The Brazilian team dedicated its win to the late triple Formula One motor racing world champion Ayrton Senna, who had died in an accident at that year's San Marino Grand Prix in Italy two and a half months before.

[7] With Italy finishing as runner-up, Franco Baresi became the sixth player in history to win gold, silver, and bronze medals at the FIFA World Cup.

[8] Previously this result was attained in 1974 by five German players: Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, Wolfgang Overath, Jürgen Grabowski, and Horst-Dieter Höttges.

[11] The remaining 22 spots were decided through qualifying rounds held between March 1992 and November 1993, organized by the six FIFA confederations and involving 147 teams.

[24] Italy was also listed before the tournament among the teams likely to win the competition, although some commentators thought it might face difficulties based on poor recent performance and a failure to adapt to manager Arrigo Sacchi's preferred attacking style of play.

[31] Romário gave Brazil the lead after 39 minutes after receiving a pass from Dunga and hitting it past goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell.

[32] In the second half, Cameroon defender Rigobert Song was sent off for a foul on Raí, before Márcio Santos and Bebeto added two further goals to complete a 3–0 win for Brazil.

Kennet Andersson gave Sweden the lead after 23 minutes, following a long pass by Tomas Brolin, before Romário equalized for Brazil with his third goal of the tournament shortly after halftime.

[36][37] Both teams finished the game with 10 players after Brazil's Leonardo was dismissed for a violent foul while American Fernando Clavijo was sent off for a second bookable offense.

[51] Nigeria took the lead after 25 minutes, when Finidi George took a corner which bounced off Italian defender Paolo Maldini before being struck into the goal by Emmanuel Amunike.

Dino Baggio gave Italy the lead after 25 minutes, before Spain's José Luis Caminero equalized shortly before the hour mark.

[56] Bulgaria had defeated previous champions Argentina and Germany en route to the match, but Italy started strongly, Roberto Baggio scoring twice in the first half hour for a 2–0 lead.

[58] Italy then had one of its best chances of the game when Daniele Massaro beat two defenders and was one-on-one with Taffarel, but his shot was directed straight at the Brazilian goalkeeper.

Italy made a replacement after 34 minutes, bringing Luigi Apolloni on for Roberto Mussi, moving Maldini to the left back position.

Late in the half, Brazil had two further opportunities, first from Romario, whose shot was parried by Gianluca Pagliuca without falling to a Brazilian player, and then through Branco whose free kick was saved.

[60] In the second half, Cafu hit a shot that went across the face of the Italian goal, after which Bebeto attempted to score with a header which was saved by Pagliuca and was also flagged for offside.

[61] Other than that, the second half was largely devoid of scoring chances, as Brazil was unable to break through the center-back pairing of Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini.

Romário had another chance early in extra time after Pagliuca made an ill-advised decision to come for a cross, leaving the goal exposed, but Bebeto was unable to find him.

Zinho had a chance on the stroke of halftime in extra time, hitting his shot well from inside the area, but Pagliuca saved well at his near post.

In the second half of extra time, Romário missed a golden chance to hand Brazil the trophy, as Cafu had found him inside the six yard box.

In what would become an infamous moment in World Cup History, Baggio blazed his penalty over the bar, in similar fashion to Baresi, and this gave Brazil its fourth title.

[5][63] In 2023, Italian comedy metal band Nanowar of Steel and Joakim Brodén released a song called "Pasadena 1994" about the match.