1998 in France

← 1997 1996 1995 1998 in France → 1999 2000 2001
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	Other events of 1998 Timeline of French history

Events from the year 1998 in France.

Incumbents

• President: Jacques Chirac
• Prime Minister: Lionel Jospin

Events

• 6 February – The French prefect Claude Erignac is assassinated in the streets of Ajaccio, Corsica.
• 15 March – Cantonales Elections held.
• 15 March – Regional Elections held.
• 22 March – Cantonales Elections held.
• April – The Renault Laguna is restyled more than four years after its launch. An all-new model is due in the year 2000.
• 11 May – The first euro coins are minted in Pessac, France. Because the final specifications for the coins were not finished in 1998, they will have to be melted and minted again in 1999.
• 12 June – The Football World Cup commences in France. The host nation defeats South Africa 3–0 in their opening group game. Christophe Dugarry and Thierry Henry are on the scoresheet, with an own goal from opponent Pierra Issa completing the victory.
• 18 June – France's World Cup quest continues in fine form with a 4–0 win over Saudi Arabia in which Thierry Henry scored twice, with the other goals coming from David Trezeguet and Bixente Lizarazu.
• 24 June – France are group winners and progress to the last 16 of the World Cup with a 2–1 win over Denmark in which Youri Djorkaeff and Emmanuel Petit score.
• 28 June – An extra time goal by Laurent Blanc gives France a 1–0 win over Paraguay in the last 16 of the World Cup.
• 3 July – France win the World Cup quarter final against Italy on penalties after a goalless draw.
• 8 July – France reach the World Cup final with a semi-final win over Croatia. Defender Lilian Thuram is on the scoresheet twice in a 2–1 win.
• 12 July – France are football world champions for the first time ever with a 3–0 win over holders Brazil at the Stade de France. Zinedine Zidane scores twice before Emmanuel Petit's injury time goal completes the victory.
• 10 September – Peugeot launches the all-new 206 supermini, a replacement for the long-running 205. It gives Peugeot a much more modern car to rival the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo.
• 31 December – The final Peugeot 205 rolls off the assembly line, more than 15 years after production began. It was mostly sold only in France for the last two years of its production, having been one of Europe's best selling cars in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its replacement is the 206, which has been built in France and Britain since the autumn.

Sport

• 10 June – 1998 FIFA World Cup begins in France.
• 28 June – French Grand Prix takes place, won by Michael Schumacher of Germany.
• 11 July – Tour de France begins in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
• 12 July – World Cup ends, won by France.
• 2 August – Tour de France ends, won by Marco Pantani of Italy.

Births

• October – Cécile Haussernot, chess player
• 2 October – Maxime Godart, actor

Deaths

January to March

• 18 January – Georges Coudray, politician (b. 1902).
• 28 January – Louise Laroche, one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic (b. 1910).
• 6 February – Marcela Delpastre, author (b. 1925).
• 1 March – Jean Marie Balland, Roman Catholic Cardinal (b. 1934).
• 30 March – Michèle Arnaud, singer, producer, and director (b. 1919).

April to June

• 4 April – Pierre Lantier, composer and pianist (b. 1910).
• 13 April – Patrick de Gayardon, skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper (b. 1960).
• 19 April – Armand Jammot, television producer (b. 1922).
• 21 April – Jean-François Lyotard, philosopher and literary theorist (b. 1924).
• 21 April – Louis Maratier, painter (b. 1922).
• 22 April – Régine Pernoud, historian and medievalist (b. 1909).
• 27 April – Anne Desclos, journalist and novelist (b. 1907).
• 13 May – Chantal Mauduit, alpinist (b. 1964).
• 14 June – Ginette Mathiot, food writer (b. 1907).
• 14 June – Éric Tabarly, sailor (b. 1931).
• 29 June – Louis Hostin, weightlifter and Olympic champion (b. 1908).
• 30 June – Léon Arthur Elchinger, Bishop of Strasbourg (b. 1908).
• June – Jean Emile Charon, nuclear physicist (b. 1920).

July to December

• 4 July – Roger Calmel, composer (b. 1920).
• 6 August – André Weil, mathematician (b. 1906).
• 6 October – Jean-François Jenny-Clark, double bass player (b. 1944).
• October – René Pleimelding, soccer player (b. 1925).
• 8 November – Jean Marais, actor (b. 1913).
• 10 November – Jean Leray, mathematician (b. 1906).
• 11 November – Gérard Grisey, composer (b. 1946).
• 13 November – Edwige Feuillère, actress (b. 1907).
• 13 November – Claude Serre, cartoonist (b. 1938).
• November – Gustave Malécot, mathematician (b. 1911).

Full date unknown

• Maurice Bardèche, essayist, literary and art critic, journalist and Neo-Fascist (b. 1907).
• Lucien Bodard, reporter and writer on events in Asia (b. 1914).
• Jean-Pierre Brucato, soccer player (b. 1944).
• Philippe Charbonneaux, product designer (b. 1917).
• Louis Dumont, anthropologist (b. 1911).
• Jacques Médecin, politician (b. 1928).
• Jean-Jacques Millant, bow maker (b. 1928).
• Jackie Sardou, actress (b. 1919).
• Marc Sautet, philosopher and writer (b. 1947).
• Pierre Villette, composer (b. 1926).

See also

• 1998 in French television
• List of French films of 1998

References

Years in France
18th century	Pre-1700 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799
19th century	1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
20th century	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
21st century	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021