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| 1998 FIFA World Cup Coupe du Monde - France 98 |
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| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  France |
| Dates | June 10 – July 12 |
| Teams | 32 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 10 (in 9 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |
France (1st title) |
Runners-up  |
 Brazil |
Third place  |
 Croatia |
| Fourth place |  Netherlands |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 64 |
| Goals scored | 171 (2.67 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,785,100 (43,517 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Davor Šuker (6 goals) |
| Best player | Ronaldo |
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th staging of the World Cup, was held in France from June 10 to July 12 after 60 years to celebrate the third edition scheduled in 1938. France was chosen as hosts by FIFA on July 1, 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final. France won their first title, the 7th nation to win a World Cup, and the first host nation to win the tournament since Argentina did it in 1978.
Contents |
Qualification
Four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan, and South Africa.
Seeding
Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain, Romania and the Netherlands were seeded along with defending champion Brazil and host France. For the first time in FIFA's history, the draw took place in a football stadium - Stade Vélodrome in Marseilles, on December 4, 1997.[1]
Summary
The format of the competition was different from 1994, as the finals were expanded from 24 to 32 teams. The 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four. The eight group winners and the eight group runners-up would qualify for the knockout stage. The golden goal rule was also introduced to decide knockout matches which went into extra time. Another change in the rules came into effect at this World Cup, stating that as regulation time was about to expire in any period of play the fourth official would use a handheld electronic display to show how many minutes of stoppage time were to be played. This practice has continued since then, after being well received by media and spectators alike.
The tournament opened with 1994 FIFA World Cup champions Brazil's 2-1 victory over Scotland. Norway pulled the shock of Group A, topping the holders 2-1 after two late goals. Still, both teams advanced to the next round. Italy easily won Group B, with Chile's three draws enough for them to get through. The Italy-Chile clash which ended 2-2 saw Italy's Roberto Baggio cast aside the spectre of his miss in the penalty shootout in the final 4 years earlier: this time around his highly controversial spot-kick earned Italy a draw.
France swept Group C, with the lone blemish being the red card expulsion and two-game suspension of Zinedine Zidane in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia. Denmark also moved on from the group. Nigeria was the surprise winner of Group D, dubbed the Group of Death, as Spain once again failed to live up to high pre-cup expecations. Nigeria beat them 3-2 in a thrilling game and moved on to the next round together with Paraguay.
Netherlands and Mexico moved on from Group E, a group that saw four games end in draws. Germany and Yugoslavia made easy work of Group F.
A late goal for Romania saw them beat England 2-1 and take the top spot in Group G; the English finished second. Argentina swept Group H, joined by Croatia in the second round.
In the second round, Italy beat Norway 1-0 and Brazil made easy work of Chile, 4-1. Laurent Blanc of France scored the first Golden Goal in World Cup history as the hosts beat Paraguay 1-0. Denmark surprised Nigeria, crushing them 4-1. Germany beat Mexico and Netherlands topped Yugoslavia by identical 2-1 scores. Croatia upset Romania 1-0. Argentina beat England on penalties after drawing 2-2 in a game that saw a goal from 18-year-old Michael Owen. The game was marred by England's David Beckham being sent off after kicking Diego Simeone.
France beat Italy in the quarter-finals on penalties after a scoreless draw. Brazil topped Denmark 3-2 in an exciting game. Croatia pulled perhaps the biggest shocker of the tournament, crushing Germany 3-0. The Netherlands-Argentina match was marred by violence; the Netherlands was reduced to 10 men early on after a tackle injured Diego Simeone and he had to be carried off the field for treatment. Late in the match, Argentina star Ariel Ortega received a red card for head-butting Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar after van der Sar confronted Ortega on the latter's play-acting attempt to draw a penalty[1]. Shortly after Ortega's sending off, Dennis Bergkamp of the Netherlands scored a goal to eliminate Argentina, 2-1.
In the semi-finals, Patrick Kluivert equalized late for the Netherlands to make it 1-1, but the Dutch couldn't pull it out in the penalty shootout, sending Brazil to the final. They were joined by France, as defender Lilian Thuram scored two goals to offset Golden Boot winner Davor Šuker's opener for Croatia. The Croats beat the Dutch for third place.
For the first time ever, the final featured the host nation and the defending champions. Zinedine Zidane scored two headers from corners in the 26th minute and in first half stoppage time respectively, and Emmanuel Petit added a late goal in second half stoppage time to give France a 3-0 win over Brazil. Brazil's star player Ronaldo played poorly, having a mysterious fit the night before and many questioned his reinstatement in the starting lineup. An estimated one million people took to the Paris streets to celebrate through the night. France became the seventh world champions, joining Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England and Argentina.
The official theme song for the event was La Copa de la Vida by Ricky Martin.
Mascot
The official mascot of this World Cup was Footix, a cockerel with the words "FRANCE 98" on the chest. Its body is mostly blue, like the host's national team shirt and its name is a portmanteau of "football" and the ending "-ix" from the popular Astérix comic strip.
