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 (August 2019) working on UEFA qualifiers Group 5.
Next up:
– Scotland v France, 1989 qualifier (by Domizio)
– Austria v Italy, 1989 friendly (by kaltz)
To receive updates on twitter, please follow @1990qual (kaltz) and @1990worldcup (Domizio).
Italy 1-0 Denmark (friendly)
22 February 1989, Pisa: As per norm in most games at any level, the two teams set about in a cautious manner, although there are early indications that the visitors do wish to take the game to their hosts. They are the first ones to arrive at something akin to a goalscoring opportunity, when the pacy and tricky Brian Laudrup accepts a raking ball in the forward direction by Denmark's central midfielder Jan Mølby. It's been played over the top of the hosts' defence, and Laudrup's been alert enough to arrive just ahead of his marker Riccardo Ferri and nod the ball past him. He sets his sight on goal from halfway inside the Italian half of the pitch and races through, but under pressure and pushed somewhat wide, he can only hit a right-footed shot well over the crossbar. Read more...
Yugoslavia 3-2 France (UEFA group 5)
19 November 1988, Belgrade
– Platini new manager for France
– The return of Tigana ... and Sušić returning for Yugoslavia
– New man Savićević inspires win
– MoM: Stéphane Paille
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 . . .