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 (November 2019) working on UEFA qualifiers Group 5 and also revising qualifying Group 1.

Next up:
– France v Yugoslavia, April 1989 qualifier

– Romania v Denmark, November 1989 qualifier (kaltz)

To receive updates on twitter, please follow @1990qual (kaltz) and @1990worldcup (Domizio).

Norway 3-1 Cyprus (UEFA Group 5)

21 May 1989, Oslo: Our tape contains no action until about 15 minutes in, which is when Cyprus have attempted a long ball in the forward direction for striker Khristos Koliantris, one of their two goalscorers in the home defeat against Scotland, only to see him beaten to it by Norway defender Rune Bratseth, the tall, elegant West Germany based number 4. Are the visitors seeing long balls in the forward direction as a means to get under the skin of the Norwegians? Koliantris may have some pace to burn, but the same surely applies for said Bratseth. The angle of the pass from Yiangoudakis had not favoured the striker, and feeding balls into the channels might prove more fruitful. Read more...

Scotland 2-0 France (UEFA group 5)

The Hampden crowd treated to some bagpipe tunes

8 March 1989, Glasgow:

 – Johnston and McCoist win key battle against Sonor and Silvestre

– Johnston's 4th and 5th goal in the qualification

– New French midfield (Blanc, Laurey, Durand) takes time to settle in

Read more . . .

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.)

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 . . .

Read more . . .

About

Italia1990.com is a website dedicated to the 1990 FIFA World Cup. With the aim to collect all knowledge and analyse every aspect of Italia'90, this website will for a considerable time be a work in progress. The website publishes everything worth to know not only about the World Cup tournament itself, but also its build-up, including the qualification stage. While match info and statistics are important, this website will also stress match reports, anecdotes and analyses. Two writers are currently engaged in the project, kaltz (@1990qual) and domizio (@1990worldcup).

This website, italia1990.com, is non-commercial and unofficial, and not affiliated to FIFA. Header image: The sky above Stadio Olimpico, and the area around the stadium (1989).