Venues
Ten stadia were used during the tournament:
| Saint-Denis | Marseille | Paris | Lens | Lyon |
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| Stade de France | Stade Vélodrome | Parc des Princes | Stade Félix Bollaert | Stade de Gerland |
| Capacity: 80,000 | Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 49,000 | Capacity: 41,800 | Capacity: 41,200 |
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| Nantes | Toulouse | Saint-Étienne | Bordeaux | Montpellier |
| Stade de la Beaujoire | Stadium de Toulouse | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard | Parc Lescure | Stade de la Mosson |
| Capacity: 38,500 | Capacity: 37,000 | Capacity: 36,000 | Capacity: 35,200 | Capacity: 33,900 |
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Match officials
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Squads
For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 1998 FIFA World Cup squads.
Results
First round
All times local (CEST)/(UTC+2)
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 |
 Norway |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 |
 Morocco |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
 Scotland |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 1 |
| 1998-06-10 17:30 |
Brazil |
2 – 1 | Scotland |
Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 80,000 Referee: José Garcia Aranda (Spain) |
César Sampaio  4'Boyd 73' (o.g.) |
(Report) | Collins 38' (pen.) |
| 1998-06-10 21:00 |
Morocco |
2 – 2 | Norway |
Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Attendance: 29,800 Referee: Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand) |
| Hadji 38' Hadda 59' |
(Report) | Chippo 46' (o.g.) Eggen 60' |
| 1998-06-16 17:30 |
Scotland |
1 – 1 | Norway |
Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 31,800 Referee: László Vagner (Hungary) |
| Burley 66' |
(Report) | H. Flo 46' |
| 1998-06-16 21:00 |
Brazil |
3 – 0 | Morocco |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Attendance: 35,500 Referee: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia) |
| Ronaldo 9' Rivaldo 45+2'Bebeto 50' |
(Report) |
| 1998-06-23 21:00 |
Brazil |
1 – 2 | Norway |
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Esfandiar Baharmast (United States) |
| Bebeto 78' | (Report) | T. A. Flo 83' Rekdal 88' (pen.) |
| 1998-06-23 21:00 |
Scotland |
0 – 3 | Morocco |
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne Attendance: 30,600 Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates) |
| (Report) | Bassir 22' 85' Hadda 46' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Italy |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 |
 Chile |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
 Austria |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 |
 Cameroon |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 2 |
| 1998-06-11 17:30 |
Italy |
2 – 2 | Chile |
Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 31,800 Referee: Lucien Bouchardeau (Niger) |
| Vieri 10' R. Baggio 85' (pen.) |
(Report) | Salas 45' 49' |
| 1998-06-11 21:00 |
Cameroon |
1 – 1 | Austria |
Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Attendance: 33,460 Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay) |
| Njanka 78' |
(Report) | Polster 90' |
| 1998-06-17 17:30 |
Chile |
1 – 1 | Austria |
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne Attendance: 30,600 Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt) |
| Salas 70' |
(Report) | Vastić 90' |
| 1998-06-17 21:00 |
Italy |
3 – 0 | Cameroon |
Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Attendance: 29,800 Referee: Edward Lennie (Australia) |
| Di Biagio 7' Vieri 75' 89' |
(Report) |
| 1998-06-23 16:00 |
Italy |
2 – 1 | Austria |
Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Paul Durkin (England) |
| Vieri 49' R. Baggio 89' |
(Report) | Herzog 90' (pen.) |
| 1998-06-23 16:00 |
Chile |
1 – 1 | Cameroon |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Attendance: 35,500 Referee: Laszlo Vagner (Hungary) |
| Sierra 20' |
(Report) | Mboma 55' |
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 9 |
 Denmark |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
 South Africa |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 2 |
 Saudi Arabia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 1 |
| 1998-06-12 17:30 |
Saudi Arabia |
0 – 1 | Denmark |
Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Attendance: 38,140 Referee: Javier Castrilli (Argentina) |
| (Report) | Rieper 68' |
| 1998-06-12 21:00 |
France |
3 – 0 | South Africa |
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 55,077 Referee: Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil) |
| Dugarry 34' Issa 77' (o.g.)Henry 90' |
(Report) |
| 1998-06-18 17:30 |
South Africa |
1 – 1 | Denmark |
Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Attendance: 33,300 Referee: John Toro Rendon (Colombia) |
| McCarthy 52' |
(Report) | Nielsen 13' |
| 1998-06-18 21:00 |
France |
4 – 0 | Saudi Arabia |
Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) |
| Henry 36' 77' Trezeguet 68'Lizarazu 85' |
(Report) |
| 1998-06-24 16:00 |
France |
2 – 1 | Denmark |
Stade Gerland, Lyon Attendance: 39,100 Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy) |
| Djorkaeff 12' (pen.) Petit 56' |
(Report) | M. Laudrup 42' (pen.) |
| 1998-06-24 16:00 |
South Africa |
2 – 2 | Saudi Arabia |
Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 31,800 Referee: Mario Sanchez Yanten (Chile) |
| Bartlett 19' 90+4' (pen.) |
(Report) | Al-Jaber 45' (pen.) Al-Thunayan 74' (pen.) |
Group D
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nigeria |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
 Paraguay |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 |
 Spain |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 4 |
 Bulgaria |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 1 |
| 1998-06-12 14:30 |
Paraguay |