1998 FIFA World Cup

1998 FIFA World Cup
Coupe du Monde - France 98

1998 FIFA World Cup official logo
Tournament details
Host country  France
Dates 10 June – 12 July
Teams 32 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s) 10 (in 10 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
1994
2002

The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final. France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil.

This was the first FIFA World Cup in which 32 teams competed at the finals. The official match ball was the Adidas Tricolore.

Contents

Qualification

Four nations qualified for the World Cup for the first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan, and South Africa.

Iran and Tunisia both qualified for the first time since 1978, while Paraguay and Denmark qualified for the first time since 1986. Hosts France also returned after a 12-year absence. Among the teams who failed to qualify were two-time winners Uruguay (for the second successive tournament) and 1994 bronze-medallist Sweden. Russia failed to qualify for the first time since they qualified as the USSR in 1978.

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 4 December 1997.

Norway was the last remaining European team in Pot 3, destined to be in Brazil or Argentina's group, which was the former.[1]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

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. Unlike in the 1986-1994 tournaments, there was no possibility for third-place teams to advance. Starting in this tournament, all teams had to travel in group stage, and stadia held matches for multiple groups.

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 expectations. 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. Mexico came from behind in two of those four games that ended in a draw after being down two goals in both games. 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 stunning goal from 18-year-old Michael Owen, and two fairly debatable penalty awards (one for each side) which were both scored. The game was marred by England's David Beckham being sent off after kicking Diego Simeone: despite being a man down, England fashioned the better chances and were unfortunate that an extra-time goal by Sol Campbell was disallowed after Alan Shearer was, also debatably, adjudged to have fouled the Argentine keeper.

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. Since Germany had also been defeated in the quarter-finals of the 1994 tournament, this marked the only time in history that Germany had failed to make the top four in two successive World Cup appearances. The Netherlands-Argentina match was marred by violence; the Netherlands was reduced to 10 men early on after a tackle by Artur Numan injured Diego Simeone and Simeone 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.[2] Shortly after Ortega's sending off, Dennis Bergkamp of the Netherlands scored a memorable goal, finishing from a 60-yard pass to eliminate Argentina 2-1.

In the semi-finals, striker Patrick Kluivert equalized late for the Netherlands to make it 1-1, but the Brazilians won on penalties. They were joined by France, as veteran defender Lilian Thuram scored two goals with stunning runs from the right hand side of the pitch to overcome 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 27th minute and in first half stoppage time, and Emmanuel Petit added a late goal in second half stoppage time to give France a 3-0 win over Brazil. An estimated one million people took to the Paris streets to celebrate through the night. France became the seventh country to have won the world cup, joining Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England and Argentina.

France conceded only two goals in the entire tournament, a record low subsequently equalled by Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010.

The official song for the event was The Cup of Life by Ricky Martin, and the official anthem was La Cour des Grands by Youssou N'Dour and Axelle Red.

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
Stade de France Stade Vélodrome Parc des Princes Stade Félix Bollaert
Capacity: 80,000 Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 49,000 Capacity: 44,000
Lyon
Stade de Gerland
Capacity: 41,300
Nantes
Stade de la Beaujoire
Capacity: 39,500
Toulouse Saint-Étienne Bordeaux Montpellier
Stadium de Toulouse Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Parc Lescure Stade de la Mosson
Capacity: 37,000 Capacity: 36,000 Capacity: 35,200 Capacity: 34,000

Match officials

Africa
Asia
Europe
North, Central America and Caribbean
Oceania
South America

Squads

For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 1998 FIFA World Cup squads.

Results


Group stage

All times local (CEST)/(UTC+2)

Key to colours in group tables
Group winners and runners-up advance to the Round of 16

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
10 June 1998
Brazil  2 – 1  Scotland Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Morocco  2 – 2  Norway Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
16 June 1998
Scotland  1 – 1  Norway Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Brazil  3 – 0  Morocco Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
23 June 1998
Brazil  1 – 2  Norway Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Scotland  0 – 3  Morocco Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

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
11 June 1998
Italy  2 – 2  Chile Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Cameroon  1 – 1  Austria Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
17 June 1998
Chile  1 – 1  Austria Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Italy  3 – 0  Cameroon Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
23 June 1998
Italy  2 – 1  Austria Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Chile  1 – 1  Cameroon Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

