1998 FIFA World Cup

France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7.^[1][2] Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFA's requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively. France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938. England, who hosted the competition in 1966 and won it, were among the original applicants, but later withdrew their application in favour of an ultimately successful bid to host UEFA Euro 1996.

On 4 June 2015, while co-operating with the FBI and the Swiss authorities, Chuck Blazer confirmed that he and other members of FIFA's executive committee were bribed during the 1998 and 2010 World Cups host selection process. Blazer stated that "we facilitated bribes in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup". Since France won the selection process it was initially thought the bribery came from its bid committee. It eventually transpired that the bribe payment was from the failed Moroccan bid.^[4][5][6]

The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, Paris on 12 December 1995.^[7] As tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was defending champion Brazil, but it was also France's first World Cup since 1986. 174 teams from six confederations participated, 24 more than in the previous round. Fourteen countries qualified from the European zone (in addition to hosts France). Ten were determined after group play – nine group winners and the best second-placed team; the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches with the winners qualifying for the finals as well.^[8] CONMEBOL (South America) and CAF (Africa) were each given five spots in the final tournament, while three spots were contested between 30 CONCACAF members in the North and Central America and the Caribbean zone. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, determined by the two best second-placed teams.

Four nations qualified for the first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a two-legged tie on 29 November 1997.^[9] It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament. Chile qualified for the first time since 1982, after serving a ban that saw them miss out on the two previous tournaments. Paraguay and Denmark returned for the first time since 1986. Austria, England, Scotland and Yugoslavia returned after missing out on the 1994 tournament, with the Balkan team now appearing under the name of FR Yugoslavia. Among the teams who failed to qualify were two-time winners Uruguay (for the second successive tournament); Portugal (their last absence as of 2022); Sweden, who finished third in 1994; Russia (who failed to qualify for the first time since 1978 after losing to Italy in the play-off round); and the Republic of Ireland, who had qualified for the previous two tournaments.^[10] The highest-ranked team not to qualify was the UEFA Euro 1996 runners-up the Czech Republic (ranked 3rd), while the lowest-ranked team that did qualify was Nigeria (ranked 74th).

As of 2022, this was the last time Austria, Bulgaria, Norway, Romania and Scotland qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, and the only time Jamaica have qualified.

The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings,^[11] qualified for the final tournament.

Teams listed by FIFA ranking as of May 1998[11]
	Country	Confederation	Rank
1	Brazil (1994 winner)	CONMEBOL	1
2	Germany	UEFA	2
3	Mexico	CONCACAF	4
4	England	UEFA	5
5	Argentina	CONMEBOL	6
6	Norway	UEFA	7
7	Yugoslavia	UEFA	8
8	Chile	CONMEBOL	9
9	Colombia	CONMEBOL	10
10	United States	CONCACAF	11
11	Japan	AFC	12
12	Morocco	CAF	13
13	Italy	UEFA	14
14	Spain	UEFA	15
15	France (host)	UEFA	18
16	Croatia	UEFA	19
17	South Korea	AFC	20
18	Tunisia	CAF	21
19	Romania	UEFA	22
20	South Africa	CAF	24
21	Netherlands	UEFA	25
22	Denmark	UEFA	27
23	Paraguay	CONMEBOL	29
24	Jamaica	CONCACAF	30
25	Austria	UEFA	31
26	Saudi Arabia	AFC	34
27	Bulgaria	UEFA	35
28	Belgium	UEFA	36
29	Scotland	UEFA	41
30	Iran	AFC	42
31	Cameroon	CAF	49
32	Nigeria	CAF	74

France's bid to host the World Cup centered on a national stadium with 80,000 seats and nine other stadiums located across the country.^[12] When the finals were originally awarded in July 1992, none of the regional club grounds were of a capacity meeting FIFA's requirements – namely being able to safely seat 40,000.^[12] The proposed national stadium, colloquially referred to as the 'Grand stade', met with controversy at every stage of planning; the stadium's location was determined by politics, finance and national symbolism.^[13] As Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac successfully negotiated a deal with Prime Minister Édouard Balladur to bring the Stade de France, as it was now called, to the commune of Saint-Denis just north of the capital city.^[13] Construction on the stadium started in December 1995 and was completed after 26 months of work in November 1997 at a cost of ₣2.67 billion.^[14]

The choice of stadium locations was drafted from an original list of 14 cities.^[15] FIFA and CFO monitored the progress and quality of preparations, culminating in the former providing final checks of the grounds weeks before the tournament commenced. Montpellier was the surprise inclusion from the final list of cities because of its low urban hierarchy in comparison to Strasbourg, who boasted a better hierarchy and success from its local football team, having been taken over by a consortium. Montpellier however was considered ambitious by the selecting panel to host World Cup matches. The local city and regional authorities in particular had invested heavily into football the previous two decades and were able to measure economic effects, in terms of jobs as early as in 1997.^[16] Some of the venues used for this tournament were also used for the previous World Cup in France in 1938. The Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, the Stade Municipal in Toulouse, the Gerland in Lyon, the Parc Lescure in Bordeaux and the Parc des Princes in Paris received the honour of hosting World Cup matches once again in 1998 as they had all done in 1938.

