1994 FIFA World Cup Group A

Group A of the 1994 FIFA World Cup was one of six groups of four teams competing at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. The first matches were played June 18, 1994, and the final games took place simultaneously on June 26, 1994.

The group consisted of one CONCACAF team, the host United States; two UEFA teams, Switzerland and Romania; and one CONMEBOL team, Colombia. Romania won the group, Switzerland finished second and also the United States advanced to the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams. Colombia finished last with only three points.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Switzerland	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
3	United States (H)	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	Colombia	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3

Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts

Matches

All times listed are local time.

United States vs Switzerland

June 18, 1994

11:30 a.m. EDT (UTC–4)

United States	1–1	Switzerland
Wynalda 45'	Report	Bregy 39'

Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac

Attendance: 73,425

Referee: Francisco Oscar Lamolina (Argentina)

United States

Switzerland


GK	1	Tony Meola (c)
SW	17	Marcelo Balboa
RB	4	Cle Kooiman
CB	22	Alexi Lalas
LB	20	Paul Caligiuri
RM	9	Tab Ramos
CM	16	Mike Sorber
CM	5	Thomas Dooley
LM	6	John Harkes	89'
CF	8	Earnie Stewart		81'
CF	11	Eric Wynalda		58'
Substitutions:
FW	10	Roy Wegerle		58'
FW	13	Cobi Jones		81'
Manager:
Bora Milutinović


GK	1	Marco Pascolo
SW	5	Alain Geiger (c)
RB	2	Marc Hottiger
CB	4	Dominique Herr	26'
LB	3	Yvan Quentin
CM	6	Georges Bregy
CM	10	Ciriaco Sforza		77'
RW	8	Christophe Ohrel
AM	16	Thomas Bickel		72'
LW	7	Alain Sutter
CF	11	Stéphane Chapuisat
Substitutions:
FW	14	Nestor Subiat	82'	72'
MF	21	Thomas Wyss		77'
Manager:
Roy Hodgson

Assistant referees:
Ernesto Taibi (Argentina)
Venancio Zarate (Paraguay)
Fourth official:
Ernesto Filippi (Uruguay)

Colombia vs Romania

June 18, 1994

4:30 p.m. PDT (UTC–7)

Colombia	1–3	Romania
Valencia 43'	Report	Răducioiu 16', 89' Hagi 34'

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Attendance: 91,856

Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

Colombia

Romania


GK	1	Óscar Córdoba
DF	2	Andrés Escobar
DF	4	Luis Herrera	36'
MF	6	Gabriel Gómez
MF	10	Carlos Valderrama (c)	53'
FW	11	Adolfo Valencia
MF	14	Leonel Álvarez	70'
DF	15	Luis Carlos Perea
MF	19	Freddy Rincón
DF	20	Wilson Pérez
FW	21	Faustino Asprilla
Manager:
Francisco Maturana


GK	12	Bogdan Stelea
DF	2	Dan Petrescu
DF	3	Daniel Prodan
DF	4	Miodrag Belodedici
MF	5	Ioan Lupescu
MF	6	Gheorghe Popescu
MF	7	Dorinel Munteanu
FW	9	Florin Răducioiu	39'	90'
MF	10	Gheorghe Hagi (c)
MF	11	Ilie Dumitrescu		68'
DF	14	Gheorghe Mihali
Substitutions:
DF	13	Tibor Selymes		68'
DF	19	Corneliu Papură		90'
Manager:
Anghel Iordănescu

Assistant referees:
Yousif Abdullah Al Ghattan (Bahrain)
Douglas Micael James (Trinidad and Tobago)
Fourth official:
Alberto Tejada Noriega (Peru)

Romania vs Switzerland

June 22, 1994

4:00 p.m. EDT (UTC–4)

Romania	1–4	Switzerland
Hagi 35'	Report	Sutter 16' Chapuisat 52' Knup 65', 72'

Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac

Attendance: 61,428

Referee: Neji Jouini (Tunisia)

