Matches were played across five venues in as many cities: Faro, Braga, Guimarães, Porto and Lisbon.

Nigeria originally won the bid to host but was stripped of its right after found guilty for committing age fabrication.

They reached the final, where a record attendance of 127,000 witnessed the hosts defeat Portuguese-speaking rival Brazil 4–2 on penalties to secure their second consecutive title.

The Soviet Union made its last FIFA tournament appearance, as the country was dissolved later that year.

Serhiy Scherbakov of Soviet Union won the Golden Boot award for scoring five goals.