10 stadiums were used for the finals; in addition to nine matches being played at the Stade de France (the most used stadium in the tournament), a further six matches took place in Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes, bringing Paris's total matches hosted to 15. France played four of their seven matches in the national stadium; they also played in the country's second and third largest cities, Marseille (hosting 7 total matches) and Lyon (hosting 6 total matches), as well as a Round of 16 knockout match in the northern city of Lens (also hosting 6 total matches). Nantes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Saint-Etienne also hosted 6 matches in total; all of the stadiums used also hosted knockout round matches.

Paris (Saint-Denis)	Marseille	Paris	Lyon
Stade de France	Stade Vélodrome	Parc des Princes	Stade de Gerland
48°55′28″N 2°21′36″E / 48.92444°N 2.36000°E / 48.92444; 2.36000 (Stade de France)	43°16′11″N 5°23′45″E / 43.26972°N 5.39583°E / 43.26972; 5.39583 (Stade Vélodrome)	48°50′29″N 2°15′11″E / 48.84139°N 2.25306°E / 48.84139; 2.25306 (Parc des Princes)	45°43′26″N 4°49′56″E / 45.72389°N 4.83222°E / 45.72389; 4.83222 (Stade de Gerland)
Capacity: 80,000	Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 48,875	Capacity: 44,000
Lens	Saint-Denis Marseille Paris Lens Lyon Nantes Toulouse Saint-Étienne Bordeaux Montpellier
Stade Félix-Bollaert
50°25′58.26″N 2°48′53.47″E / 50.4328500°N 2.8148528°E / 50.4328500; 2.8148528 (Stade Félix-Bollaert)
Capacity: 41,300
Nantes
Stade de la Beaujoire
47°15′20.27″N 1°31′31.35″W / 47.2556306°N 1.5253750°W / 47.2556306; -1.5253750 (Stade de la Beaujoire)
Capacity: 39,500
Toulouse	Saint-Étienne	Bordeaux	Montpellier
Stadium de Toulouse	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard	Parc Lescure	Stade de la Mosson
43°34′59.93″N 1°26′2.57″E / 43.5833139°N 1.4340472°E / 43.5833139; 1.4340472 (Stadium de Toulouse)	45°27′38.76″N 4°23′24.42″E / 45.4607667°N 4.3901167°E / 45.4607667; 4.3901167 (Stade Geoffroy-Guichard)	44°49′45″N 0°35′52″W / 44.82917°N 0.59778°W / 44.82917; -0.59778 (Parc Lescure)	43°37′19.85″N 3°48′43.28″E / 43.6221806°N 3.8120222°E / 43.6221806; 3.8120222 (Stade de la Mosson)
Capacity: 37,000	Capacity: 36,000	Capacity: 35,200	Capacity: 34,000

This was the first FIFA World Cup where fourth officials used electronic boards, instead of cardboard.^[17]

This was the first World Cup since the introduction of golden goals,^[17] banning of tackles from behind that endanger the safety of an opponent^[18] and allowance of three substitutions per game.^[19]

34 referees and 33 assistants officiated in the 1998 World Cup.^[20] As a result of the extension to 32 teams in the finals, there was an increase of 10 referees and 11 officials from the 1994 World Cup.^[20]

The FIFA Organising Committee announced the eight seeded teams on 3 December 1997. The historic tradition to seed the hosts (France) and holders (Brazil) was upheld; while the remaining six seeds were granted for the other top7-ranked teams, based on their results obtained in the last three FIFA World Cups (ratio 3:2:1, counting in total 60%) and their FIFA World Ranking position in the last month of the past three years (equal ratio, counting in total 40%).^[21][22]

For the draw, the 32 teams were allocated into four pots. The eight top-seeded teams were allocated in pot A and would be drawn/selected into the first position of the eight groups playing in the group stage. The remaining 24 unseeded teams were allocated into three pots based on geographical sections, with the: Nine European teams in pot B; four Asian teams and three South American teams in pot C; five African teams and three North American teams in pot D.^[23]

The general principle was to draw one team from each pot into the eight groups, although with special combined procedures for pot B and pot C, due to comprising more/less than eight teams - but sixteen teams in total. At the same time, the draw also needed to respect the geographical limitation, that each group could not feature more than one team from each confederation, except for the European teams where the limitation was maximum two per group.^[23]

• The draw took place at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, and was televised live on 4 December 1997: FIFA World Cup Draw on BBC Sport.