Romania

Switzerland


GK	12	Bogdan Stelea
DF	2	Dan Petrescu
DF	3	Daniel Prodan
DF	4	Miodrag Belodedici	47'
MF	5	Ioan Lupescu	40'	85'
MF	6	Gheorghe Popescu
MF	7	Dorinel Munteanu
FW	9	Florin Răducioiu
MF	10	Gheorghe Hagi (c)
MF	11	Ilie Dumitrescu		70'
DF	14	Gheorghe Mihali	32'
Substitutions:
MF	15	Basarab Panduru		85'
FW	16	Ion Vlădoiu	73'	70'
Manager:
Anghel Iordănescu


GK	1	Marco Pascolo
DF	2	Marc Hottiger
DF	3	Yvan Quentin
DF	4	Dominique Herr
DF	5	Alain Geiger (c)
MF	6	Georges Bregy
MF	7	Alain Sutter	71'
DF	8	Christophe Ohrel	83'
FW	9	Adrian Knup
MF	10	Ciriaco Sforza
FW	11	Stéphane Chapuisat
Substitutions:
MF	16	Thomas Bickel	71'
MF	20	Patrick Sylvestre	83'
Manager:
Roy Hodgson

Assistant referees:
Abdel-Magid Hassan (Egypt)
Davoud Fanaei (Iran)
Fourth official:
Joël Quiniou (France)

Note: Switzerland's fourth goal is also credited to Georges Bregy.

United States vs Colombia

The match between the United States and Colombia saw the United States go ahead with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half, when Colombia defender Andrés Escobar turned a United States cross into his own net. The United States extended their lead early in the second half through Earnie Stewart, while Colombia could only manage a last-minute consolation goal and ended up losing 2–1. The result was the first United States's win in a FIFA World Cup match since the historic United States vs. England in 1950 and meant Colombia's chances of qualifying were no longer in their own hands; they would need to beat Switzerland and hope the United States would beat Romania to stand any chance of qualifying as one of the four best third-placed teams. Escobar was blamed for the result by Colombians and was murdered shortly after returning to the country.^[1]

June 22, 1994

4:30 p.m. PDT (UTC–7)

United States	2–1	Colombia
Escobar 34' (o.g.) Stewart 52'	Report	Valencia 90'

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Attendance: 93,869

Referee: Fabio Baldas (Italy)

United States

Colombia


GK	1	Tony Meola (c)
RB	21	Fernando Clavijo
CB	17	Marcelo Balboa
CB	22	Alexi Lalas	48'
LB	20	Paul Caligiuri
RM	9	Tab Ramos
CM	16	Mike Sorber
CM	5	Thomas Dooley
LM	6	John Harkes
CF	11	Eric Wynalda		61'
CF	8	Earnie Stewart		66'
Substitutions:
FW	10	Roy Wegerle		61'
MF	13	Cobi Jones		66'
Manager:
Bora Milutinović


GK	1	Óscar Córdoba
RB	4	Luis Herrera
CB	2	Andrés Escobar
CB	15	Luis Carlos Perea
LB	20	Wilson Pérez
RM	19	Freddy Rincón
CM	14	Leonel Álvarez
CM	5	Hernán Gaviria
LM	10	Carlos Valderrama (c)
CF	21	Faustino Asprilla		45'
CF	7	Antony de Ávila	24'	45'
Substitutions:
FW	9	Iván Valenciano		45'
FW	11	Adolfo Valencia		45'
Manager:
Francisco Maturana

Assistant referees:
Domenico Ramicone (Italy)
El Jilali Rharib (Morocco)
Fourth official:
Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)

Switzerland vs Colombia

To have any hope of finishing in third place and a potential spot in the round of 16, Colombia needed a victory against already-qualified Switzerland and also needed Romania to lose to the United States in the match played simultaneously. They took the lead through Hernán Gaviria just before half-time. Gaviria was substituted late in the second half, and his replacement, Harold Lozano, doubled Colombia's lead in the last minute of the game. Colombia had managed the win they needed, but were eliminated anyways because the United States lost 1-0 to Romania.

