonsignori won the singles titles.


1990 Estoril Open, Finals, Men's Doubles
Sergio Casal /  Emilio Sánchez defeated  Omar Camporese /  Paolo Canè 7–5, 4–6, 7–5


1990 Estoril Open, Finals, Women's Doubles
Sandra Cecchini /  Patricia Tarabini defeated  Carin Bakkum /  Nicole Muns-Jagerman 1–6, 6–2, 6–3


1990 Estoril Open – Men's Doubles
Sergio Casal and Emilio Sánchez won in the final 7–5, 4–6, 7–5, against Omar Camporese and Paolo Canè.


1990 Estoril Open – Men's Singles
Emilio Sánchez won in the final 6–3, 6–1, defeating Franco Davín.


1990 Eurocard Classics
The 1990 Eurocard Classics (known as such in 1990 for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 1st edition of the event known that year as the Eurocard Classics (previously held as the Stuttgart Classic exhibition event in 1988 and 1989), and was part of the ATP Championship Series, double-week events of the 1990 ATP Tour, running concurrently with the 1990 Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor. It took place at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, West Germany, from 19 February until 25 February 1990. Second-seeded Boris Becker won the singles title.


1990 Eurocard Classics, Finals, Doubles
Guy Forget /  Jakob Hlasek defeated  Michael Mortensen /  Tom Nijssen, 6–3, 6–2


1990 Eurocard Classics – Doubles
It was the first edition of the Eurocard Classics. Guy Forget and Jakob Hlasek won the inaugural doubles title, defeating Michael Mortensen and Tom Nijssen 6–3, 6–2 in the final.


1990 Eurocard Classics – Singles
It was the first edition of the Eurocard Classics. Boris Becker won the inaugural singles title, defeating Ivan Lendl 6–2, 6–2 in the final.


1990 European Athletics Championships
The 15th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 August to 2 September 1990 in Split, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. The host stadium was Stadion Poljud.


1990 European Athletics Championships
It was the last participation of East Germany (which was already scheduled to be merged with the Federal Republic), the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia,  and SFR Yugoslavia.


1990 European Athletics Championships, Men's results, Field
†: In long jump, bronze medalist Borut Bilač from Yugoslavia was initially disqualified for a suspected infringement of IAAF doping rules, but was later cleared of the charges and reinstated. ‡: In shot put, Vyacheslav Lykho from the Soviet Union ranked initially 3rd (20.81m), but was disqualified for infringement of IAAF doping rules.


1990 European Athletics Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 914 athletes from 33 countries participated in the event, 39 athletes less than the official number of 952 as published.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 10,000 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 10,000 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia. The final was held at Stadion Poljud on 27 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 10,000 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 25 athletes from 16 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 100 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27 and 28 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 31 athletes from 16 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 110 metres hurdles
These are the official results of the Men's 110 metres hurdles event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 30 and 31 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 110 metres hurdles, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 17 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 1500 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 30 August and 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres, Heats
†: Peter Elliott from the United Kingdom fell after having been pushed by East German Hauke Fuhlbrügge and did not finish the race. The East German was disqualified. After protests of the British officials, Elliott was admitted to run in the final. The decision was a  precedent case and not without controversy.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 27 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 20 kilometres walk
These are the official results of the Men's 20 km walk event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held on 28 August 1990. There were a total number of 22 athletes, who finished the race.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 20 kilometres walk, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 16 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 200 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 200 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 29 and 30 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 200 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 20 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase
These are the official results of the Men's 3,000 metres Steeplechase event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 28 and 30 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 22 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay
These are the official results of the Men's 4x100 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 31 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 36 athletes from 9 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
These are the official results of the Men's 4x400 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 31 August and 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 46 athletes from 9 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 400 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 28, 29, and 30 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 22 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres hurdles
These are the official results of the Men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27, 28, and 29 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres hurdles, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 17 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 50 kilometres walk
These are the official results of the Men's 50 km walk event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held on 31 August 1990. There were a total number of fifteen athletes, who finished the race.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 50 kilometres walk, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 31 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 5,000 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 30 August and 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres, Results, Final
1 SeptemberItaly's Salvatore Antibo, who was the strongest pre-race favourite to win also this final, having taken the 10,000-metre European title with a solo run, fell at the start, and therefore had to run faster than the other runners for the first 700 metres, in order to catch them. Portugal's Domingos Castro first led the race, but soon thereafter France's Cyrille Laventure took the lead. Laventure was still leading the race at 3,000 metres in 8:09.15, and at 4,000 metres in 10:53.34. Despite the moderate pace, almost all runners were still in the lead group at this point.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres, Results, Final
On the second last back straight, Castro accelerated past Laventure into the lead, and the main group's runners started to string out. Castro was still leading the race at 4,600 metres, in an informal time of 12:26.2 or 12:26.3. Antibo, Britain's Gary Staines, Poland's Slawomir Majusiak, Laventure, and Finland's Risto Ulmala were chasing Castro. On the final back straight, Staines tried to sprint past Antibo, who accelerated into the lead, leaving Castro behind. At the start of the final bend, Staines sprinted past Antibo. In the second half of the bend, however, Antibo furiously kicked past Staines.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres, Results, Final
Some metres behind the leading duo, Majusiak accelerated past the fading Castro. Several metres behind the second pair of runners, Sweden's Jonny Danielsson passed Ulmala. Despite celebrating his victory in the final metres, Antibo defeated Staines by almost half a second, while Majusiak secured the bronze medal. Danielsson ran the home straight several metres faster than the exhausted Castro, but he still lost to the tiny Portuguese runner by under 0.2 seconds. (The Big European Championships Book / Suuri EM-kirja (Finland, c. 1990);   Salvatore Antibo vince i 5.000 a Spalato 90.)


