The 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in the United States from 17 June to 17 July 1994. Since the country had no major records in football -they main sports had always been baseball, basketball and American football among others- FIFA's decision to hold the event in the United States over the bids of Morocco and Brazil surprised many due to the common perception that the United States had a relative lack of football (soccer) fans. Despite these misgivings, in terms of attendance the event was a success. The average attendance of nearly 69,000 shattered a record that had stood since 1950, due to the bigger capacities of the American stadiums compared to those of Europe and Latin America. Many football celebrities took part in the competition, such as Romario, who was awarded with the Golden Ball – and whose team, Brazil, won their title on a penalty shootout against Italy at Pasadena´s Rose Bawl Stadium.