June 26, 1994

1:00 p.m. PDT (UTC–7)

Switzerland	0–2	Colombia
	Report	Gaviria 44' Lozano 90'

Stanford Stadium, Stanford

Attendance: 83,401

Referee: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)

Switzerland

Colombia


GK	1	Marco Pascolo
DF	2	Marc Hottiger
DF	3	Yvan Quentin
DF	4	Dominique Herr
DF	5	Alain Geiger (c)
MF	6	Georges Bregy	85'
MF	7	Alain Sutter		82'
DF	8	Christophe Ohrel
FW	9	Adrian Knup	39'	82'
MF	10	Ciriaco Sforza
FW	11	Stéphane Chapuisat
Substitutions:
FW	14	Nestor Subiat		82'
FW	15	Marco Grassi		82'
Manager:
Roy Hodgson


GK	1	Óscar Córdoba
DF	2	Andrés Escobar
DF	3	Alexis Mendoza
DF	4	Luis Herrera
MF	5	Hernán Gaviria	58'	79'
MF	10	Carlos Valderrama (c)	62'
FW	11	Adolfo Valencia		64'
MF	14	Leonel Álvarez	80'
MF	19	Freddy Rincón
DF	20	Wilson Pérez
FW	21	Faustino Asprilla
Substitutions:
FW	7	Antony de Ávila		64'
MF	8	Harold Lozano		79'
Manager:
Francisco Maturana

Assistant referees:
Carl-Johan Meyer Christensen (Denmark)
Douglas Micael James (Trinidad and Tobago)
Fourth official:
Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)

United States vs Romania

Starting the day in third place, Romania needed a win to guarantee progress to the knockout phase. The United States' qualification was already practically assured, but a win for the host nation would open the door for Colombia to qualify ahead of Romania with victory over Switzerland. That prospect was ended in the 18th minute, when Dan Petrescu scored the only goal of the game for Romania, giving them a 1–0 win. Combined with Switzerland's loss to Colombia, that meant Romania finished top of the group, followed by Switzerland, with the United States in third. The United States ultimately qualified as one of the four best third-placed teams.

June 26, 1994

1:00 p.m. PDT (UTC–7)

United States	0–1	Romania
	Report	Petrescu 18'

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Attendance: 93,869

Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

United States

Romania


GK	1	Tony Meola (c)
DF	5	Thomas Dooley
MF	6	John Harkes	41'
FW	8	Earnie Stewart
MF	9	Tab Ramos		64'
FW	11	Eric Wynalda
MF	16	Mike Sorber		75'
DF	17	Marcelo Balboa
DF	20	Paul Caligiuri
DF	21	Fernando Clavijo	48'
DF	22	Alexi Lalas
Substitutions:
FW	10	Roy Wegerle		75'
MF	13	Cobi Jones		64'
Manager:
Bora Milutinović


GK	1	Florin Prunea
DF	2	Dan Petrescu	73'
DF	3	Daniel Prodan
DF	4	Miodrag Belodedici		89'
MF	5	Ioan Lupescu
MF	6	Gheorghe Popescu
MF	7	Dorinel Munteanu
FW	9	Florin Răducioiu	62'	84'
MF	10	Gheorghe Hagi (c)
MF	11	Ilie Dumitrescu
DF	13	Tibor Selymes
Substitutions:
DF	14	Gheorghe Mihali		89'
MF	18	Constantin Gâlcă		84'
Manager:
Anghel Iordănescu

Assistant referees:
Jan Dolstra (Netherlands)
Gordon Dunster (Australia)
Fourth official:
Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

References

^ "Andres Escobar: The World Cup Own Goal That Killed the Colombia Defender". May 13, 2018. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.

"1994 FIFA World Cup USA". fifa.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
"World Cup 1994". RSSSF. Retrieved July 31, 2014.