 It turned out to be England's best World Cup since 1966; after a slow start in the group stage, where they played all their group stage matches in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia at the British government's request, England managed narrow wins after extra-time over Belgium in Bologna and Cameroon in Naples.They were beaten in Turin on penalties by West Germany in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw, with Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle failing from the spot.England lost the third place play-off 2–1 to Italy in Bari, and so finished fourth.