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 32 athletes from 19 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27, 28, and 29 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 20 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's decathlon
The men's decathlon competition at the 1990 European Athletics Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, was held at Stadion Poljud on 28 August and 29 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's decathlon, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 29 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's discus throw
These are the official results of the Men's Discus Throw event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia , held at Stadion Poljud on 31 August and 1 September 1990. There were a total number of 23 participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's discus throw, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 23 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's hammer throw
These are the official results of the Men's Hammer Throw event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia , held at Stadion Poljud on 30 and 31 August 1990. There were a total number of twenty participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's hammer throw, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 20 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's high jump
These are the official results of the Men's high jump event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on  29 and 31 August 1990. There were a total number of 24 participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's high jump, Result, Qualification
Qualification: Qualifying Performance 2.28 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's high jump, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 24 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's javelin throw
These are the official results of the Men's Javelin Throw event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27 and 28 August 1990. The qualification mark was set at 80.00 metres.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's javelin throw, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 30 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's long jump
These are the official results of the Men's long jump event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on  29 and 30 August 1990. There were a total number of 22 participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's long jump, Results, Final
†: Bronze medalist Borut Bilač from Yugoslavia was initially disqualified for a suspected infringement of IAAF doping rules, but was later cleared of the charges and reinstated.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's long jump, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 22 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's marathon
These are the official results of the Men's Marathon event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia. The final was held on 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's marathon, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 37 athletes from 19 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's pole vault
These are the official results of the Men's Pole Vault event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on  28 and 30 August 1990. There were a total number of nineteen participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's pole vault, Results, Qualification
Qualification standard: Qualification Performance 5.60 or at least 12 best performers advance to the final


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's pole vault, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 19 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's shot put
These are the official results of the Men's Shot Put event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 28 and 29 August 1990. There were a total number of nineteen participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's shot put, Final
†: Vyacheslav Lykho ranked initially 3rd (20.81m), but was disqualified for infringement of IAAF doping rules.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's shot put, Qualification
†: Vyacheslav Lykho initially reached the final (19.88m), but was disqualified later for infringement of IAAF doping rules.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's shot put, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 19 athletes from 10 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's triple jump
The Men's Triple Jump event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia was held at Stadion Poljud on 30 and 31 August 1990. There were a total number of nineteen participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's triple jump, Results, Qualification
30 AugustQualification distance: 16.90 (Q) or 12 best (q) qualified for the final


1990 European Athletics Championships – Men's triple jump, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 19 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 10 kilometres walk
These are the official results of the Women's 10 km walk event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held on August 29, 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 10 kilometres walk, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 24 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 10,000 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 10,000 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia. The final was held on 31 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 10,000 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 27 athletes from 19 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 100 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 100 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27 and 28 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 100 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 20 athletes from 10 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 100 metres hurdles
These are the official results of the Women's 100 metres hurdles event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 29 and 30 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 100 metres hurdles, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 20 athletes from 10 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 1500 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 1500 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 30 August and 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 1500 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 15 athletes from 9 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 200 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 200 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 29 and 30 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 200 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 22 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 3000 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 3000 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27 and 29 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 3000 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 23 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay
These are the official results of the Women's 4x100 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 32 athletes from 8 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay
These are the official results of the Women's 4x400 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 31 August and 1 September 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 47 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 400 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27, 28, and 29 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 26 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres hurdles
These are the official results of the Women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 29 and 31 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres hurdles, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 31 athletes from 18 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 800 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27, 28, and 29 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 21 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's discus throw
These are the official results of the Women's discus throw event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 28 and 29 August 1990. There were a total number of sixteen participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's discus throw, Qualification
Qualification standard: Qualification Performance 60.00 or at least 12 best performers advance to the final


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's discus throw, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 16 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's heptathlon
These are the official results of the Women's Heptathlon competition at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia. The competition was held  at Stadion Poljud on 30 August and 31 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's heptathlon, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 21 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's high jump
These are the official results of the Women's High Jump event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 30 and 31 August 1990. There were a total number of eighteen participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's high jump, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 18 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's javelin throw
These are the official results of the Women's Javelin Throw event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 29 and 30 August 1990. All results were made with a rough surfaced javelin (old design).


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's javelin throw, Final
†: Felicia Ţilea ranked initially 9th (58.80m), but was disqualified for infringement of IAAF doping rules.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's javelin throw, Qualification, Group A
†: Felicia Ţilea initially reached the final (60.96m), but was disqualified later for infringement of IAAF doping rules.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's javelin throw, Qualification, Group B
‡: All three attempts from Päivi Alafrantti were initially voided. In the only measurable throw, the javelin landed flat. After a protest of the Finnish team officials and video inspection, the decision was reverted because it could be shown that the tip of the javelin struck the ground first, and Alafrantti was admitted to compete in the final.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's javelin throw, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 19 athletes from 10 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's long jump
These are the official results of the Women's long jump event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27 and 28 August 1990. There were 17 participating athletes.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's long jump, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 17 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's marathon
These are the official results of the Women's marathon event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia. The race was held on 27 August 1990.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's marathon, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 27 athletes from 16 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's shot put
These are the official results of the Women's shot put event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27 August 1990. There were a total number of thirteen participating athletes, and no qualification.


1990 European Athletics Championships – Women's shot put, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 13 athletes from 8 countries participated in the event.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 21st European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on 3 and 4 March 1990. It was the last time that the event had been held annually and not biennially as it is now, as well as the last time that it was held over only two days. It also marked the debut of the women's triple jump event.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The medal table was topped by the Soviet Union, followed by West and East Germany.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres
The men's 1500 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres, Results, Heats
First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 200 metres
The men's 200 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 200 metres, Results, Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 200 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 1 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 3000 metres
The men's 3000 metres event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 3000 metres, Results, Heats
First 4 from each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 400 metres
The men's 400 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 400 metres, Results, Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 400 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 1 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 5000 metres walk
The men's 5000 metres walk event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres
The men's 60 metres event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres, Results, Heats
First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres hurdles
The men's 60 metres hurdles event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres hurdles, Results, Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 60 metres hurdles, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 800 metres
The men's 800 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 800 metres, Results, Heats
First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 800 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's high jump
The men's high jump event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's long jump
The men's long jump event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's pole vault
The men's pole vault event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's shot put
The men's shot put event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's triple jump
The men's triple jump event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 1500 metres
The women's 1500 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 1500 metres, Results, Heats
First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 200 metres
The women's 200 metres event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 200 metres, Results, Heats
The winner of each heat (Q) and the next 5 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 200 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 1 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 3000 metres
The women's 3000 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 3000 metres walk
The women's 3000 metres walk event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 3000 metres walk, Results, Heats
First 4 from each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres
The women's 400 metres event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres, Results, Heats
The winner of each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres
The women's 60 metres event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres, Result, Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres, Result, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres hurdles
The women's 60 metres hurdles event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in the Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres hurdles, Results, Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres hurdles, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 60 metres hurdles, Results, Semifinals
1Since both recorded the  same time and were tied for sixth, Caren Jung and Paraskevi Patoulidou were ordered to run-off for the last spot in the final. Jung won with 8.08 to Patoulidou's 8.12.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 800 metres
The women's 800 metres event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 and 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 800 metres, Results, Heats
First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 800 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 2 from each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's high jump
The women's high jump event  at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's long jump
The women's long jump event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's shot put
The women's shot put event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 4 March.


