in the 1994 world cup quarter-final against italy, after he had found the net in a 2–2 draw against south korea, salinas missed the chance to put spain into the last-four stage. with 1–1 and less than ten minutes to go, he marred a fast-break, with only goalkeeper gianluca pagliuca to beat; roberto baggio sealed the 2–1 final result minutes later, and the spaniard was ultimately more remembered for this miss rather than the massive number of goals scored during an 18-year professional career.