1994 FIFA World Cup - Firsts

Firsts

• The United States–Switzerland match on 18 June at the Pontiac Silverdome was the first to be played indoors in World Cup history: grass was grown by Michigan State University and was the first time since 1965 (the failed attempt at Astrodome) that natural turf was used in an indoor stadium in the United States. To date, only Sapporo Dome in 2002 and Veltins Arena in 2006 later followed to host indoors game in World Cup history.
• Oleg Salenko of Russia became the first player to score 5 goals in a single World Cup finals game in his country's group stage win over Cameroon. Cameroon's Roger Milla also scored a goal in the same match, becoming the oldest player to score a goal in a World Cup. At 42, he was also the oldest player to appear in a World Cup match.
• Gianluca Pagliuca of Italy became the first goalkeeper to be sent off in a World Cup Finals match, dismissed for handling outside his area against Norway.
• Brazil's 11 goals in their seven games was a record for the lowest average goals scored per game for any World Cup-winning side, but this was bettered by Spain's eight goals in 2010. The three goals Brazil conceded in those seven games was at the time also the lowest average goals conceded per game, although this was subsequently surpassed by France in 1998, Italy in 2006, and Spain in 2010.
• The finals were the first time FIFA decided to experiment with the style of jerseys worn by officials, foregoing the traditional black. They could choose between burgundy, yellow or white shirts depending on what was feasible to avoid a clash of colors with the two competing teams. This custom has since been followed, but with black shirts added as an option later.
• The finals were also the first time that players had their shirt numbers printed on the center front of the shirt, as well as their names printed in the back of their jerseys in a World Cup, just like other American sports did, to make their identification easier for sportscasters. This custom followed from Euro 92, and has followed ever since.
• The finals were the first to award 3 points for a win in the group stage to motivate teams to play an attacking style.
• In disciplinary matters, for the first time yellow cards accumulated in the group stage were wiped clean after its completion, and players start with a clean slate at the start of the knockout stage. Previously, players were suspended for one match if accumulating two yellow cards throughout the tournament. Now, players were suspended for one match if accumulating two yellow cards in the group stage, or two yellow cards in the knockout stage. This was in response to the situation in 1990, where players such as Claudio Caniggia and Paul Gascoigne were suspended for the later matches.
• The 1994 World Cup revolutionized television coverage of sports in the United States through the sponsored scoreboard and game clock that were constantly shown on screen throughout the game. Television sports coverage in the US had long been dependent upon commercial breaks; a feature suitable for sports such as baseball, basketball, ice hockey and American football (which all have breaks in the action), but long considered incompatible with soccer, due to the long stretches of uninterrupted play. Variations on it were quickly incorporated into virtually every team sports broadcast by the decade's end. The first American pro sports broadcaster to do this was Fox Sports which won national rights to broadcast the NFL's National Football Conference from CBS 6½ months before the 1994 World Cup began.

• The 1994 world cup final is the only scoreless final in World Cup history. It was the first to be tied after extra time and decided by a penalty shootout, the other being the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.