Four Nations Tournament (1988)

1988 Four Nations Tournament

Berlin's Olympic Stadium
Tournament details
Host country West Germany
Dates 31 March – 2 April 1988
Teams 4 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s) 1
Final positions
Champions  Sweden
Runners-up  Soviet Union
Third place  West Germany
Fourth place  Argentina
Tournament statistics
Matches played 4
Goals scored 11 (2.75 per match)
Top scorer(s) Soviet Union Oleh Protasov
(2 goals)

The Four Nations Tournament (German: Vier-Länder-Turnier) was an invitational association football competition between four national teams, organized by the German Football Association (DFB). The teams of West Germany, Soviet Union, Argentina and Sweden competed against one another at Berlin Olympic Stadium, West Berlin from 31 March to 2 April 1988, with Sweden the tournament winners.

Background

West Germany had been elected host country of the 1988 European Football Championship finals, but because of the ongoing division of Germany, the tournament organizers the DFB had decided against using West Berlin as a venue for any of the matches at the finals. This was a compromise taken at the insistence of the Soviet Union and East Germany. The German Football Association, led by Hermann Neuberger, accepted and thus West Germany secured the right to host the Championship.

As compensation to West Berlin, whose Olympic Stadium would no longer be used at that tournament, a Four Nations Tournament was staged there over Easter 1988.

Tournament

The teams invited to the tournament, along with 1986 World Cup runners-up West Germany, were:

Two semi-finals were played, with the winners facing each other in the final, and the losers playing a third-place playoff. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, there was no extra time but an immediate penalty shootout.

The first semi-final was between West Germany and Sweden and was of middling quality. After 90 minutes the scores were level at 1–1, and the Swedish side pulled through 4–2 on penalties. In the second semi, the Soviet Union beat Argentina 4–2 to reach the final.

Lothar Matthäus (West Germany)

The third-place game was won by West Germany against Argentina, with Lothar Matthäus scoring the only goal of the game. The final was won by outsiders Sweden, 2–0, against the Soviet Union, making Sweden the tournament winners.

Reception

Although the tournament included exciting teams and world-class players, like Argentina with Claudio Caniggia and Diego Maradona, as well as European Championship favorites the USSR (with star players Oleh Protasov and Rinat Dasayev), it didn't catch the public's imagination. The matches were often poorly-attended, the Argentine team's performance as world champions was disappointing, and the Germans, using the tournament as a dress rehearsal for their home Euro tournament, were average at best on the pitch.

In the end the European Championships were an organizational success and very well-attended. West Germany eventually reached the semi-finals, the USSR were beaten finalists, but had been beaten in the Four Nations by Sweden, who had not even qualified.

Nasazzi's baton

In the course of this tournament, in the unofficial international football championship Nasazzi's Baton, the baton changed hands twice. Firstly on 31 March 1988, the Soviet Union won the baton from Argentina. But, two days later, the Swedish team took the baton from the Soviet team by winning the Four Nations Tournament final. To this day, the USSR's two-day tenure as holder of Nasazzi's baton remains the shortest single championship reign in the baton's history.

Results

Semi-finals Final
31 March – West Berlin
  West Germany   1 (2)  
  Sweden (pen.)  1 (4)  
 
2 April – West Berlin
      Sweden  2
    Soviet Union  0
Third place
31 March – West Berlin 2 April – West Berlin
  Argentina  2   West Germany  1
  Soviet Union  4     Argentina  0

Semi-finals

31 March 1988
Argentina  2–4  Soviet Union
Troglio  18'
Maradona  67'		 Protasov  62', 79' (pen.)
Zavarov  14'
Lytovchenko  15'
Olympiastadion, West Berlin
Attendance: 17,000
Referee: Joël Quiniou (France)

31 March 1988
West Germany  1–1  Sweden
Allofs  42' Truedsson  74'
  Penalties  
Thon
Eckstein
Matthäus
Völler 		2–4 Prytz
P. Larsson
Strömberg
Thern
Olympiastadion, West Berlin
Attendance: 23,709
Referee: Lajos Hartmann (Hungary)

Third-place playoff

2 April 1988
West Germany  1–0  Argentina
Matthäus  30'

Final

2 April 1988
Sweden  2–0  Soviet Union
Eskilsson  52'
Holmquist  88'

See also

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