For the first time in history, the draw event took place in a football stadium, with 38,000 spectators and an estimated 1 billion TV viewers. The draw was officiated by FIFA secretary general Sepp Blatter. Teams were drawn by football legends Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto Parreira, George Weah and Raymond Kopa.^[24]

Organiser Michel Platini, who later became president of UEFA, admitted in 2018 that the draw for the group stage of the competition had been fixed so that France and Brazil were kept apart until the final, telling France Bleu Sport: "We did a bit of trickery. When we were organising the schedule. We did not spend six years organising the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans".^[25]

The statement from Platini referred to the fact that, shortly before the World Cup finals draw took place, the FIFA Organising Committee had met to finalise the draw process. At this meeting, the committee had approved the proposal to assign host nation France to group position C1 and defending champions Brazil to group position A1 ahead of the draw. As the tournament structure was also predetermined so that the winners of Groups A, D, E and H, and the runners-up of Groups B, C, F and G would be kept apart from the group winners of B, C, F and G, and the runners-up of Group A, D, E and H until the final; thus, France and Brazil could avoid meeting each other until the final if both teams finished in the same position in the top two of their respective groups.^[26]

Procedure for the draw:^[23]

1. Pot A was used to draw the remaining six top-seeded teams for the first position of groups B, D, E, F, G and H.
2. Pot D was used to draw one team to each of the eight groups (drawing in the alphabetic order from A to H).
3. Pot B was used to draw one team to each of the eight groups (drawing in the alphabetic order from A to H).
4. As per the FIFA rule of only allowing a maximum of two UEFA teams in each group, the remaining ninth team from Pot B, was subject to a second draw, to be put in either of the groups containing a top-seeded South American (CONMEBOL) team.
5. Pot C was used to draw one team to each of the seven groups with an empty spot (drawing in alphabetical order from A to H). However, as each group could only contain one South American (CONMEBOL) team, the first Asian (AFC) team drawn would not be drawn into a group in alphabetical order, but instead be drawn into the remaining open group with a top-seeded South American (CONMEBOL) team.
6. To decide the match schedules, the exact group position number for the un-seeded teams in each group (2, 3 or 4), were also drawn immediately from eight special group bowls, after each respective team had been drawn from pot D, B and C.

The draw resulted in the following eight groups:^[23]

Group B

Pos	Team
B1	Italy
B2	Chile
B3	Cameroon
B4	Austria

Group C

Pos	Team
C1	France
C2	South Africa
C3	Saudi Arabia
C4	Denmark

Group D

Pos	Team
D1	Spain
D2	Nigeria
D3	Paraguay
D4	Bulgaria

Group F

Pos	Team
F1	Germany
F2	United States
F3	Yugoslavia
F4	Iran

Group G

Pos	Team
G1	Romania
G2	Colombia
G3	England
G4	Tunisia

Group H

Pos	Team
H1	Argentina
H2	Japan
H3	Jamaica
H4	Croatia

In each group, the teams played three matches, one against each of the other teams. Three points were awarded for each win, while a draw was worth one point. After completion of the group stage, the two teams with the most points in each group would advance to the knockout stage, with each group winner facing the runner-up from one of the other groups in the round of 16. This was a new format for the World Cup, following the expansion from 24 teams in 1994. A total of 64 games were played, including the final and a third-place play-off between the losers of the two semi-finals.

The fixtures for the group stage were decided based on the draw results, as follows:

As with the preceding tournament, each team's squad for the 1998 World Cup finals consisted of 22 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 22-player squad by 1 June 1998.

Out of the 704 players participating in the 1998 World Cup, 447 were signed up with a European club; 90 in Asia, 67 in South America, 61 in Northern and Central America and 37 in Africa.^[27] 75 played their club football in England – five more than Italy and Spain. Barcelona of Spain was the club contributing to the most players in the tournament with 13 players on their side.^[27]

The average age of all teams was 27 years, 8 months – five months older than the previous tournament.^[28] Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon was the youngest player selected in the competition at 17 years, 3 months, while the oldest was Jim Leighton of Scotland at 39 years, 11 months.^[28]

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Defending champions Brazil won Group A after only two matches as the nation achieved victories over Scotland (2–1) and Morocco (3–0). Heading into the third game, Brazil had nothing to play for but still started its regulars against Norway, who was looking to upset Brazil once again. Needing a victory, Norway overturned a 1–0 deficit with 7 minutes remaining to defeat Brazil 2–1, with Kjetil Rekdal scoring^[29] the winning penalty to send Norway into the knockout stage for the first time.^[30]

Norway's victory denied Morocco a chance at the Round of 16, despite winning 3–0 against Scotland. It was only Morocco's second ever victory at a World Cup, having recorded its first previous win 12 years earlier on 11 June 1986.