1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's triple jump
The women's triple jump event at the 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Kelvin Hall on 3 March. This was the first time that this event was held at a major international competition.


1990 European Badminton Championships
The 12th European Badminton Championships were held in Moscow, Soviet Union, between 8 and 14 April 1990, and hosted by the European Badminton Union and the Sovietic Badminton Federation.


1990 European Cup Final
The 1990 European Cup Final was a football match between Milan of Italy and Benfica of Portugal, played on 23 May 1990 at the Praterstadion in Vienna, Austria. The winning goal came in the 68th minute for Milan, when Frank Rijkaard ran through the opposing defence and scored the only goal of the match.


1990 European Cup Final
Before 2017, Milan were the last side to have defended the trophy after winning it the previous season.


1990 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Sampdoria of Italy and Anderlecht of Belgium. It was the final match of the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 30th European Cup Winners' Cup final. The final was held at Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 9 May 1990. Sampdoria won the match 2–0, thanks to two goals in extra time from Gianluca Vialli.


1990 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees: Serge Muhmenthaler (Switzerland) Marco Raveglia (Switzerland)Fourth official: Bo Karlsson (Sweden)


1990 European Curling Championships
The 1990 European Curling Championships were held from December 4 to 8 at the Kristins Hall arena in Lillehammer, Norway.


1990 European Curling Championships
The Swedish men's team won their third title, and the Norwegian women's team won their first title.


1990 European Figure Skating Championships
The 1990 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior-level international competition held in Leningrad, Soviet Union (present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia) from January 30 to February 4, 1990. Elite skaters from European ISU member nations competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


1990 European Grand Masters
The 1990 European Grand Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place in December 1990 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.


1990 European Grand Masters
Martin Clark won the tournament, defeating 58 year old Ray Reardon 4–2 in the final. This was Reardon's last appearance in a professional final.


1990 European Indoor Championships
The 1990 European Indoor Championships was an ATP men's tennis tournament held in Berlin, Germany from 8 October until 14 October 1990. It was the inaugural edition of the tournament and was part of the World Series tier of the 1990 ATP Tour. Sixth-seeded Ronald Agénor won his third career title and his second of the year by defeating Alexander Volkov in the final.


1990 European Indoor Championships, Finals, Doubles
Pieter Aldrich /  Danie Visser defeated  Kevin Curren /  Patrick Galbraith, 7–6, 7–6


1990 European Indoor Championships – Singles
Ronald Agénor defeated Alexander Volkov 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 in the final to secure the title.


1990 European Judo Championships
The 1990 European Judo Championships were held in Frankfurt, Germany from 10 to 13 May 1990.


1990 European Karate Championships
The 1990 European Karate Championships, the 25th edition, was held in Vienna, Austria from May 2 to 4, 1990.


1990 European Open (snooker)
The 1990 ICI European Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place in March 1990 at the Palais des Sports in Lyon, France.


1990 European Open (snooker)
John Parrott won the tournament, defeating Stephen Hendry 10–6 in the final.


1990 European Promotion Cup for Men
The 1990 European Promotion Cup for Men was the third edition of this tournament. It was hosted in Cardiff, Wales and Iceland won the tournament after beating Cyprus in the final game.


1990 European Shotgun Championships
The 1990 European Shooting Championships was the 36th edition (included the of the European Shooting Championships), of the global shotgun competition, European Shotgun Championships, organised by the International Shooting Sport Federation.


1990 European Super Cup
The 1990 European Super Cup was played between 1989–90 European Cup winners Milan and 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup winners Sampdoria, with Milan winning 3–1 on aggregate.


1990 European Super Cup
Milan chose to play their home leg away from their home city due to the poor condition of the turf at the San Siro Stadium, which had hosted several matches at the recent 1990 FIFA World Cup.


1990 European Tour
The 1990 European Tour was the 19th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.


1990 European Tour
The Order of Merit was won by Wales' Ian Woosnam for the second time, having previously won in 1987.


1990 European Tour, Schedule
The table below shows the 1990 European Tour schedule which was made up of 37 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and seven non-counting "Approved Special Events". There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Atlantic Open, the Amex Med Open and the Austrian Open; and the promotion of the Murphy's Cup to full Order of Merit status.


1990 European Tour, Schedule
Before the official schedule was announced the Tenerife Open was dropped, but later returned in place of the cancelled Catalan Open. In late February the Jersey Open was cancelled and replaced by a new tournament in Spain, the El Bosque Open,


1990 European Tour, Order of Merit
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Volvo Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.


1990 European Weightlifting Championships
The 1990 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Ålborg, Denmark from May 14 to May 20, 1990. It was the 69th edition of the event. There were a total number of 126 athletes competing, from 23 nations. The women competition were held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. It was the 3rd event for the women.


1990 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 18th European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Piraeus, Greece, at Peace and Friendship Stadium.


1990 European Wrestling Championships
The 1990 European Wrestling Championships were held in Poznan 1 – 8 May 1990.


1990 FA Charity Shield
The 1990 FA Charity Shield (also known as the Tennent's FA Charity Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 68th Charity Shield, a football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Football League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played on 18 August 1990 between 1989–90 Football League champions Liverpool and 1989–90 FA Cup winners Manchester United.


1990 FA Charity Shield
Utility player Clayton Blackmore opened the scoring for United in the first half, but a John Barnes penalty kick drew Liverpool level shortly after the break. The match finished at 1–1 and the two sides shared the trophy for six months each.


1990 FA Charity Shield
Absent from the game for Manchester United were captain Bryan Robson, who would be out of action until December that year due to injury; left-back Lee Martin who scored the winning goal in the FA Cup Final three months previously; and midfielder Neil Webb. Their places in the starting XI were taken by Clayton Blackmore, Mal Donaghy and newly signed full-back Denis Irwin, beginning a 12-year spell with the club that would reap numerous honours, while Paul Ince moved back into his usual midfield position.


1990 FA Charity Shield
As a curtain-raiser to the match, the England women's national football team played Italy. Carolina Morace scored all four goals in England's 4–1 defeat and made it onto the front page of the following day's La Gazzetta dello Sport.


