Change
Needed
The 1990 World
Cup is turning point for the competition. The biggest
tournament is a very poor spectacle. The beautiful game
is becoming ugly. Something needs to change.
What went wrong? One problem is that many teams played
very defensively. The average number of goals per game
was the lowest ever.
Teams could defend for 120 minutes and then try and win
on penalties. Argentina reached the final having only
scored only five goals in seven games.
Some very ‘dirty’ play
led to a then record number of red cards. After
the competition FIFA began a campaign to encourage
more open play.
Format
One of the problems of the
1990 World Cup was the format. 16 teams qualified for
the knockout competition: six group winners, six second
place finishers, and four best third place finishers.
This complicated arrangement did not encourage
attacking football.