The 1994 FIFA World Cup knockout stage was the second and final stage of the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
finals in the United States. The stage began on July 2, 1994, and ended with the final at the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
on July 17, 1994.
Sixteen teams advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a
single-elimination
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
style tournament: The top two teams from each of the six groups, as well as the
best four third-placed teams. In the round of 16, the four third-placed teams played against four of the group winners from group A-D, with the remaining two group winners from group E and F taking on two of the group runners-up; the remaining four runners-up were paired off against each other. The winners of the eight round of 16 matches were then paired together in the quarter-finals, the winners of which played against each other in the semi-finals.
The ties in each round were played over a single match; in the event that scores were level after 90 minutes, the teams would play an additional 30 minutes of
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, divided into two 15-minute halves, to determine the winner. If the scores remained level after extra time, the teams would contest a
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
.
A
third place match
A third place match, game for third place, bronze medal game or consolation game is a single match that is included in many sporting knockout tournaments to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing third and fourth. The tea ...
was also held on the day before the final, between the two losing teams of the semi-finals.
Qualified teams
The top two placed teams from each of the six groups, plus the four best-placed third teams, qualified for the knockout stage.
Based on group results, the matches would be the following in Round of 16:
The pairings for matches 1, 4, 6 and 7 depend on who the best third places are that qualify for the round of 16. The following table published in Section 28 of the tournament regulations, shows the different options to define the rivals of the winners of groups A, B, C and D.
Bracket
Round of 16
Germany vs Belgium
Spain vs Switzerland
Saudi Arabia vs Sweden
A quick goal by
Dahlin in the first half and two second half goals by
K. Andersson saw Sweden go through to the quarterfinals. The Saudi players could answer with just one goal scored by
Al-Ghesheyan 5 minutes from the end.
Romania vs Argentina
Two quick goals by Dumitrescu and one more by Hagi in the second half sealed the victory for Romanians. After Batistuta's penalty kick and Balbo's rebound Argentina attacked desperately but couldn't score for the third time.
Hagi, Dumitrescu too hot to handle
/ref>
Netherlands vs Republic of Ireland
Brazil vs United States
Nigeria vs Italy
Mexico vs Bulgaria
Quarter-finals
Italy vs Spain
Netherlands vs Brazil
Bulgaria vs Germany
Romania vs Sweden
Semi-finals
Bulgaria vs Italy
Sweden vs Brazil
Third place play-off
Final
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knockout Stage
1994 FIFA World Cup
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
Mexico at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Brazil at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Italy at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Nigeria at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Netherlands at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Republic of Ireland at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Spain at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Argentina at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
United States at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Germany at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Switzerland at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Sweden at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Bulgaria at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Belgium at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Saudi Arabia at the 1994 FIFA World Cup