1990 FIFA World Cup World Cup finals based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. 1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice (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. The tournament was won by West Germany, their third World
South American nations at the FIFA World Cup by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina. Controversy surrounded the hosts, however, as all of their games in the first round kicked off at night, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group. This issue would arise again in Spain 1982, which prompted FIFA to change the rules so that the final two group games in subsequent World Cups would be played simultaneously. In 1978, Argentina needed to beat Copa América holders Peru by four clear goals to reach