History

1994 Host: USA Champion: Brazil

Brazil became the first four-time champion in World Cup history, defeating Italy in the first-ever World Cup final decided by penalty kicks. After a scoreless tie in regulation and overtime, Brazil won on penalty kicks, 3-2, as Roberto Baggio sent Italy's final shot over the crossbar.

Brazilian striker Romario earned the "Golden Ball Award" as the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Russia's Oleg Salenko and Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov shared scoring honors with six goals each. Salenko set a single-game World Cup record with five goals in an opening-round win over Cameroon.

Bulgaria knocked off Argentina and Germany before losing to Sweden in the third-place game.

The United States upset Colombia in the opening round and advanced to the second round for the first time in 44 years before losing to Brazil, 1-0.

Colombian defender Andres Escobar, whose "own goal" contributed to his country's loss to the United States and early dismisal, was later murdered in Medellin, Colombia.

Argentine superstar Diego Maradona returned to international play and was expelled from the World Cup after two games for testing positive for banned substances.

The 52-game attendance of 3,567,415 shattered the all-time record set just four years earlier in Italy.