Spot the ball! Roberto Baggio's fires his shoot-out shot high over the bar

Despite concerns about taking the event to the United States, huge crowds ensured the tournament was a success.

Brazil were the only non-European team to make the quarter-finals and they held off all comers, including Holland and Sweden before beating the Italians.

There were no British representatives at the finals for the first time since the 1938 tournament in France.

As well as in the stands, the hosts did their bit on the pitch by reaching the second round, where they lost 1-0 to the eventual champions.

However, there was a shocking postscript to their group match against highly-fancied Colombia when Andres Escobar was murdered on his return to the troubled South American country.

Escobar had conceded an own goal in a surprise 2-1 defeat.

And controversy followed Argentina's Diego Maradona who was banned mid-tournament after taking illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.

The tournament saw far better football than the dour play that affected Italia 90 and it got off to an entertaining start in the group stages.

The Republic of Ireland scored a notable 1-0 win over Italy courtesy of a Ray Houghton goal, and the Italians were lucky to scrape through the group stages.

Arrigo Sacchi's constant tactical changes unsettled the team, and the eventual finalists were also fortunate to beat Nigeria to reach the quarter-finals.

Ireland fell in the last 16, losing 2-0 to Holland, the same stage at which Argentina, unable to cope without Maradona, missed out after losing 3-2 to Romania.

The match of the last eight saw Brazil beat Holland 3-2, but the shock of the round came when Bulgaria came back from a one-goal deficit to beat Germany 2-1 through goals from the legendary Hristo Stoichkov and Iordan Letchkov.

In the semi-finals, Brazil squeezed past an inspired Swedish team thanks to a single Romario goal to set up a final against fellow three-time winners Italy.

Penalty showdown

The Azzurri beat Bulgaria 2-1 with a brace from Roberto Baggio.

The "Divine Ponytail" was Italy's best player throughout the tournament, but the final was to be a bitter disappointment for the skilful Italian.

The two sides had an audience of 94,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, but they produced a poor match that was out of keeping with the rest of the tournament.

It finally became the first World Cup to be decided on penalties.

After Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro had missed for Italy, and Marcio Santos had failed for Brazil, Dunga stroked the ball home to put the pressure on Baggio.

If he missed, it was all over for Italy.

He fired a rasping shot high over the bar and into the crowd to hand Brazil their record-breaking fourth title.

Group A

USA 1-1 Switzerland Romania 3-1 Colombia Switzerland 4-1 Romania

USA 2-1 Colombia Romania 1-0 USA Colombia 2-0 Switzerland

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Romania	3	2	0	1	5	5	6
Switzerland	3	1	1	1	5	4	4
United States	3	1	1	1	3	3	4
Colombia	3	1	0	2	4	5	3

Group B

Cameroon 2-2 Sweden Brazil 2-0 Russia Sweden 3-1 Russia

Brazil 3-0 Cameroon Brazil 1-1 Sweden Russia 6-1 Cameroon

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Brazil	3	2	1	0	6	1	7
Sweden	3	1	2	0	6	4	5
Russia	3	1	0	2	7	6	3
Cameroon	3	0	1	2	3	11	1

Group C

Germany 1-0 Bolivia Spain 2-2 South Korea Germany 1-1 Spain

South Korea 0-0 Bolivia Spain 3-1 Bolivia Germany 3-2 South Korea

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Germany	3	2	1	0	5	3	7
Spain	3	1	2	0	6	4	5
South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	2
Bolivia	3	0	1	2	1	4	1

Group D

Argentina 4-0 Greece Nigeria 3-0 Bulgaria Argentina 2-1 Nigeria

Bulgaria 4-0 Greece Nigeria 2-0 Greece Bulgaria 2-0 Argentina

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Nigeria	3	2	0	1	6	2	6
Bulgaria	3	2	0	1	6	3	6
Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	3	6
Greece	3	0	0	3	0	10	0

Group E

Rep of Ireland 1-0 Italy Norway 1-0 Mexico Italy 1-0 Norway

Mexico 2-1 Rep of Ireland Rep of Ireland 0-0 Norway Italy 1-1 Mexico

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Mexico	3	1	1	1	3	3	4
Republic of Ireland	3	1	1	1	2	2	4
Italy	3	1	1	1	2	2	4
Norway	3	1	1	1	1	1	4

Group F

Belgium 1-0 Morocco Holland 2-1 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 2-1 Morocco

Belgium 1-0 Holland Holland 2-1 Morocco Saudi Arabia 1-0 Belgium

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Holland	3	2	0	1	4	3	6
Saudi Arabia	3	2	0	1	4	3	6
Belgium	3	2	0	1	2	1	6
Morocco	3	0	0	3	2	5	0

Second round:
Germany 3-2 Belgium
Spain 3-0 Switzerland
Sweden 3-1 Saudi Arabia
Romania 3-2 Argentina
Holland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Brazil 1-0 United States
Italy 2-1 Nigeria (aet)
Bulgaria 1-1 Mexico (aet)
(Bulgaria won 3-1 on penalties)

Quarter-finals:
Italy 2-1 Spain
Brazil 3-2 Holland
Bulgaria 2-1 Germany
Sweden 2-2 Romania (aet)
(Sweden won 5-4 on penalties)

Semi-finals:
Brazil 1-0 Sweden
Italy 2-1 Bulgaria

3rd/4th place play-off:
Sweden 4-0 Bulgaria

Final:
Brazil 0-0 Italy
(Brazil won 3-2 on penalties)

Leading scorer: Six goals: Oleg Salenko (Russia) & Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)