3378. Germany Mascot in World Cup USA 1994

The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988. Brazil became the first nation to win four World Cup titles when they beat Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 0–0 after extra-time, the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties. The official match ball was the Adidas Questra.
Average attendance was nearly 69,000, which broke records that had stood since the 1966 World Cup. The total attendance of nearly 3.6 million for the final tournament remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams (and from 52 to 64 matches) in the 1998 World Cup.

Greece, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. Russia, competing independently for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, also qualified. The defending champions West Germany were united with their East German counterparts, representing the unified Germany for the first time since the 1938 World Cup.
As a result of the strong performances by African teams in 1990, Africa was given three spots for the first time, with Nigeria joining Cameroon and Morocco.
Norway qualified for the first time since 1938, Bolivia for the first time since 1950, and Switzerland for the first time since 1966.
The qualification campaigns of both Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were affected by political events. The nation of Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992, and the team completed its qualifying group under the name Representation of Czechs and Slovaks (RCS), but failed to reach the finals. Yugoslavia was suspended from international competition in 1992 as part of United Nations sanctions against the country as a result of the Yugoslav Wars. The sanctions were not lifted until 1994, by which time it was no longer possible for the team to qualify.
Among other teams who failed to qualify were Uruguay and England. Hungary and France both failed to qualify for the second successive tournament, while Scotland failed to qualify for the first time since 1970. This was the only World Cup finals since 1938 for which neither England nor Scotland (nor indeed any of the British home nations) qualified. The Republic of Ireland qualified for a second successive World Cup finals tournament.