Without Italia '90, there would have been no glitzy Premier League and the subsequent boom in English football that lasted three decades. And without a largely-forgotten friendly at Wembley 30 years ago this weekend, there would have been no Italia '90 in the sense of Paul Gascoigne and England changing history.
The legend of Gazza has grown so large it's almost inconceivable to realise he wasn't assured of a place in Bobby Robson's England team just six weeks before the World Cup started.
Yet a friendly against Czechoslovakia on April 25 represented only his second start in a Three Lions shirt, and his eighth cap overall.