5 Most Iconic Players from the 1990 FIFA World Cup

I recently finished reading One Night in Turin by Pete Davies, which is considered one of the best books ever written on football. Originally published as All Played Out, Davies captures England’s journey at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. From hosting a mega-event to hooliganism to player-media relations and much more, the book immaculately covers every aspect of the game. And it also inspired me to write something about the tournament itself.

Now Italia 90 is not considered the best of FIFA World Cups. Far from it, the tournament was infamous for its dull football, low goal-scoring, erroneous refereeing, and one of the worst finalists ever in Argentina. But like any World Cup, it had its fair share of protagonists. And tonight, we look at a few of them. Just to make things more interesting, we’ll limit to one player from each team.

Honorable Mention — Enzo Scifo (Belgium), Dragan Stojkovic (Yugoslavia), Tomas Skuhravy (Czechoslovakia)

5. Roger Milla (Cameroon)

Think of it this way, you are an England fan, and your team is leading 1–0 against Cameroon. But a 38-year-old warming up on the side suddenly strikes fear in your heart, that must amount to something. In terms of lighting up the atmosphere, no footballer played a bigger role in 1990 than Roger Milla, Cameroon’s super-sub.

Thanks to Milla’s braces against Romania and Colombia, Cameroon became the first African nation to reach the QF of a World Cup. They very nearly achieved an upset in the QF too, with Milla earning a penalty and then setting up another goal. But Cameroon’s (and Milla’s) achievements weren’t just about the victories per se. The Indomitable Lions brought a flair and energy to the game that made them everybody’s second favorite team. And talking about iconic, who can forget Milla’s celebratory hip-swaying dance around the corner flag.

4. Paul Gascoigne (England)

England in the ’80s was facing a massive hooliganism problem. And because of that, anything or anyone close to football developed a bad reputation in the country. But all that changed with the 1990 World Cup.

Paul Gascoigne, or Gazza as he is fondly called, wasn’t even sure of a spot in the England squad a few months prior. But come June 1990 and the 23-year-old was carrying the team on his back. An audacious Cruyff turn against the Dutch themselves, a last-minute free-kick assist against the Belgians, Gazza was everywhere. At his best, he was unplayable even for the most formidable sides.

But his (and England’s) journey came to a tragic end against the Germans in the SF. Gazza was booked for a foul against Thomas Berthold, his second yellow card of the tournament. Despite knowing he would miss the next match, a teary-eyed Gazza kept delivering his best only for England to lose on penalties. Gazza’s tears humanized footballers in the eyes of the general public. He made it cool to be a football fan again and drove an entire country football crazy.

3. Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)

Calling Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci a one-season wonder is a little harsh I would say. He had a stellar season at Messina in Serie B, which led to Juventus signing him, where he surpassed the 20-goal mark in his debut year. But not even Toto himself would have believed what would follow next in 1990.

The Italians were under a lot of pressure to deliver a good result at home. While they had a strong team, Schillaci proved to be the X-factor that carried them far in the tournament. He started on a high with a header against Austria in the opening matchday. Baring USA then, he scored against every team he faced in the World Cup. Toto’s strike partnership with Roberto Baggio gave them an exciting edge that was usually missing in the ultra-defensive Italian set-up.

While Italy bowed out to Argentina in the semi-final, Schillaci finished the tournament as the top scorer with 6 goals. This included headers, tap-ins, and even a screamer against Uruguay. He also became one of the rare few to win both Golden Ball and Golden Boot at the World Cup.

2. Lothar Matthaus (West Germany)

West Germany was on the verge of reunification. After finishing runners-up in 82 and 86, this was the last chance for their football team to win the elusive Jules Rimet trophy, before they were heralded into a new future. But in typical German fashion, even this historic backdrop couldn’t make their journey romantic enough. Simply because they were the best team in the World Cup, and won it without ever going in deficit.

Captaining them to victory was Lothar Matthaus, the original LM 10. Matthaus, part of a star-studded Inter team, was considered one of the best midfielders of his generation. But to become the greatest midfielder in history, he needed a decisive moment, which came in the form of Italia 90.

In West Germany’s very first match against Yugoslavia, Matthaus set the stage with two long-range hits from outside the box. He followed this with one strong performance after another, bossing the midfield and controlling the whole play. With two more goals, he finished the tournament as West Germany’s top scorer, despite having lethal strikers like Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann ahead. Rightfully so, he was awarded the 1990 Ballon d’Or.

1. Diego Maradona (Argentina)

My initial thought was to talk about Sergio Goycochea, Argentina’s backup keeper who helped them win consecutive penalty shootouts in the QF and SF. Or Claudio Caniggia, who was their sole goalscorer during the knockout stages. But how can we not talk about Diego Maradona!

While his supporters will argue that El Diego once again took Argentina narrowingly close to a win, the ground reality was far ugly. More often than not he was either being bludgeoned by opposition markers or wailing in front of the officials. He also replicated his hand of God against the USSR, this time in his own penalty, but somehow the referee failed to penalize it.

Perhaps his only moment of true genius came against Brazil when Maradona took the ball in his own half and danced with it past multiple players to create a one-on-one for Caniggia. And with that, he added to his CV the greatest assist in World Cup history. To put it succinctly, Maradona in 1990 wasn’t what Maradona used to be in 1986. But to the world, he was still Maradona. And it doesn’t get more iconic than Maradona, does it?

Thank you for reading. Hope you had fun!!