<P> The 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, saw the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties, with Brazil edging out Italy . FR Yugoslavia was excluded due to UN sanctions in connection with the war in Bosnia - Herzegovina . Russia (taking the place of the Soviet Union which had disintegrated over 1990 and 1991) played their first World Cup competition as a new country, with Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia as the other first - timers . Diego Maradona was banned mid-tournament after testing positive for recreational drugs: without him, Argentina were eliminated in the last 16 by Romania . Colombian defender Andrés Escobar was murdered ten days after scoring an own - goal against the hosts in a first - round match that eliminated Colombia . </P> <P> The total attendance for the tournament of nearly 3.6 million remains the biggest in World Cup history . Oleg Salenko of Russia became the first player to score five goals in a single World Cup finals game in his country's 6--1 group stage win over Cameroon . In the same match, 42 - year - old Roger Milla scored the only goal for Cameroon, becoming the oldest player ever to score in a World Cup match . Hristo Stoichkov shared the Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer in the tournament with Oleg Salenko (six goals), as well as earning the Bronze Ball award . He led Bulgaria to a shock 2 - 1 win over defending champions Germany in the quarter - finals, before losing 2--1 to Italy and losing the third place play - off to Sweden, 4--0 . </P> <P> The 1998 World Cup was held in France, and had an expanded format featuring 32 teams . Iran beat the Maldives in qualification by the widest margin in World Cup history--17--0 . In the finals, the second round match between France and Paraguay witnessed the first golden goal in World Cup history, as Laurent Blanc scored to give the hosts a 1--0 victory . Hosts France won the tournament by beating Brazil 3--0 in the final, as the scorer of four goals in the tournament, Ronaldo, appeared to be less than a hundred percent in the match, and was unable to make any impact . Debutants Croatia finished a commendable third . </P> <P> The 2002 World Cup was the first to be held in Asia, and was hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan . Togolese Souleymane Mamam became the youngest player ever to take to a World Cup preliminary game field at 13 years, 310 days in Lomé in May 2001 . Australia defeated American Samoa 31--0 in a preliminary match--a new record for the margin of victory, and the highest - scoring match ever . The tournament was a successful one for teams traditionally regarded as minnows, with South Korea, Senegal and the United States all reaching the last eight . Brazil beat Germany 2--0 in the final for their fifth title . Turkey's, Hakan Sukur made history by scoring the earliest World Cup goal of all time against South Korea at only 11 seconds . </P>

When did world cup expand to 32 teams