The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on 4 July 1988. Brazil became the first nation to win four World Cup titles when they beat Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 0–0 after extra-time, the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties. The official match ball was the Adidas Questra.

Average attendance was nearly 69,000, which broke records that had stood since the 1966 World Cup. The total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the final tournament remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams (and from 52 to 64 matches) in the 1998 World Cup.

Greece, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. Russia, competing independently for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, also qualified. The defending champions West Germany were united with their East German counterparts, representing the unified Germany for the first time since the 1938 World Cup.

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champions are Spain, who won the 2010 tournament.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month  this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

The 19 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Italy, with four titles; Germany, with three titles; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two titles each; and England, France, and Spain, with one title each.

A World Cup is a type of sporting competition.

World Cup commonly refers to:

World Cup can also refer to:

Roberto Baggio (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto ˈbaddʒo]; born 18 February 1967) is a retired Italian footballer. Widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of all time (4th in the Fifa internet poll; member of the Fifa World Cup Dream Team), Baggio won both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1993. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups. He is also one of the top 5 all-time goalscorers for Italy. Baggio is known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career and his Buddhist background.

Baggio was born in Caldogno, Veneto, son of Matilde and Fiorindo Baggio. He has 7 brothers and sisters. As a youngster, he always had a keen interest in the sport of football and played for a local youth club over a period of nine years. After scoring 6 goals in one game, Baggio was persuaded by scout Antonio Mora to join Vicenza. Roberto Baggio is the 6th of 8 siblings. His younger brother, Eddy Baggio, was also a footballer who played 86 games in Serie B. After his serious career threatening injury in 1985, Baggio, formerly a Roman Catholic, converted to Buddhism. He married his girlfriend Andreina Fabbi in 1989, in a traditional Roman Catholic ceremony however. They have a daughter, Valentina, and two sons, Mattia and Leonardo.

Roger Milla (born Albert Roger Mooh Miller, 20 May 1952) is a retired Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.

He achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forward-playing footballers have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 World Cup, the most memorable of which came in the match against Colombia when he dispossessed the showboating Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita 35 yards from goal, going on to score in the empty net with Higuita stranded. He helped the Cameroon team reach the quarter-finals.

He is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named one of the 125 greatest living football players in 2004 by the legendary Brazilian football player Pelé.