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
12 June 1998
Saudi Arabia  0 – 1  Denmark Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
France  3 – 0  South Africa Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
18 June 1998
South Africa  1 – 1  Denmark Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
France  4 – 0  Saudi Arabia Stade de France, Saint-Denis
24 June 1998
France  2 – 1  Denmark Stade Gerland, Lyon
South Africa  2 – 2  Saudi Arabia Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

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
12 June 1998
Paraguay  0 – 0  Bulgaria Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
13 June 1998
Spain  2 – 3  Nigeria Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
19 June 1998
Nigeria  1 – 0  Bulgaria Parc des Princes, Paris
Spain  0 – 0  Paraguay Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
24 June 1998
Nigeria  1 – 3  Paraguay Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
Spain  6 – 1  Bulgaria Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Netherlands 3 1 2 0 7 2 +5 5
 Mexico 3 1 2 0 7 5 +2 5
 Belgium 3 0 3 0 3 3 0 3
 South Korea 3 0 1 2 2 9 -7 1
13 June 1998
South Korea  1 – 3  Mexico Stade Gerland, Lyon
Netherlands  0 – 0  Belgium Stade de France, Saint-Denis
20 June 1998
Belgium  2 – 2  Mexico Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Netherlands  5 – 0  South Korea Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
25 June 1998
Netherlands  2 – 2  Mexico Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Belgium  1 – 1  South Korea Parc des Princes, Paris

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Germany 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 7
 Yugoslavia 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
 Iran 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2 3
 United States 3 0 0 3 1 5 -4 0
14 June 1998
Yugoslavia  1 – 0  Iran Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
15 June 1998
Germany  2 – 0  United States Parc des Princes, Paris
21 June 1998
Germany  2 – 2  Yugoslavia Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
United States  1 – 2  Iran Stade Gerland, Lyon
25 June 1998
United States  0 – 1  Yugoslavia Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Germany  2 – 0  Iran Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Romania 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
 England 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6
 Colombia 3 1 0 2 1 3 -2 3
 Tunisia 3 0 1 2 1 4 -3 1
15 June 1998
England  2 – 0  Tunisia Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Romania  1 – 0  Colombia Stade Gerland, Lyon
22 June 1998
Colombia  1 – 0  Tunisia Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Romania  2 – 1  England Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
26 June 1998
Colombia  0 – 2  England Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Romania  1 – 1  Tunisia Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Argentina 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 9
 Croatia 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
 Jamaica 3 1 0 2 3 9 -6 3
 Japan 3 0 0 3 1 4 -3 0
14 June 1998
Argentina  1 – 0  Japan Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
Jamaica  1 – 3  Croatia Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
20 June 1998
Japan  0 – 1  Croatia Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
21 June 1998
Argentina  5 – 0  Jamaica Parc des Princes, Paris
26 June 1998
Argentina  1 – 0  Croatia Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Japan  1 – 2  Jamaica Stade Gerland, Lyon

Knockout stage

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                           
27 June - Paris            
  Brazil  4
3 July - Nantes
  Chile  1  
  Brazil  3
28 June - Saint-Denis
    Denmark  2  
  Nigeria  1
7 July - Marseille
  Denmark  4  
  Brazil (pen.)  1 (4)
29 June - Toulouse
    Netherlands  1 (2)  
  Netherlands  2
4 July - Marseille
  Yugoslavia  1  
  Netherlands  2
30 June - St. Étienne
    Argentina  1  
  Argentina (pen.)  2 (4)
12 July - Saint-Denis
  England  2 (3)  
  Brazil  0
27 June - Marseille
    France  3
  Italy  1
3 July - Saint-Denis
  Norway  0  
  Italy  0 (3)
28 June - Lens
    France (pen.)  0 (4)  
  France (a.e.t.)  1
8 July - Saint-Denis
  Paraguay  0  
  France  2
29 June - Montpellier
    Croatia  1   Third place
  Germany  2
4 July - Lyon 11 July - Paris
  Mexico  1  
  Germany  0   Netherlands  1
30 June - Bordeaux
    Croatia  3     Croatia  2
  Romania  0
  Croatia  1  

