Romário scored 5 World Cup goals in eight matches over two tournaments, 1990 and 1994, and all of his goals came in 1994. That year Brazil won their first title in 24 years, he received the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, and no Brazil player scored more.
World Cup record by tournament
| Tournament | Age | Matches | Goals | Brazil’s finish | Award or note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990, Italy | 24 | 1 | 0 | Round of 16 | — |
| 1994, United States | 28 | 7 | 5 | Winners | Golden Ball; All-Star Team |
| 1998, France | — | 0 | 0 | Runners-up | Left out of the squad |
| 2002, South Korea and Japan | — | 0 | 0 | Winners | Not selected |
| Total | 8 | 5 |
Every World Cup match
| Date | Stage | Opponent | Brazil’s result | Minutes | Goals | Romário in the match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 June 1990 | First round | Scotland | 1-0 | 65 or 66 | 0 | Started; replaced by Müller |
| 20 June 1994 | First round | Russia | 2-0 | 90 | 1 | Opening goal, 26th minute |
| 24 June 1994 | First round | Cameroon | 3-0 | 90 | 1 | Opening goal, 39th minute |
| 28 June 1994 | First round | Sweden | 1-1 | 90 | 1 | Equalizer, 47th minute |
| 4 July 1994 | Round of 16 | United States | 1-0 | 90 | 0 | — |
| 9 July 1994 | Quarter-final | Netherlands | 3-2 | 90 | 1 | Opening goal, 53rd minute |
| 13 July 1994 | Semi-final | Sweden | 1-0 | 90 | 1 | Only goal, a header, 80th minute |
| 17 July 1994 | Final | Italy | 0-0, won 3-2 on penalties | 120 | 0 | Scored Brazil’s second shoot-out kick |
1990: one match, about an hour
Romário went to Italy injured. In FIFA’s 2024 interview with Bebeto, the two are described as tipped to star at the 1990 tournament, and Bebeto recalls that Romário was recovering from ankle surgery and was not fit when he played. He was named in the squad and played a single match, the group game against Scotland on 20 June, and was replaced after roughly an hour. Müller, who came on for him, scored the only goal of a 1-0 win. Brazil lost to Argentina in the round of 16; Romário did not play, and Bebeto says he was not fit enough to make the bench.
1994: five goals, seven matches, no substitutions
Brazil played the first seven qualifiers without Romário. He was called back for the last one, against Uruguay, and scored both goals in a 2-0 win. He then started all seven matches of the tournament, in a front two with Bebeto, and was never substituted. Ronaldo Nazário was also in Brazil’s squad and did not play a match.
The group stage: one goal in each match
Romário scored the first goal against Russia, in the 26th minute, and the first against Cameroon, in the 39th minute of a 3-0 win. Against Sweden, Brazil were a goal down to Kennet Andersson’s first-half goal, and Romário equalized in the 47th minute; the 1-1 draw kept Brazil unbeaten in the group.
The knockout matches
United States, round of 16. Romário did not score. Leonardo was sent off in the first half, Brazil played the second half with ten men, and Bebeto scored the only goal of the match.
Netherlands, quarter-final. Romário opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, and Bebeto made it 2-0. The Netherlands scored twice to level at 2-2, and Branco won the match with a free kick late in the game.
Sweden, semi-final. Romário scored the only goal of the match, a header in the 80th minute.
The final
Brazil and Italy played 120 minutes without a goal, and it was the first World Cup final decided on penalties. Romário took Brazil’s second kick and scored. Brazil won 3-2 after Roberto Baggio, Italy’s fifth taker, put his kick over the bar.
Records and rankings
Five goals in seven matches is 0.71 goals per match in 1994. Brazil scored 11 goals in the tournament, and Romário and Bebeto scored eight of them, five and three, a total FIFA’s statistical review of Brazil’s 1994 title also gives for the pair. The other three came from Raí (a penalty against Russia), Márcio Santos and Branco, so no Brazil player scored more than Romário.
Across the whole tournament, his five goals left him one behind Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko, who scored six each, and level with three other players.
| Rank | Player | Country | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | 6 |
| 1= | Oleg Salenko | Russia | 6 |
| 3= | Romário | Brazil | 5 |
| 3= | Jürgen Klinsmann | Germany | 5 |
| 3= | Roberto Baggio | Italy | 5 |
| 3= | Kennet Andersson | Sweden | 5 |
In the vote for the Golden Ball, the award FIFA presents to the tournament’s best player, Romário finished first, Roberto Baggio second, with the Silver Ball, and Hristo Stoichkov third, with the Bronze Ball. Baggio, like Romário, scored five goals in seven matches.
Five goals leave Romário five short of the ten that would place him on the list of players with ten or more World Cup goals. He scored in the group stage, the quarter-final and the semi-final. He did not score in the round of 16, and in the final he scored only in the shoot-out, which does not count as a goal.
What the numbers don’t show
Romário does not appear in Brazil’s 1998 or 2002 squad lists at RSSSF. In 1998 a calf injury did not respond to treatment, and coach Mário Zagallo dropped him from the squad a week before the opening match, The New York Times reported. Brazil reached the final without him, with Ronaldo Nazário and Bebeto in attack, and lost to France. In 2002 coach Luiz Felipe Scolari left him out of the squad; according to the BBC, Scolari traced the decision to Romário’s refusal to report for the 2001 Copa América in Colombia. Brazil won the 2002 tournament without him. His last match for Brazil was a friendly against Guatemala in April 2005.
Sources and method
- RSSSF: 1990 and 1994 matches, 1998 and 2002 squads, Brazil’s qualifiers.
- FIFA: Golden Ball winners; interviews with Romário (2022) and Bebeto (2024); Brazil’s 1994 title in numbers (2024); Baggio at the Rose Bowl.
- Press: The New York Times (1998 injury), Reuters (1994 All-Star Team), BBC (Scolari), Associated Press (last match).
- Wikipedia: Romário, 1990 Group C, 1994 Group B, knockout stage, final, 1994 World Cup, World Cup awards.
Goals count only at final tournaments, penalties included; shoot-out kicks do not. Goals per match are rounded to two decimals. See how we verify.
Where the sources disagree
FIFA’s minutes come from its match centres: Brazil v Russia, Brazil v Cameroon, Brazil v Sweden, Brazil v United States, Netherlands v Brazil, Sweden v Brazil.
| Event | FIFA | RSSSF | Wikipedia | Used here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romário’s goal v Russia | 26’ (match centre); “after 26 minutes” (Brazil’s 1994 title in numbers) | 27’ | 26’ | 26th minute |
| Romário’s goal v Sweden, group stage | 46’ | 47’ | 47’ | 47th minute |
| Romário’s goal v Netherlands | 53’ | 52’ | 53’ | 53rd minute |
| Bebeto’s goals v Cameroon, United States, Netherlands | 73’, 72’, 63’ | 72’, 73’, 61’ | 73’, 72’, 63’ | Not given |
| Romário replaced v Scotland, 1990 | — | 66’ | 65’ (group page); 66 minutes played (Romário article) | About an hour; 65 or 66 minutes |
| His 1990 injury | Recovering from ankle surgery (Bebeto interview) | — | Broken fibula three months before the tournament | Injured; Bebeto’s account |
| Assist for Bebeto v United States | Two assists in 1994, matches not named (Golden Ball page) | — | Romário’s pass (knockout-stage page) | Not stated |
| Semi-final goal | Header (Romário interview) | Not marked as a header | Header | Header |