England take on Croatia in the semifinal of the FIFA World Cup 2018 on Wednesday.
England take on Croatia in the semifinal of the FIFA World Cup 2018 on Wednesday. It will be the England’s first World Cup semifinal in 28 years. A lot has changed in that time. Here's a look at 8 things that didn’t exist in July 1990 when England played West Germany in the World Cup semifinal.
Croatia
Croatia has existed in one form or other since the times of the Roman Empire. However, the present nation of Croatia did not exist when England were playing the 1990 semifinal. The modern nation of Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991 and have come to officialy exist since 8 October 1991.
Social Media
There was no #ItsComingHome hashtags as the social media didn't exist. There was no Twitter, Instagram or Facebook- the rise of social media is perhaps one of the most obvious examples of how the world has changed since 1990.
Google
Google did not exist when England faced West Germany in the semifinal in 1990. The search engine reated by Larry Page and Sergey Brin wasn't launched until September 1998 - after France had become World Champions.
Germany
Okay, Germany did exist. But not in the current form. England lost to West Germany in 1990 semifinal. It means that there were two German nations at that time. While the Berlin Wall had fallen in November 1989, East and West Germany were not officially reformed into one country again until October 3, 1990.
Three Lions
Every England fans is chanting the three magic words 'It's Coming Home' this time. But the hit song "Three Lions" didn't exist during Italia 90. The "Three Lions" song was released in 1996 as a single by English band The Lightning Seeds to mark the England football team's hosting of that year's European Championships.
Harry Kane
Harry Kane will lead the England side in Wednesday's match against Croatia. But Kane was not even born when last time the Three Lions were in a World Cup semifinal. He will be born three years later- in July 1993.
Smartphone
The England players may well busy clicking selfies and posting social media updates these days but the team of 1990 didn't have the luxury- even text messaging hadn’t even been invented let alone the iPhone.
Playstation
England captain Harry Kane and his team mates have been enjoying a few games of Fortnite to relax between the matches. However, One of the most successful brand of games consoles in the world, the original Playstation was still more than four years away in 1990. Sony's Playstation was first released in Japan in late 1994, while the Xbox released in 2001.
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