1990 FA Cup Final
The 1990 FA Cup Final was a football match played to determine to winners of the 1989–90 FA Cup. It was contested by Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium, London, England. The match finished 3–3 after extra time. Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes (2) scored for Manchester United; Gary O'Reilly and Ian Wright (2) for Palace. Wright had only just recently returned from a broken leg that kept him out of the semi-final.


1990 FA Cup Final
In the replay, Manchester United won 1–0 with a goal from Lee Martin – only the second goal he would score for the club. It saw them match Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur's record of seven FA Cup triumphs. In contrast, this was the first time Crystal Palace had appeared in an FA Cup final, and they had just completed their first season back in the top flight after nearly a decade away.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
This was the first FA Cup final to be played in front of an all-seater crowd, as Wembley's remaining standing areas had been converted to all-seater in the autumn of 1989.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
The month before the final, UEFA had announced that the ban on English clubs in European competitions would be lifted for the 1990–91 season, provided that England fans behaved well at that summer's World Cup. England fans duly behaved well at the tournament, and this gave the green light to Manchester United to compete in the 1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup, which they ultimately won. It also proved to be the turning point in Manchester United's history after a few lean seasons; over the next 20 years they collected a total of more than 20 major trophies.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
If Crystal Palace had won the trophy, it would have gained them the first major trophy of their history and given them European qualification for the first time as well.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
The 1990 Crystal Palace team was the last all-English (John Salako was born in Nigeria but played for England in 1991) team to play in an FA Cup final, while the Manchester United team was the last team to be composed solely of players from the United Kingdom to win the FA Cup final.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
The 1990 FA Cup win was the third time Bryan Robson had been in the winning side in an FA Cup final; he had also now scored a total of three goals in FA Cup finals. He was the only player left from the 1983 FA Cup winning team, in which he had scored two goals in the final replay. He left the club just after their 1994 FA Cup final win, but was denied a fourth FA Cup winner's medal as he was not included into the squad for the final.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
Manchester United's squad had changed so much since the appointment of Alex Ferguson as manager in November 1986 that Mark Hughes (bought back from Bayern Munich in 1988 after one year with Barcelona and another with the German side) was the only player in the team other than Robson still at the club who had featured in the 1985 FA Cup-winning side.


1990 FA Cup Final, Summary
Manchester United did not play a single home game during their successful FA Cup campaign – this is the only time this has happened in the history of the FA Cup.


1990 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.


1990 FA Cup Final, First game
The first game on the Saturday was an open attacking affair. Both teams had been involved in dramatic high-scoring semi-finals and the final started the same way. On 17 minutes, Crystal Palace took the lead when Gary O'Reilly headed in from a free-kick, via Gary Pallister's head, despite the attempt of Jim Leighton to save the ball on the line. Manchester United hit back on 35 minutes. Brian McClair made a run down the right wing and floated a cross to the back post, where captain Bryan Robson was waiting to head goalwards. His header flicked off John Pemberton's shin and evaded Palace goalkeeper Nigel Martyn. It was 1–1 at half-time.


1990 FA Cup Final, First game
In the second half, Manchester United went ahead for the first time in the game, when a cross-shot from Neil Webb found its way to Mark Hughes who fired low into the corner. Palace manager, Steve Coppell made a game-changing substitution when he brought on Ian Wright, who had an immediate impact when he went on a mazy run past two Manchester United defenders and slotted a calm shot past Leighton. 2–2. Extra time loomed but not before Mike Phelan saw his clever chip hit the crossbar.


1990 FA Cup Final, First game
Extra time was needed for the second final in a row, and it was Palace who scored first, when John Salako floated a cross to the back post. Leighton hesitated for a second, which allowed Wright to volley home for his second goal of the game. 3–2 to Crystal Palace. However, the scoring was not over, and in the second period of extra time, Wallace provided the through ball for Hughes to chase, and he calmly angled the ball past the onrushing Martyn to make it 3–3.


1990 FA Cup Final, Replay
The main story of the replay was that Alex Ferguson decided to replace Jim Leighton in goal, with Les Sealey. Sealey made three important saves to keep Palace at bay, in a tough-tackling match. Leighton only played one more match for Manchester United, against Halifax Town in the Football League Cup on 26 September 1990.


1990 FA Cup Final, Replay
The match itself was not as eventful as the first game, finishing 1–0. Manchester United won by a single goal scored by defender Lee Martin. He chested down a Neil Webb pass and fired high into the net, past Martyn in goal. Bryan Robson held aloft the Cup for the third time as captain. Manchester United joined Tottenham Hotspur as the only clubs to have won multiple FA Cup Final replays.


1990 FA Cup Final, Replay
It was Manchester United's first major trophy under the management of Alex Ferguson. It is often debated that if Manchester United lost the match, Alex Ferguson would have been sacked as Manchester United manager, although Ferguson claimed in his 1999 autobiography Managing My Life that the club's directors had assured him earlier in the season that his position as manager was secure; although naturally disappointed with the lack of progress in the league, they understood the reasons for this, namely the long-term absences of several key players due to injury.


1990 FA Cup Final, Cup final song
Manchester United's squad recorded "We Will Stand Together" for their appearance, whilst the Palace team recorded a version of the club's anthem "Glad All Over".


1990 FC Dinamo Tbilisi season, Season report
In 1990 the Georgian Football Federation refused to participate in the Soviet Union championship. That meant that no Georgian Football Clubs would appear in Soviet tournaments. From that moment the more recent history of FC Dinamo Tbilisi began.


1990 FC Dinamo Tbilisi season, Season report
The club played its first match in the Georgian National championship against Kolkheti-1913 Poti on 30 March 1990. Dinamo lost the historic match, 0–1. Ultimately the club recovered from this setback and won the first Georgian National championship.


1990 FDGB-Pokal Final
The 1990 FDGB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1989–90 FDGB-Pokal, the 39th season of East Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 2 June 1990 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in East Berlin. Dynamo Dresden won the match 2–1 against PSV Schwerin for their 5th title.


1990 FDGB-Pokal Final, Route to the final
The FDGB-Pokal began with 64 teams in a single-elimination knockout cup competition. There were a total of five rounds leading up to the final. Teams were drawn against each other, and the winner after 90 minutes would advance. If still tied, extra time, and if necessary penalties were used to determine the winner.


1990 FDGB-Pokal Final, Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


1990 FEI World Equestrian Games
The 1990 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden from July 24 to August 5, 1990. They were the first edition of the games which are held every four years and run by the FEI.


