Every FIFA World Cup Ranked From Worst To Best

Soundtracked by “Nessun Dorma”, Italia ‘90 may have been one of the poorest World Cup’s in terms of the average number of goals per game, but it was gripping drama nonetheless.

There were underdog stories like Cameroon who, led by Roger Milla, put African football on the map after beating Argentina in the tournament opener. They made it all the way to the quarter-finals along with Jack Charlton’s rag-tag Republic of Ireland team, playing at their first World Cup, who secured their place after beating Romania on penalties.

Cameroon ultimately went out to England, losing 3-2 to Bobby Robson’s likeable side and the sizeable talents of one Paul Gascoigne. Ireland, meanwhile, lost out to hosts Italy, going down 1-0 courtesy of a goal from eventual golden boot winner Toto Schillaci.

Yet despite holding their own in semi-finals against West Germany and Argentina respectively, England and Italy would suffer the heartbreak of losing on penalties in the semi-final.

While England’s loss is best remembered for Gascoigne’s tears after receiving a booking that ruled him out of the potential final and spot kick misses from Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle’s, Italy’s defeat was best remember for Argentina’s cynical approach, led by villain-in-chief Diego Maradona.

There was something karmic about the resulting final with the South Americans – by then reduced to playing with nine men - going down 1-0 to a dubious penalty, awarded five minutes from time and converted by Andreas Brehme. Maradona cried at full-time. It was glorious.