1990 FIFA World Cup qualification

1990 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Teams 116 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 314
Goals scored 735 (2.34 per match)

The qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of African Football (CAF), CONCACAF (North America), CONMEBOL (South America), Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 24 places at the tournament. A total of 116 teams entered the competition, with Italy, as the host, and Argentina, as the holders, qualifying for the final tournament automatically.

The first qualification match was played on 17 April 1988 and qualification concluded on 19 November 1989. A total of 735 goals were scored in the 314 qualifying matches (an average of 2.34 per match).

Entrants

At the close of entries on 30 September 1987, a total of 116 football associations had entered the 1990 World Cup. This entry figure was five lower than those who originally entered the previous tournament, a then-World Cup record of 121 entries.

Three entries were rejected by FIFA: Belize, Mauritius and Mozambique due to their outstanding financial debts, taking the number of accepted teams down to 113. With both the hosts and holders qualifying automatically for the finals, 111 nations were therefore scheduled to compete in the qualifying competitions. Gabon, Oman and Pakistan were making their first appearance in the World Cup.

Seven teams withdrew during the qualifying process without playing a match: Bahrain, India, Lesotho, Maldives, Rwanda, South Yemen and Togo. Mexico were disqualified from the CONCACAF qualifying tournament before playing a game for fielding overage players in the qualifying stages for the 1988 Olympic Games. Libya withdrew during the CAF group stage, but had already (successfully) played in the first round. Therefore the total number of teams playing at least one fixture during the 1990 World Cup competition was 105 (103 during qualifying).

Continental zones

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

Group 1 - Romania qualified.
Group 2 - Sweden and England qualified.
Group 3 - Soviet Union 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.
Group 1 - Uruguay qualified.
Group 2 - Colombia advanced to the Intercontinental Play-off.
Group 3 - Brazil qualified.
Costa Rica and United States qualified.
Egypt and Cameroon qualified.
Korea Republic and United Arab Emirates qualified.
Israel advanced to the Intercontinental Play-off.

Qualified teams

Final qualification status
  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member

The following 24 teams qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup:

Team Qualified as Appearance
in finals
Consecutive
Streak
Previous best performance
 ArgentinaChampions 10th5 Winners (1978, 1986)
 AustriaUEFA Group 3 Runners-up 6th1 (Last: 1982) Third place (1954)
 BelgiumUEFA Group 7 Winners 8th3 Fourth place (1986)
 BrazilCONMEBOL Group Winners 14th14 Winners (1958, 1962, 1970)
 CameroonCAF Final Round Winners 2nd1 (Last: 1982) Group Stage (1982)
 ColombiaCONMEBOL v OFC Play-off Winners 2nd1 (Last: 1962) Group Stage (1962)
 Costa RicaCONCACAF Championship Winners 1st1
 CzechoslovakiaUEFA Group 7 Runners-up 8th1 (Last: 1982) Runners-up (1934, 1962)
 EgyptCAF Final Round Winners 2nd1 (Last: 1934) First Round (1934)
 EnglandUEFA Group 2 Runners-up 9th3 Winners (1966)
 ItalyHosts 12th8 Winners (1934, 1938, 1982)
 South KoreaAFC Final Round Winners 3rd2 Group Stage (1954, 1986)
 NetherlandsUEFA Group 4 Winners 5th1 (Last: 1978) Runners-up (1974, 1978)
 Republic of IrelandUEFA Group 6 Runners-up 1st1
 RomaniaUEFA Group 1 Winners 5th1 (Last: 1970) Group Stage (1930, 1934, 1938, 1970)
 ScotlandUEFA Group 5 Runners-up 7th5 Group Stage (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986)
 SpainUEFA Group 6 Winners 8th4 Fourth place (1950)
 SwedenUEFA Group 2 Winners 8th1 (Last: 1978) Runners-up (1958)
 United Arab EmiratesAFC Final Round Runners-up 1st1
 United StatesCONCACAF Championship Runners-up 4th1 (Last: 1950) Third place (1930)
 UruguayCONMEBOL Group Winners 9th2 Winners (1930, 1950)
 Soviet UnionUEFA Group 3 Winners 7th3 Fourth place (1966)
 YugoslaviaUEFA Group 5 Winners 8th1 (Last: 1982) Fourth place (1930, 1962)
 West GermanyUEFA Group 4 Runners-up 12th10 Winners (1954, 1974)

Qualification process

The qualification process commenced in April 1988 and was completed in November 1989. The draw for all qualifying groups and opening round ties in the six confederations was held in Zürich, Switzerland on 12 December 1987.

The distribution by confederation for the 1990 World Cup was:

Confederation Teams started Teams eliminated Teams qualified Qualifying end date
UEFA32+11913+118 November 1989
CAF2624219 November 1989
CONCACAF1614219 November 1989
CONMEBOL9+163+130 October 1989
AFC2624228 October 1989
OFC55030 October 1989
Total114+29222+219 November 1989

Confederation qualification processes

Africa (CAF)

(26 teams competing for 2 berths)

The CAF qualification process began with a preliminary round between June and November 1988, which eliminated eight nations.