Scotland managed only one point, coming in a 1–1 draw against Norway, and failed to get out of the first round for an eighth time in the FIFA World Cup, a record that stands to this date.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Norway	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	5
3	Morocco	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
4	Scotland	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1

10 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Brazil	2–1	Scotland
César Sampaio 5' Boyd 74' (o.g.)	Report	Collins 38' (pen.)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: José María García-Aranda (Spain)

10 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Morocco	2–2	Norway
Hadji 37' Hadda 60'	Report	Chippo 45+1' (o.g.) Eggen 61'

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Pirom Un-prasert (Thailand)

16 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Scotland	1–1	Norway
Burley 66'	Report	H. Flo 46'

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: László Vágner (Hungary)

16 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Brazil	3–0	Morocco
Ronaldo 9' Rivaldo 45+2' Bebeto 50'	Report

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia)

23 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Scotland	0–3	Morocco
	Report	Bassir 23', 85' Hadda 46'

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)

23 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Brazil	1–2	Norway
Bebeto 78'	Report	T. A. Flo 83' Rekdal 89' (pen.)

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Esfandiar Baharmast (United States)

Italy and Chile progressed to the second round, while Austria failed to win for the first time since 1958 and Cameroon failed to get out of the group stage for the second time in a row.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Chile	3	0	3	0	4	4	0	3
3	Austria	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2
4	Cameroon	3	0	2	1	2	5	−3	2

11 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Italy	2–2	Chile
Vieri 10' R. Baggio 84' (pen.)	Report	Salas 45+3', 50'

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Lucien Bouchardeau (Niger)

11 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Cameroon	1–1	Austria
Njanka 77'	Report	Polster 90+1'

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay)

17 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Chile	1–1	Austria
Salas 70'	Report	Vastić 90+2'

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)

17 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Italy	3–0	Cameroon
Di Biagio 7' Vieri 75', 89'	Report

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Eddie Lennie (Australia)

23 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Italy	2–1	Austria
Vieri 48' R. Baggio 90'	Report	Herzog 90+2' (pen.)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Paul Durkin (England)

23 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Chile	1–1	Cameroon
Sierra 20'	Report	Mboma 56'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: László Vágner (Hungary)

France, the host nation, swept Group C when the start of their path to their first FIFA World Cup trophy culminated with their 2–1 win over Denmark, who despite their loss, progressed to the second round. Saudi Arabia, after a good performance four years earlier, finished bottom with only one point. Debutant South Africa grabbed two points and also exited at the group stage.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France (H)	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Denmark	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
3	South Africa	3	0	2	1	3	6	−3	2
4	Saudi Arabia	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1

12 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Saudi Arabia	0–1	Denmark
	Report	Rieper 69'

Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Javier Castrilli (Argentina)

12 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

France	3–0	South Africa
Dugarry 36' Issa 77' (o.g.) Henry 90+2'	Report

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil)

18 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

South Africa	1–1	Denmark
McCarthy 51'	Report	A. Nielsen 12'

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: John Toro Rendón (Colombia)

18 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

France	4–0	Saudi Arabia
Henry 37', 78' Trezeguet 68' Lizarazu 85'	Report

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)

24 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

France	2–1	Denmark
Djorkaeff 12' (pen.) Petit 56'	Report	M. Laudrup 42' (pen.)

Stade Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

24 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

South Africa	2–2	Saudi Arabia
Bartlett 18', 90+3' (pen.)	Report	Al-Jaber 45+2' (pen.) Al-Thunayan 74' (pen.)