1990 FIA European Formula 3 Cup
The 1990 FIA European Formula Three Cup was the sixth European Formula Three Cup race and the first to be held at the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans on September 23, 1990. The race was won by Italian Alessandro Zanardi, driving for RC Motorsport outfit after Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the race and stripped of his race win. Italian Mirko Savoldi and Frenchman Yvan Muller completed the podium. Only eleven drivers entered the race. It was the last season of the FIA European Formula 3 Cup, before it reappeared in 1999.


1990 FIBA Africa Championship for Women
The 1990 FIBA Africa Championship for Women was the 11th FIBA Africa Championship for Women, played under the rules of FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, and the FIBA Africa thereof. The tournament was hosted by Tunisia from March 17 to 24, 1990.


1990 FIBA Africa Championship for Women
Senegal defeated Zaire 70–68 in the final to win their sixth title with both winner and runner-up qualifying for the 1990 FIBA Women's World Cup.


1990 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
The 1990 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball  competition held in the Netherlands in 1990.


1990 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four
The 1990 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four was the 1989–90 season's FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four tournament, organized by FIBA Europe.


1990 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four
Jugoplastika won its second title in a row, after defeating FC Barcelona Banca Catalana in the final game.


1990 FIBA World Championship
The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Argentina from August 8 to 19, 1990. The competition final phase was held at the Luna Park, Buenos Aires.


1990 FIBA World Championship
Yugoslavia emerged as the tournament winner. This was the last World Championship in which the country participated before  its dissolution. Likewise, the Soviet Union participated in its final tournament before its dissolution.


1990 FIBA World Championship
This was the first ever FIBA World Championship (now called FIBA Basketball World Cup) tournament, in which non-American current NBA players that had also already played in an official regular season NBA game could participate.


1990 FIBA World Championship, Quarterfinal round
The top two finishers from Groups I and II advance to the final round.


1990 FIBA World Championship, Awards
Team Roster:Dražen Petrović, Velimir Perasović, Zoran Čutura, Toni Kukoč, Žarko Paspalj, Jure Zdovc, Željko Obradović, Radisav Ćurčić, Vlade Divac, Arijan Komazec, Zoran Jovanović, and Zoran Savić. Head Coach: Dušan Ivković


1990 FIBA World Championship for Women
The 1990 edition of the FIBA World Championship for Women (Malay: Kejohanan Dunia FIBA 1990 untuk Wanita) was held in four cities in Malaysia (Kota, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur), from July 17 to July 22, 1990. The USA won the tournament ahead of Yugoslavia and Cuba.


1990 FIBA World Championship for Women squads
The 1990 FIBA World Championship for Women was held in Malaysia. The list includes the twelve-women rosters of the sixteen participating countries, totaling 172 players.


1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Mexico in 1986). Teams representing 116 national football associations entered and qualification began in April 1988. 22 teams qualified from this process, along with host nation Italy and defending champions Argentina.


1990 FIFA World Cup
The tournament was won by West Germany, for the third time. They beat Argentina 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, a rematch of the previous final four years earlier. Italy finished third and England fourth, after both lost their semi-finals in penalty shootouts. This was the last tournament to feature a team from West Germany, with the country being reunified with East Germany a few months later in October, as well as teams from the Eastern Bloc prior to the end of the Cold War in 1991, as the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia teams made last appearances. Costa Rica, Ireland and the UAE made their first appearances in the finals. As of 2018, this was the last time the UAE qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals. The official match ball was the Adidas Etrusco Unico.


1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the poorest World Cups in terms of the games. It generated an average 2.2 goals per game – a record low that still stands – and a then-record 16 red cards, including the first ever dismissal in a final. Regarded as being the World Cup that has had perhaps the most lasting influence on the game as a whole, and it saw the introduction of the pre-match Fair Play Flag (then inscribed with "Fair Play Please") to encourage fair play.


1990 FIFA World Cup
Defensive tactics led to the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992 and three points for a win instead of two at future World Cups. The tournament also produced some of the World Cup's best remembered moments and stories, including the emergence of African nations, in addition to what has become the World Cup soundtrack: "Nessun dorma".