Round of 16

27 June 1998
16:30
Italy  1 – 0  Norway Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)
Vieri  18' (Report)

27 June 1998
21:00
Brazil  4 – 1  Chile Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,500
Referee: Marc Batta (France)
César Sampaio  11'27'
Ronaldo  45+1' (pen.)70'
(Report) Salas  68'

28 June 1998
16:30
France  1 – 0 (a.e.t.)  Paraguay Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Attendance: 38,100
Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)
Blanc  113' (Report)

28 June 1998
21:00
Nigeria  1 – 4  Denmark Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 77,000
Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)
Babangida  78' (Report) Møller  3'
B. Laudrup  12'
Sand  60'
Helveg  76'

29 June 1998
16:30
Germany  2 – 1  Mexico Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Attendance: 29,800
Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal)
Klinsmann  75'
Bierhoff  86'
(Report) Hernández  47'

29 June 1998
21:00
Netherlands  2 – 1  Yugoslavia Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse
Attendance: 33,500
Referee: José Garcia Aranda (Spain)
Bergkamp  38'
Davids  90+2'
(Report) Komljenović  48'

30 June 1998
16:30
Romania  0 – 1  Croatia Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Attendance: 31,800
Referee: Javier Castrilli (Argentina)
(Report) Šuker  45+2' (pen.)

30 June 1998
21:00
Argentina  2 – 2 (a.e.t.)  England Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Attendance: 30,600
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
Batistuta  6' (pen.)
Zanetti  45+1'
(Report) Shearer  10' (pen.)
Owen  16'
  Penalties  
Berti
Crespo
Verón
Gallardo
Ayala
4 – 3 Shearer
Ince
Merson
Owen
Batty

Quarter-finals

3 July 1998
16:30
Italy  0 – 0 (a.e.t.)  France Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 77,000
Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)
(Report)
  Penalties  
R. Baggio
Albertini
Costacurta
Vieri
Di Biagio
3 – 4 Zidane
Lizarazu
Trezeguet
Henry
Blanc

3 July 1998
21:00
Brazil  3 – 2  Denmark Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Attendance: 35,500
Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)
Bebeto  11'
Rivaldo  27'60'
(Report) Jørgensen  2'
B. Laudrup  50'

4 July 1998
16:30
Netherlands  2 – 1  Argentina Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)
Kluivert  12'
Bergkamp  89'
(Report) López  18'

4 July 1998
21:00
Germany  0 – 3  Croatia Stade Gerland, Lyon
Attendance: 39,100
Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)
(Report) Jarni  45+3'
Vlaović  80'
Šuker  85'

Semi-finals

7 July 1998
21:00
Brazil  1 – 1 (a.e.t.)  Netherlands Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 54,000
Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)
Ronaldo  46' (Report) Kluivert  87'
  Penalties  
Ronaldo
Rivaldo
Emerson
Dunga
4 – 2 F. de Boer
Bergkamp
Cocu
R. de Boer

8 July 1998
21:00
France  2 – 1  Croatia Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 76,000
Referee: José Garcia Aranda (Spain)
Thuram  47'69' (Report) Šuker  46'

Third place match

11 July 1998
21:00
Netherlands  1 – 2  Croatia Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay)
Zenden  21' (Report) Prosinečki  13'
Šuker  35'

Final

12 July 1998
21:00
Brazil  0 – 3  France Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)
(Report) Zidane  27'45+1'
Petit  90+3'

Statistics

Scorers

6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goals
Players who were red-carded during the tournament

Awards

Golden Shoe winner Golden Ball winner Yashin Award FIFA Fair Play Trophy Most Entertaining Team
Davor Šuker Ronaldo
Fabien Barthez
 England
 France
 France

All-star team

Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards

Fabien Barthez
José Luis Chilavert

Roberto Carlos
Marcel Desailly
Lilian Thuram
Frank de Boer
Carlos Gamarra

Dunga
Rivaldo
Michael Laudrup
Zinedine Zidane
Edgar Davids

Ronaldo
Davor Šuker
Brian Laudrup
Dennis Bergkamp

Video games

The official video game is World Cup 98 by EA Sports, but many other games – including International Superstar Soccer 98, World League Soccer 98, Actua Soccer 2, Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory – were released and were mainly based on the 1998 FIFA World Cup. FIFA: Road to World Cup 98, also by EA Sports, focused on the qualification, for World Cup 98.

See also

References

External links