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
Argentina at the FIFA World Cup at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic football tournament. Prior to that, Argentina won two silver medals in the 1928 and 1996 editions. On other levels of international competition, Argentina has won the FIFA U-20 World Cup a record six times. The FIFA U-17 World Cup is the only FIFA international competition yet to be won by Argentina. The inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament culminated with Argentina facing hosts and current Olympic champions Uruguay. The match was turned twice: Argentina went into half-time with a 2-1 lead in spite of an early goal for Uruguay, but the hosts ultimately won 4-2.