1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.69 billion non-unique viewers over the course of the tournament. This was the first World Cup to be officially recorded and transmitted in HDTV by the Italian broadcaster RAI in association with Japan's NHK. The huge success of the broadcasting model has also had a lasting impact on the sport. At the time it was the most watched World Cup in history in non-unique viewers, but was bettered by the 1994 and 2002 World Cups.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
The vote to choose the hosts of the 1990 tournament was held on 19 May 1984 in Zürich, Switzerland. Here, the FIFA Executive Committee chose Italy ahead of the only rival bid, the USSR, by 11 votes to 5. This awarding made Italy only the second nation to host two World Cup tournaments, after Mexico had also achieved this with their 1986 staging. Italy had previously had the event in 1934, where they had won their first championship.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Host selection
Austria, England, France, Greece, West Germany and Yugoslavia also submitted initial applications for 31 July 1983 deadline. A month later, only England, Greece, Italy and the Soviet Union remained in the hunt after the other contenders all withdrew. All four bids were assessed by FIFA in late 1983, with the final decision over-running into 1984 due to the volume of paperwork involved. In early 1984, England and Greece also withdrew, leading to a two-horse race in the final vote. The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games, announced on the eve of the World Cup decision, was speculated to have been a major factor behind Italy winning the vote so decisively, although this was denied by the FIFA President João Havelange.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup, including Italy as host nation and Argentina as reigning World Cup champions, who were both granted automatic qualification. Thus, the remaining 22 finals places were divided among the continental confederations, with 114 initially entering the qualification competition. Due to rejected entries and withdrawals, 103 teams eventually participated in the qualifying stages.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Thirteen places were contested by UEFA teams (Europe), two by CONMEBOL teams (South America), two by CAF teams (Africa), two by AFC teams (Asia), and two by CONCACAF teams (North and Central America and Caribbean). The remaining place was decided by a play-off between a CONMEBOL team and a team from the OFC (Oceania).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Both Mexico and Chile were disqualified during the qualification process; the former for fielding an overage player in a prior youth tournament, the latter after goalkeeper Roberto Rojas faked injury from a firework thrown from the stands in their final qualifying match against Brazil, which caused the match to be abandoned. Chile were also banned from the 1994 qualifiers for this offence.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Three teams made their debuts, as this was the first World Cup to feature Costa Rica and the Republic of Ireland, and the only one to date to feature the United Arab Emirates.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Returning after long absences were Egypt, who appeared for the first time since 1934; the United States (who would not miss a World Cup again until 2018), who competed for the first time since 1950; Colombia, who appeared for the first time since 1962; Romania, who last appeared at the Finals in 1970; and Sweden and the Netherlands, both of which last qualified in 1978. Austria, Cameroon, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia also returned after missing the 1986 tournament.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Qualification
Among the teams who failed to qualify were 1986 semi-finalists France (missing their first World Cup since 1974) and Poland (their first since 1970).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
Twelve stadiums in twelve cities were selected to host matches at the 1990 World Cup. The Stadio San Nicola in Bari and Turin's Stadio delle Alpi were completely new venues opened for the World Cup. Of the twelve stadiums in used, only four (San Siro, Luigi Ferraris, Comunale of Florence, and Renato Dall'Ara) had been used for the 1934 FIFA World Cup.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
The remaining ten venues all underwent extensive programmes of improvements in preparation for the tournament, forcing many of the club tenants of the stadia to move to temporary homes. Additional seating and roofs were added to most stadia, with further redevelopments seeing running tracks removed and new pitches laid. Due to structural constraints, several of the existing stadia had to be virtually rebuilt to implement the changes required.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
Like Espana '82, the group stage of this tournament was organized in such a way where specific groups only played in two cities close in proximity to each other.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
Group A only played in Rome and Florence (Hosts Italy played all but two (their semi-final match was played in Napoli, and their third-place match in Bari) competitive matches in Rome, Group B played their matches in Naples and Bari (except for Argentina vs. Cameroon, which was the opening match of the tournament, played in Milan), Group C played their matches in Turin and Genoa, Group D played all their matches in Milan and Bologna, Group E played only in Udine and Verona, and Group F played on the island cities of Cagliari and Palermo.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
The cities that hosted the most World Cup matches were the two biggest cities in Italy: Rome and Milan, each hosting six matches, and Bari, Naples, and Turin each hosted five matches. Cagliari, Udine and Palermo were the only cities of the 12 selected that did not host any knockout round matches.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
The England national team, at the British government's request, played all 3 of their group stage matches in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. Hooliganism, rife in English football in the 1980s had spilled over onto the European continent when 39 mostly Italian Juventus supporters were killed and 600 were injured at the 1985 European Cup Final in Brussels while trying to flee from an attack by Liverpool supporters.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
This hooliganism had followed the English national team while they played friendlies on the European continent – the distrust of English fans was high enough that the English Football Association's reputation and even diplomatic relations between the UK and Italy were seen to be at risk if England played any group stage matches on the Italian mainland.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
Thanks largely to British Sports Minister Colin Moynihan's negative remarks about English fans weeks before the match, security around Cagliari during England's three matches there was heavy – in addition to 7,000 local police, the Carabinieri and special forces of the Italian military were also there patrolling the premises. The Italian authorities' presence proved to be justified as there were several riots during the time England were playing their matches in Cagliari, leading to a number of injuries, arrests and even deportations.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Venues
Most of the construction cost in excess of their original estimates and total costs ended up being over £550 million (approximately $935 million). Rome's Stadio Olimpico which hosted the final was the most expensive project overall, while Udine's Stadio Friuli, the newest of the existing stadia (opened 14 years prior), cost the least to redevelop.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Squads
Squads for the 1990 World Cup consisted of 22 players, as for the previous tournament in 1986. Replacement of injured players was permitted during the tournament at FIFA's discretion. Two goalkeepers – Argentina's Ángel Comizzo and England's Dave Beasant – entered their respective squads during the tournament to replace injured players (Nery Pumpido and David Seaman).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Match officials
41 match officials from 34 countries were assigned to the tournament to serve as referees and assistant referees. Officials in italics were only used as assistants during the tournament. Referees dressed only in traditional black jerseys for the final time at a World Cup (a red change shirt was used for two Group C games in which Scotland wore their navy blue shirts).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
The six seeded teams for the 1990 tournament were announced on 7 December 1989. The seeds were then allocated to the six groups in order of their seeding rank (1st seed to Group A, 2nd seed to Group B, etc. ).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
The seeds were decided by FIFA, primarily based on the nations' performance in the 1986 World Cup, with the 1982 World Cup also considered as a secondary influence. Six of the final eight in 1986 had qualified for the 1990 tournament, the missing nations being Mexico (quarter-final in 1986) and France (third place). Italy – who were seeded first as hosts – had not reached the final eight in 1986 and this left FIFA needing to exclude one of the three (qualified) nations who were eliminated in the 1986 quarter-finals: Brazil, England or Spain.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
Owing to their performance in 1982 but also to their overall World Cup record, Brazil were seeded third and not considered to drop out of the seedings. FIFA opted to seed England ahead of Spain.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
Spain had only been eliminated in 1986 on penalties, albeit by fourth-placed Belgium, while England had been defeated in 90 minutes by eventual winners Argentina; both countries had also reached the second stage in the 1982 event, playing in the same group in the second group stage with England ending up ahead of Spain, but Spain had also appeared in the 1978 event, while England had failed to qualify. FIFA President João Havelange had reportedly earlier stated that Spain would be seeded.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
Spanish officials believed the seeding was contrived to ensure England would be placed in Group F, the group to be held off the Italian mainland, in a bid to contain England's hooliganism problems. Their coach Luis Suárez said, "We feel we've been cheated...they wanted to seed England and to send it to Cagliari at all costs. So they invented this formula". FIFA countered that "the formula was based on the teams' respective showings during the previous two World Cups. England merited the sixth position. This is in no way a concession to English hooliganism".


