1990 FIFA World Cup knockout stage 1990 FIFA World Cup knockout stage The knockout stage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup was the second and final stage of the final tournament, following the group stage. It began on 23 June with the round of 16 matches, and ended on 8 July with the final match of the tournament held in Rome, in which West Germany beat the defending champions Argentina 1–0 to claim their third World Cup. Sixteen teams advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament: The top two teams from each group plus the four best third-placed teams. In the
Brazil at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in World Cup history to 223, surpassing Brazil's 221 goals to first place overall. The two teams had met in 11 previous meetings, including four times in the FIFA World Cup: Netherlands won 2–0 in the second group stage of the 1974 World Cup and 2–1 in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup, and Brazil won 3–2 in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup and 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw (after extra time) in the semi-finals of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Brazil made six changes in their starting line-up from their semi-final, while the Netherlands