1990 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 116 teams entered the 1990 World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament. Italy, as the hosts, and Argentina, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition.

The 24 spots available in the 1990 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

Europe (UEFA): 14 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Italy, while the other 13 places were contested by 32 teams.
South America (CONMEBOL): 3.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Argentina, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from OFC).
North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, contested by 16 teams.
Africa (CAF): 2 places, contested by 26 teams.
Asia (AFC): 2 places, contested by 26 teams.
Oceania (OFC): 0.5 place, contested by 5 teams (including Israel and Chinese Taipei). The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL).

Overview

ITALIA 90 also attracted well over a hundred entries for the preliminary round, although the total was slightly down on last time. The first qualifying match was in the Caribbean as usual, where Trinidad and Tobago defeated Guyana 4-0 on 17 April 1988

By an odd coincidence it would also be Trinidad and Tobago who would play the last game in the preliminary round twenty months later. With a World Cup place within their reach, the island team lost against the USA in Port of Spain. The only goal of the match was scored by Paul Caligiuri and it earned the USA their first World Cup appearance for 40 years. Costa Rica (under coach Bora Milutinovic) won the other CONCACAF place (with Mexico being banned from taking part).

An unpleasant episode marred the South American preliminaries; during the match between Brazil and Chile a firework landed close to the Chilean goalkeeper Rojas who then feigned injury. His team refused to continue the match - they were a goal down at the time. But the scheme was quickly seen through, and the result was a long suspension for those involved and a ban for Chile from the World Cup 1994. In addition to Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia (for the first time since 1962) completed the South American contingent. Colombia had won through via a play-off against Israel, which produced just one goal in the two matches, Israel having come out on top in a group with the Oceania representatives Australia and New Zealand.

Europe's breakdown this time was into four groups with five teams and three groups with four; basically the top two teams in each group would qualify, with the exception of the poorest second team from the groups of four. A defeat in their last match against Romania put Denmark in this unfortunate position, and so the tournament was deprived of one of the most attractive sides of the 1986 competition. England and Germany FR both ended up second in their groups and that was enough. There were few other surprises, except for the case of France, for whom a 1-1 against Cyprus in Nicosia on 22 October 1988 came back to haunt them and saw Scotland a point ahead in the final ranking.

The usual long, drawn-out African qualifiers saw Egypt Egypt qualify for the first time since 1934, as well as Cameroon (who had been undefeated in 1982 in Spain). In an evenly matched battle between six teams in the final round in Asia Korea Republic and UAE both emerged undefeated, with the Arabs' record of one win and four draws being enough to get them through.

Continental zones

To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:

Europe (UEFA)

Group 1 - Romania qualified.

Group 2 - Sweden and England qualified.

Group 3 - USSR and Austria qualified.

Group 4 - Netherlands and West Germany qualified.

Group 5 - Yugoslavia and Scotland qualified.

Group 6 - Spain and Republic of Ireland qualified.

Group 7 - Belgium and Czechoslovakia qualified.

South America (CONMEBOL)

Group 1 - Uruguay qualified.

Group 2 - Colombia advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Group 3 - Brazil qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

Costa Rica and USA qualified.

Africa (CAF)

Egypt and Cameroon qualified.

Asia (AFC)

South Korea and UAE qualified.

Oceania (OFC)

Israel advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Intercontinental Play-offs

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off

October 15, 1989, Barranquilla, Colombia - 1 - 0

October 30, 1989, Ramat Gan, Israel - 0 - 0

Colombia qualified.

Qualified teams

Team	Appearance	Streak	Previous appearance
(c)	10th	5	1986
	6th	1	1982
	8th	3	1986
	14th	14	1986
	2nd	1	1982
	2nd	1	1962
	1st	1	-
	8th	1	1982
	2nd	1	1934
	9th	3	1986
(h)	12th	8	1986
	5th	1	1978
	1st	1	-
	3rd	2	1986
	5th	1	1970
	7th	5	1986
	8th	4	1986
	8th	1	1978
	1st	1	-
	4th	1	1950
	9th	2	1986
	7th	3	1986
	12th⁽¹⁾	10	1986
	8th	1	1982

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

¹ Includes appearances by pre-division Germany. This is their 10th appearance as West Germany.

Notes

The United Arab Emirates secured their berth in the final competition with four draws, one win and only four goals (two of them in their 2-1 win over China PR) in five matches in the Asian Final round.

Unfortunately, the enduring image of several qualifiers in the late 80s marred the image of football, distorting what the game is really about. After the Netherlands vs Germany FR match, just 11 short days after the tragedy in Hillsborough, Dutch riot police had to intervene in the streets of Rotterdam; similar scenes ensued when Chile met Brazil in Santiago in August of that year.

One of the most bizarre incidents in World Cup history occurred on September 3, 1989. During the Brazil vs Chile qualifying match at Rio De Janeiro's Maracanã stadium, Brazil led Chile 1-0, and Chile neede to win to stay in the tournament. Around the 67-minute mark, Chilean goalkeeper Roberto "Cóndor" Rojas fell to the pitch with an apparent injury to his forehead.

A firework, thrown from the stands by a Brazilian fan named Rosemary de Mello, was smouldering about a yard away. After carrying Rojas off the pitch, the Chilean players and coaches refused to return claiming conditions were not safe, and the match went unfinished.

After studying video footage of the match showing that the firework had not made contact with Rojas, FIFA awarded Brazil a 2-0 win, eliminating Chile from the 1990 World Cup. As a result, Chile were barred from the qualifiers of the 1994 Football World Cup, and Rojas was banned for life. The ban was lifted in 2001.

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