These eight nations were joined in the second round by the eight highest-ranked African nations, which had received a bye in the first round. These sixteen teams were placed in four groups of four teams, with the group winners advancing to the final round. The four group winners of these groups were paired together into two knockout ties played during October and November 1989. The winners of these two-legged ties qualified for the World Cup finals.

Final Round

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Algeria  0–1  Egypt 0–0 0–1
Cameroon  3–0  Tunisia 2–0 1–0

Asia (AFC)

(26 teams competing for 2 berths)

The group stage draw divided the teams into six groups, which were played from January to July 1989, from which the six group winners advanced to the final group stage. The final group stage saw the six remaining teams play each other once during a sixteen day tournament based in Singapore in October 1989. The two top teams qualified for the World Cup finals.

Final standings

Pld Pts
 South Korea 58
 United Arab Emirates 56
 Qatar 55
 China PR 54
 Saudi Arabia 54
 North Korea 53

Europe (UEFA)

(32 teams competing for 13 berths, host Italy occupying a 14th berth)

The European qualification games started in May 1988 and ended in November 1989. Seven groups were drawn in total: Four of five teams and three groups of four contested the European qualifying competition. As a result, the seven group-winners qualified, while the runners-up in the groups containing five teams also qualified directly. The runners-up in the three groups containing only four teams were ranked, with the two teams with the best records also qualifying. The weakest runner-up missed out (Denmark).

Group 1
Team
Pld Pts
 Romania 6 9
 Denmark 6 8
 Greece 6 4
 Bulgaria 6 3
Group 2
Team
Pld Pts
 Sweden 6 10
 England 6 9
 Poland 6 5
 Albania 6 0
Group 3
Team
Pld Pts
 Soviet Union 8 11
 Austria 8 9
 Turkey 8 7
 East Germany 8 7
 Iceland 8 6
Group 4
Team
Pld Pts
 Netherlands 6 10
 West Germany 6 9
 Finland 6 3
 Wales 6 2
Group 5
Team
Pld Pts
 Yugoslavia 8 14
 Scotland 8 10
 France 8 9
 Norway 8 6
 Cyprus 8 1
Group 6
Team
Pld Pts
 Spain 8 13
 Republic of Ireland 8 12
 Hungary 8 8
 Northern Ireland 8 5
 Malta 8 2
Group 7
Team
Pld Pts
 Belgium 8 12
 Czechoslovakia 8 12
 Portugal 8 10
  Switzerland 8 5
 Luxembourg 8 1

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

(16 teams competing for 2 berths)

The 1989 CONCACAF Championship also served as the qualifying process for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The Championship consisted of a two-round qualification process, with the ten lowest-ranked CONCACAF teams beginning in the first round. The five teams winning their two-legged ties were joined by the five highest ranked CONCACAF teams in the second round, which again consisted of teams being drawn into two-legged ties. The five victorious teams contested the final tournament of the 1989 Championship, which took the form of a group with teams playing each other on a home-and-away basis. The eventual CONCACAF champions and runners-up qualified for the World Cup finals.

Final standings

Team Pld Pts
 Costa Rica 811
 United States 811
 Trinidad and Tobago 89
 Guatemala 63
 El Salvador 62

Oceania (OFC)

(5 teams competing for 0 or 1 berth; a play-off against CONMEBOL determines which confederation gets the extra berth)

The qualification process began in November 1988 with the strongest two OFC teams facing the two other OFC entrants in two-legged ties. The two winners advanced to a final group where they were joined by non-OFC members Israel who were allocated to this zone for the qualification process. The three teams played each other on a home-and-away basis with the team finishing top of the group advancing to a final play-off against the third best South American team for a World Cup berth.

Final standings

Team Pld Pts
 Israel 45
 Australia 44
 New Zealand 43

Israel advanced to the CONMEBOL–OFC play-off, against Colombia, the 3rd best team of CONMEBOL.

South America (CONMEBOL)

(9 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths; a play-off against OFC determines which confederation gets the extra berth, with Argentina also qualifying automatically as World Cup holders)

The CONMEBOL qualification process featured three groups of three teams being drawn to play on a home and away basis, with matches played from July to September 1989. The records of the three group winners were ranked, with the two best teams qualifying directly for the World Cup finals; the group winner with the weakest record advanced to a play–off against the winner of the OFC zone.

Group 1
Team
Pld Pts
 Uruguay 4 6
 Bolivia 4 6
 Peru 4 0
Group 2
Team
Pld Pts
 Colombia 4 5
 Paraguay 4 4
 Ecuador 4 3
Group 3
Team
Pld Pts
 Brazil 4 7
 Chile 4 5
 Venezuela 4 0

Colombia advanced to the CONMEBOL–OFC play-off, against Israel, the winner of the OFC zone.

Intercontinental play-off

There was one inter-confederation play-off to determine the final qualification spot for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals. The play-off was contested by the CONMEBOL group winners with the weakest record and the winner of the OFC zone.

CONMEBOL–OFC play-off

15 October 1989
15:30 UTC−5
Colombia  1–0  Israel
Usuriaga  73'

30 October 1989
19:00 UTC+2
Israel  0–0  Colombia
Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Edgardo Codesal (Mexico)

Colombia won 1–0 on aggregate and qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Notes

References

External links

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