As the 1990 FIFA World Cup approached, football was at a bit of a crossroads. The sport’s problem with hooliganism was threatening to get out of control, and the shocking events of the Heysel Stadium disaster were still at the forefront of people’s minds.
What football needed was a World Cup that could unify supporters across the globe, and also provide a different lens through which the general public could perceive the sport. You would have had a hard time finding a better host than Italy for such a task, and over the course of a few short weeks, football would undergo an image change that would shape the landscape of the beautiful game in the decades to come.
A change in tune
Those perusing the World Cup betting for the 2022 edition of the tournament in Qatar will always look back with fondness for Italia ’90. The world’s best footballers were converging amid a glorious Italian summer, ready to do battle for the trophy Diego Maradona so memorably held aloft four years previous.
For those watching on television, a strange but alluring sound greeted their ears as the coverage for the tournament got underway. The BBC selected Luciano Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma as their theme song for the World Cup, a tune which would truly get the hairs on the back of every football fan’s neck standing to attention.
Suddenly, a classy tone had been lent to the sport that, for more than a decade, had become a cesspit of violence and hooliganism. That, combined with the great amphitheatres that were the Italian stadiums chosen for the World Cup, made for a summer of elite sporting action.
A summer of emotion
Every World Cup is defined by the stories it throws forth — a sense that the narrative behind different events goes beyond the mere results on the pitch. From Roger Milla’s heroics for Cameroon and his memorable dance at the corner flag, and TotòSchillaci’s goalscoring glut for the hosts, to Packie Bonner’s penalty save for an inspired Ireland side, and Paul Gascoigne’s iconic tears in the semi-final, this was a World Cup that provided a cocktail of emotions.
For every moment of ecstasy, there was one of agony, in a World Cup that was defined by moments in time. The football was largely of a poor standard, but it was not the quality of the play that made Italia ’90 such a spectacle. Football was evolving before the fans’ very eyes, bursting forth from its chrysalis into a more refined incarnation.
England’s performances in the tournament under Bobby Robson represented the Three Lions’ best result at a World Cup since they had won it in 1966. Of course, it ended in heart-breaking fashion with a penalty shootout defeat to Germany in the semi-finals. Germany would go on to win the tournament, giving truth to Gary Lineker’s proclamation after England’s agonising defeat: “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
A turning point
There’s no denying that Italia ’90 helped shape the landscape of football as we know it today. There was a realisation that a more polished version of the sport would help attract new audiences and shake off the negative reputation football was beginning to carve for itself. This was especially true in Britain, where The Sunday Times had once famously described football as “a slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people.”
To look at the modern game today is to see a different one to that which we knew before Italia ’90. Footballers are better paid and held in higher regard, stadiums and infrastructure are of a far higher standard, and fan violence is significantly less common, if not entirely wiped out of the game just yet.
This winter’s World Cup in Qatar will be a strange event. As well as the oddity of having a World Cup take place in November and December, the long list of human rights concerns surrounding the host nation have raised serious concerns, and the nature of having the tournament slap bang in the middle of the domestic season means teams have less time to prepare, which could affect the quality of football on show.
Don’t be surprised if there are quite a few football supporters wistfully harking back to Italia ’90 as their World Cup comfort blanket.