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
Meanwhile, the Netherlands also had an argument that on grounds of recent footballing form, they should be seeded, as the winners of the 1988 European Championship, in which both Spain and England had been eliminated in the group stages, while Belgium (fourth in the 1986 World Cup after beating Spain, and thus seeded in 1990) had failed to even qualify: but this argument was countered by the fact that the Netherlands had themselves failed to qualify for both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, which was considered the most important factor in the decision not to seed them.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
As it happened, the two teams considered the most unlucky not to be seeded, namely Spain and the Netherlands, were both drawn in groups against the two teams considered the weakest of the seeded nations, namely Belgium and England: and the arguments over the seeding positions fizzled out.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
England could be said to have justified their seeded position by narrowly winning their group ahead of the Netherlands: while Spain seemed to have made their own point about being worth a seeded position, by defeating Belgium to top their own group, in doing so gaining a measure of revenge for the fact that it was Belgium who had eliminated them in 1986.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
Italy (1st) Argentina (2nd) Brazil (3rd) West Germany (4th) Belgium (5th) England (6th)


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Seedings
Cameroon Costa Rica Egypt South Korea United Arab Emirates United States


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Final draw
On 9 December 1989 the draw was conducted at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome, where the teams were drawn out from the three pots to be placed with the seeded teams in their predetermined groups. The only stipulation of the draw was that no group could feature two South American teams. The ceremony was hosted by Italian television presenter Pippo Baudo, with Italian actress Sophia Loren and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti conducting the draw alongside FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Final draw
The draw show was FIFA's most ambitious yet with Pelé, Bobby Moore and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge appearing, as well as a performance of the Italian version of the tournament's official song "To Be Number One" by Giorgio Moroder, performed as "Un'estate italiana" by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Final draw
The event also featured the official mascot of this World Cup, Ciao, a stick figure player with a football head and an Italian tricolor body that formed the word "ITALIA" when deconstructed and reconstructed. Its name is a greeting in Italian.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Tournament review
The finals tournament began in Italy on 8 June and concluded on 8 July. The format of the 1990 competition remained the same as in 1986: 24 qualified teams were divided into six groups of four. The top two teams and four best third-place finishers from the six groups advanced to the knockout stage, which eliminated the teams until a winner emerged. In total, 52 games were played.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Negative tactics
The tournament generated a record low goals-per-game average and a then-record of 16 red cards were handed out. In the knockout stage, many teams played defensively for 120 minutes, with the intention of trying their luck in the penalty shoot-out, rather than risk going forward. Two exceptions were the eventual champions West Germany and hosts Italy, the only teams to win three of their four knockout matches in normal time. There were four penalty shoot-outs, a record subsequently equalled in the 2006, 2014 and 2018 tournaments. Eight matches went to extra time, a record equalled in the 2014 tournament.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Negative tactics
Losing finalists Argentina were prime examples of this trend of cautious defensive play, scoring only five goals in the entire tournament (a record low for a finalist). Argentina also became the first team to advance twice on penalty shoot-outs and the first team to fail to score and have a player sent off in a World Cup final.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Negative tactics
Largely as a result of this trend FIFA introduced the back-pass rule in time for the 1994 tournament to make it harder for teams to time-waste by repeatedly passing the ball back for their goalkeepers to pick up. Three, rather than two points would be awarded for victories at future tournaments to help further encourage attacking play.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Emergence of Cameroon
Cameroon reached the quarter-finals, where they were narrowly defeated by England. They opened the tournament with a shock victory over reigning champions Argentina, before topping the group ahead of them, Romania and European Championship runners-up the Soviet Union. Their success was fired by the goals of Roger Milla, a 38-year-old forward who came out of international retirement to join the national squad at the last moment after a personal request from Cameroonian President Paul Biya. Milla's four goals and flamboyant goal celebrations made him one of the tournament's biggest stars as well as taking Cameroon to the last eight.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, Emergence of Cameroon
Most of Cameroon's squad was made up of players who played in France's premier football league, Ligue 1- French is one of the officially spoken languages in Cameroon, it being a former French territory. In reaching this stage, they had gone further than any African nation had ever managed in a World Cup before; a feat only equalled twice since (by Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010). Their success was African football's biggest yet on the world stage and FIFA subsequently decided to allocate the CAF qualifying zone an additional place for the next World Cup tournament.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Draw, All-champion final four
Despite the performances of nations such as Cameroon, Colombia, Ireland, Romania and Costa Rica, the semi-finalists consisted of Argentina, England, Italy and West Germany, all previous World Cup winners, with eight previous titles between them. After the 1970 tournament, this is only the second time in the history of the World Cup this has occurred. The teams which finished first, second and third had also contested both the two previous World Cup Finals between themselves.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
The Group stage saw the twenty-four teams divided into six groups of four teams. Each group was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams coming first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16. The four best third-placed teams would also advance to the next stage.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
Typical of a World Cup staged in Europe, the matches all started at either 5:00 or 9:00 in the evening; this allowed for the games to avoid being played in the heat of an Italian summer, which would soar past 86F (30C) all over Italy.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage
If teams were level on points, they were ranked on the following criteria in order:


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group A
Hosts Italy won Group A with a 100 percent record. They beat Austria 1–0 thanks to substitute Salvatore 'Totò' Schillaci, who had played only one international before but would become a star during the tournament. A second 1–0 victory followed against a United States team already thumped 5–1 by Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovakians ended runners-up in the group, while the USA's first appearance in a World Cup Finals since 1950 ended with three consecutive defeats.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group B
Cameroon defeated reigning champions Argentina. Despite ending the match with only nine men, the African team held on for a shock 1–0 win, with contrasting fortunes for the Biyik brothers: François Omam scoring the winning goal, shortly after seeing Andre Kana sent off for a serious foul. In their second game the introduction of Roger Milla was the catalyst for a 2–1 win over Romania, Milla scoring twice from the bench (making him the oldest goalscorer in the tournament).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group B
With progression assured, Cameroon slumped to a 4–0 defeat in their final group game to the Soviet Union (in what would be their last World Cup due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union), who were striving to stay in the tournament on goal difference after successive 2–0 defeats. Argentina lost their veteran goalkeeper, Nery Pumpido, to a broken leg during their victory over the USSR: his replacement, Sergio Goycochea, proved to be one of the stars of their tournament. In the final match, a 1–1 draw between Romania and Argentina sent both through, equal on points and on goal difference but Romania having the advantage on goals scored: Romania were thus second, Argentina qualified as one of the best third-placed teams.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group C
Costa Rica beat Scotland 1–0 in their first match, lost 1–0 to Brazil in their second, then saw off Sweden 2–1 to claim a place in the second round. Brazil took maximum points from the group. They began with a 2–1 win over Sweden, then beat both Costa Rica and Scotland 1–0. Scotland's 2–1 win over Sweden was not enough to save them from an early return home as one of the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group D
Group D featured the most goals of all the groups, most due to two large wins of West Germany and defensive inadequacies of a United Arab Emirates team that lost 2–0 to Colombia, 5–1 to West Germany and 4–1 to Yugoslavia. The West Germans topped the group after a 4–1 opening victory over group runners-up Yugoslavia.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group E
The winners of Group E were Spain, for whom Míchel hit a hat-trick as they beat South Korea 3–1 in an unbeaten group campaign. Belgium won their first two games against South Korea and Uruguay to ensure their progress; Uruguay's advance to the second round came with an injury time winner against South Korea to edge them through as the weakest of the third-placed sides to remain in the tournament.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group F
Group F featured the Netherlands, England, the Republic of Ireland and Egypt. In the six group games, no team managed to score more than once in a match. England beat Egypt 1–0, the only match with a decisive result, and that was enough to win the group. England took the lead with an early goal for Lineker against Ireland, but Sheedy's late equalizer secured a draw. The Netherlands drew with Egypt: they had taken a 1–0 lead, but Egypt equalised with a penalty by Abdelghani.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group F
England then drew 0–0 with the Netherlands; a goal from a free-kick by Pearce was disallowed. For the second World Cup in succession, however, England lost their captain Bryan Robson to an injury which put him out of the tournament, just over halfway through their second match. Ireland missed a number of scoring opportunities in the second half of the other 0–0 draw against Egypt. After the first four matches all four teams had equal records with two draws, one goal for and one goal against.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Group F
England's victory over Egypt, thanks to a 58th-minute goal from Mark Wright, put them top of the group: in the other match, Gullit gave the Netherlands the lead against Ireland, but Niall Quinn scored a second-half equalizer and the two teams finished in second and third, still with identical records. Both teams qualified but they had to draw lots to place the teams in second and third place.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Group stage, Ranking of third-placed teams
Ireland won the drawing of lots against the Netherlands for second place in Group F: the Netherlands were the only third-placed team not to have won any matches - or lost any: they progressed with three draws (3 points).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage
The knockout stage involved the 16 teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament. There were four rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round. The successive rounds were: round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, final. There was also a play-off to decide third/fourth place.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage
For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by 30 minutes of extra time; if scores were still level there would be a penalty shoot-out (five penalties each, if neither team already had a decisive advantage, and more if necessary) to determine who progressed to the next round. Scores after extra time are indicated by (aet) and penalty shoot-outs are indicated by (p).


