Updates and news
The aim of this website is to collect all knowledge and analyse every aspect of Italia'90. The site is a work in progress, with also published material being continuously revised. We will only begin publishing match reports from the 1990 World Cup tournament when all qualifiers have been covered. We are currently (December 2018) focusing on the UEFA group 3 qualifiers, which will remain our priority for a while yet. To receive updates on twitter, follow @1990qual (kaltz) and @1990worldcup (domizio).
NEW: Austria 3-0 East Germany
15 November 1989, Vienna: The hosts would not dally about; they'd immediately set their sights on the tall Dirk Heyne in the GDR goal. Well aware of the fact that a win was their only chance to progress, they were on song right from the word 'go'. A minute into the contest, Andreas Ogris, the Austria Vienna forward who had yet to score in the qualification, set up team captain Manfred Zsak for an effort on goal from 30 yards out. Not that the shot duly worried the stopper, as Zsak did not hit it particularly well, but the tone had been set. There was plenty of aggression and intensity about the hosts. Read more...
RECENT: Soviet Union 2-0 Turkey
15 November 1988, Simferopol: The two starting elevens also suggested ideas about the respective formations. However, there was a chance of mixing things up for the hosts, where 4-5-1/4-3-3 and 4-4-2 remained the most likely options, whilst Tınaz had changed his numbers combinations around during the entire qualification according to the strengths of the opponent. This may not always have been seen as a strong point, but in their case, the manager had been able to use it to their advantage. In Hakan, Rıdvan and Feyyaz they seemed to have three strikers from the off, so pre-match indications suggested that Turkey would try to attack the Soviets. Bold or foolish against a side boasting a 16-2-0 home record in qualifications matches throughout the 1980s, and who had indeed never lost a home qualifying tie for the European Championships or the World Cup (45-6-0)? This stat truly reveals the size of the task ahead of Turkey. Read more . . .
Previously: Czechoslovakia v Switzerland (1989 qualifier)
Previously: Wales v Netherlands (1989 qualifier)
From the news archives
One of the last qualifiers covered at italia1990.com is Iceland v Soviet Union (31 August 1988) from UEFA Group 3, provided by our writer kaltz. In addition, we give you the front page of the Icelandic newspaper Tíminn on 1 September 1988: Its headline was not so much the result of the game, as the naked person who entered the field. This is allegedly the first time this phenomenon was witnessed on a sporting venue on the island. Insular innocence stolen.
(Thanks to @WC1930blogger for notifying us.)
From the archives
Greece 1-4 Yugoslavia, 5 April 1989
Group 7 Quiz
Who was Belgium's regular libero in the 1990 qualifiers? And who's the player in the middle in the picture to the right? Test your UEFA qualification group 7 knowledge with our new group 7 quiz. Difficulty level: Difficult . . .