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 2019) working on UEFA qualifiers Group 5 and also cautiously stepping across the Atlantic in order to have a closer look at the CONMEBOL section of the Italia '90 qualification.
Next up:
– France v Yugoslavia, April 1989 qualifier
– Venezuela v Brazil, July 1989 qualifier
To receive updates on twitter, please follow @1990qual (kaltz) and @1990worldcup (Domizio).
Romania 3-1 Denmark (UEFA Group 1)
15 November 1989, Bucharest: The game has not settled properly as the visitors attack through the free-kick succeeding Hagi's booking. Denmark midfield man Jan Bartram, who had given a fine account of himself throughout the qualification, and certainly this calendar year, hit a diagonal ball from the left into the area, where striker Flemming Povlsen managed to escape a dreadfully executed offside plan from the Romanian team. All of a sudden, Povlsen found himself one on one with the gigantic Silviu Lung, and it appears that he is also equipped with a certain stress level. Povlsen has a moment of indecision which sees him deliever something of a mix between a shot and a lob, and eventually it is a comfortable parry for Lung to make once he's come off his goalline. The hosts could breathe a big, collective sigh of relief having avoided going a goal behind inside the game's opening five minutes.
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...
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 . . .