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
Two of the ties – Brazil vs Argentina and Italy vs Uruguay – pitted former champion countries against each other and West Germany met the Netherlands in a rematch of the 1974 World Cup Final. The all-South American game was won for Argentina by a goal from Claudio Caniggia with 10 minutes remaining after a run through the Brazilian defence by Diego Maradona and a strong performance from their goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
It would later come to light that Branco had been offered water spiked with tranquillisers by Maradona and Ricardo Giusti during half time, to slow him down in the second half. Initially discredited by the press, Branco would be publicly proven right years later, when Maradona confessed the episode on a TV show in Argentina. Hosts Italy beat Uruguay 2–0, thanks to goals from Schillaci and Aldo Serena.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
The match between West Germany and the Netherlands was held in Milan, and both sides featured players from the two Milanese clubs (Germans Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann for Internazionale, and Dutchmen Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard for Milan). After 22 minutes Rudi Völler and Rijkaard were both dismissed after a number of incidents between the two players, including Rijkaard spitting on Völler. As the players walked off the pitch together, Rijkaard spat on Völler a second time.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
Early in the second half, Jürgen Klinsmann put the West Germans ahead and Andreas Brehme added a second with eight minutes left. A Ronald Koeman penalty for the Netherlands in the 89th minute narrowed the score to 2–1 but the Germans saw the game out to gain some revenge for their exit to the Dutch in the previous European Championship.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
Meanwhile, in Cameroon v. Colombia, Roger Milla was introduced as a second-half substitute with the game goalless, eventually breaking the deadlock midway in extra time. Three minutes later he netted a second after Colombian goalkeeper, René Higuita was dispossessed by Milla while well out of his goal, leaving the striker free to slot the ball into the empty net. Though the deficit was soon reduced to 2–1, Cameroon held on to become the first African team ever to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Costa Rica were beaten 4–1 by Czechoslovakia, for whom Tomáš Skuhravý scored the tournament's second and final hat-trick.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
The Republic of Ireland's match with Romania remained goalless after extra time and the Irish side won 5–4 on penalties. David O'Leary converted the penalty that clinched Ireland's place in the quarter-finals. Ireland thus became the first team since Sweden in 1938 to reach the last eight in a World Cup finals tournament without winning a match outright. Yugoslavia beat Spain 2–1 after extra time, with Dragan Stojković scoring both the Yugoslavs' goals. England were the final qualifier against Belgium, as midfielder David Platt's swivelling volley broke the stalemate with the game moments away from a penalty shoot-out.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first game of the last 8 saw Argentina and a Yugoslav side, reduced to 10 men after only half an hour, play out a goalless stalemate. The holders reached the semi-finals after winning the penalty shoot-out 3–2, despite Maradona having his penalty saved. A second Argentine miss (by Pedro Troglio) looked to have eliminated them until goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea – playing because first choice Nery Pumpido broke his leg during the group stage – rescued his side by stopping the Yugoslavs' final two spotkicks.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The Republic of Ireland's World Cup run was brought to an end by a single goal from Schillaci in the first half of their quarter-final with hosts Italy, thus becoming the team who advanced the furthest in a World Cup without winning a match. West Germany beat Czechoslovakia with a 25th minute Lothar Matthäus penalty.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The quarter-final between England and Cameroon was the only quarter-final to produce more than one goal. Despite Cameroon's heroics earlier in the tournament, David Platt put England ahead in the 25th minute. At half-time, Milla was brought on. In the second half, the game was turned on its head during a five-minute stretch: first Cameroon were awarded a penalty from which Emmanuel Kunde scored the equaliser; then in the 65th minute Eugene Ekeke put Cameroon ahead. Cameroon came within eight minutes of reaching the semi-finals before they conceded a penalty, which Gary Lineker converted. Midway through extra time, England were awarded another penalty and Lineker again scored from the spot. England were through to the semi-finals for the first time since 1966.


1990 FIFA World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first semi-final featured the host nation, Italy, and the world champions, Argentina in Naples. ' Toto' Schillaci scored yet again to put Italy ahead in the 17th minute, but Claudio Caniggia equalised midway through the second half, breaking Walter Zenga's clean sheet streak throughout the tournament. There were no more goals in the 90 minutes or in extra time despite Maradona (who played for Naples in Serie A at the time) showing glimpses of magic, but there was a sending-off: Ricardo Giusti of Argentina was shown the red card in the 13th minute of extra time. Argentina went through on penalties, winning the shoot-out 4–3 after more heroics from Goycochea.