Spurs at the World Cup | 1990

It all starts with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa at the famous Azteca (now known as the Estadio Banorte) in Mexico City on Thursday, 11 June (8pm UK).

Co-hosted by USA and Canada, this will be the 23rd World Cup, the inaugural tournament back in 1930.

As we build up to the summer’s football fest, we take a look at the Spurs players to feature on the greatest stage of all…

Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker

After tough times in the 1980s, this was the tournament that breathed life back into football in England – and the Three Lions’ storming run to the 1990 World Cup semi-finals was built around the goals of Gary Lineker and the artistry of Paul Gascoigne – two Spurs players at the peak of their powers.

The duo had just helped us finish third in Division One, Lineker top-scoring with 24 goals in the league and Gazza providing so many assists from midfield.

Lineker was the reigning Golden Boot winner, having scored six times at the 1986 tournament as England were knocked out by Argentina and Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal in the quarter-finals in Mexico.

Gascoigne, who only featured in two qualifying matches for the 1990 event, was something of an unknown on the international scene before the tournament began.

By the end, he was a superstar.

It was ace marksman Lineker who got England off to a flyer in their first group match against Republic of Ireland in Cagliari, scoring after just eight minutes. Ireland hit back to force a 1-1 draw, before England shared a goalless draw with Holland in the next match, Gazza stealing the show with his own ‘Cruyff turn’ against the Dutch.

Needing a win in their final game with Egypt, Gascoigne’s free-kick was headed home by Mark Wright for the only goal and England were on the march.

A second round clash with Belgium was then decided by David Platt’s 119th-minute volley as penalties loomed large – Gazza again the creator – before Lineker displayed nerves of steel in the quarter-final showdown with Cameroon, coolly slotting home two penalties to help England overcome the Indomitable Lions 3-2, again, Gazza on hand with the assist for the winner.

That set up a mouth-watering semi-final against West Germany in Turin, in what many believe was the match of the tournament. In a game which ebbed and flowed and had the world gripped, Lineker again came to England’s rescue 10 minutes from time to level the scores at 1-1 after Andreas Brehme had put the Germans ahead.

Gascoigne was majestic in midfield, pulling the strings throughout but one of the most dramatic moments of the tournament came in the ninth minute of extra time, when Gazza was booked for a foul on Thomas Berthold. It was his second of the competition and would rule him out of the final had England reached it. The image of Gascoigne close to tears as Lineker signals to the bench and says, ‘have a word with him’ is an iconic memory.

As it was, England lost 4-3 on penalties, despite Lineker converting the first of the shoot-out, and missed out on the World Cup Final. Gascoigne – for his performances and his emotions – had endeared himself to football fans across the nation and the greatest player of his generation had arrived.

After Italia 90, the pair inspired us to our FA Cup win in 1991. Gazza’s displays were at another level as he scored against Oxford, Portsmouth, Notts County, followed by his iconic free-kick against Arsenal in the semi-final at Wembley, where Lineker scored twice in a 3-1 win. We lifted the trophy via a 2-1 win against Forest, Gazza famously damaging his knee in the first half. That meant a move to Lazio was delayed by a year.

One of the all-time greats, a mercurial talent, Gazza scored 33 goals in 112 appearances for us between 1988-1992 while Lineker, one of the greatest strikers of all-time, scored 80 goals for us in 138 appearances between 1989-1992.