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Mario Sánchez (Chile)

Nigeria and Paraguay advanced to the Round of 16 after a surprise elimination of top seed Spain, while Bulgaria failed to repeat their surprise performance from the previous tournament.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Paraguay	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
3	Spain	3	1	1	1	8	4	+4	4
4	Bulgaria	3	0	1	2	1	7	−6	1

12 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Paraguay	0–0	Bulgaria
	Report

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Abdul Rahman Al-Zeid (Saudi Arabia)

13 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Spain	2–3	Nigeria
Hierro 21' Raúl 47'	Report	Adepoju 24' Zubizarreta 73' (o.g.) Oliseh 78'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Esfandiar Baharmast (United States)

19 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Nigeria	1–0	Bulgaria
Ikpeba 28'	Report

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Mario Sánchez Yantén (Chile)

19 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Spain	0–0	Paraguay
	Report

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Ian McLeod (South Africa)

24 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Nigeria	1–3	Paraguay
Oruma 11'	Report	Ayala 1' Benítez 58' Cardozo 86'

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: Pirom Un-prasert (Thailand)

24 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Spain	6–1	Bulgaria
Hierro 6' (pen.) Luis Enrique 18' Morientes 55', 81' Bachev 88' (o.g.) Kiko 90+4'	Report	Kostadinov 58'

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

The Netherlands and Mexico advanced with the same record, with the former placing first on goal difference. Belgium and eventual 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts South Korea failed to advance.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	1	2	0	7	2	+5	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Mexico	3	1	2	0	7	5	+2	5
3	Belgium	3	0	3	0	3	3	0	3
4	South Korea	3	0	1	2	2	9	−7	1

13 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

South Korea	1–3	Mexico
Ha Seok-ju 27'	Report	Peláez 50' Hernández 75', 84'

Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Günter Benkö (Austria)

13 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	0–0	Belgium
	Report

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

20 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Belgium	2–2	Mexico
Wilmots 42', 47'	Report	García Aspe 55' (pen.) Blanco 62'

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

20 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	5–0	South Korea
Cocu 37' Overmars 41' Bergkamp 71' Van Hooijdonk 80' R. de Boer 83'	Report

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Ryszard Wójcik (Poland)

25 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	2–2	Mexico
Cocu 4' R. de Boer 18'	Report	Peláez 75' Hernández 90+4'

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Abdul Rahman Al-Zeid (Saudi Arabia)

25 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Belgium	1–1	South Korea
Nilis 7'	Report	Yoo Sang-chul 72'

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil)

Germany and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia advanced, each with 7 points (Germany took 1st through goal differential tiebreak). Iran and 1994 host United States failed to advance.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Yugoslavia	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
3	Iran	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	United States	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

14 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

FR Yugoslavia	1–0	Iran
Mihajlović 73'	Report

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Alberto Tejada (Peru)

15 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	2–0	United States
Möller 9' Klinsmann 65'	Report

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

21 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	2–2	FR Yugoslavia
Mihajlović 72' (o.g.) Bierhoff 78'	Report	Mijatović 13' Stojković 52'

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

21 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

United States	1–2	Iran
McBride 87'	Report	Estili 40' Mahdavikia 84'

Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

25 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	2–0	Iran
Bierhoff 50' Klinsmann 57'	Report

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay)

25 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

United States	0–1	FR Yugoslavia
	Report	Komljenović 4'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)

Romania topped the group over England, while Colombia and Tunisia were unable to reach the last 16, despite Colombia having one win.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	England	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	6
3	Colombia	3	1	0	2	1	3	−2	3
4	Tunisia	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

15 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

England	2–0	Tunisia
Shearer 42' Scholes 89'	Report

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 54,587

Referee: Masayoshi Okada (Japan)

15 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Romania	1–0	Colombia
Ilie 45+1'	Report

Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)

22 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Colombia	1–0	Tunisia
Preciado 82'	Report

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)

22 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Romania	2–1	England
Moldovan 46' Petrescu 90'	Report	Owen 81'

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: Marc Batta (France)

26 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Colombia	0–2	England
	Report	Anderton 20' Beckham 29'

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)

26 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Romania	1–1	Tunisia
Moldovan 71'	Report	Souayah 12' (pen.)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Eddie Lennie (Australia)

Argentina finished at the top of Group H against three debutants. Croatia took the runners up spot while Jamaica and Japan failed to advance.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Argentina	3	3	0	0	7	0	+7	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Croatia	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6
3	Jamaica	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3
4	Japan	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

14 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	1–0	Japan
Batistuta 28'	Report

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

14 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Jamaica	1–3	Croatia
Earle 45'	Report	Stanić 27' Prosinečki 53' Šuker 69'

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal)

20 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Japan	0–1	Croatia
	Report	Šuker 77'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago)

21 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	5–0	Jamaica
Ortega 32', 55' Batistuta 73', 78', 83' (pen.)	Report

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)

26 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	1–0	Croatia
Pineda 36'	Report

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

26 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Japan	1–2	Jamaica
Nakayama 74'	Report	Whitmore 39', 54'

Stade Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Günter Benkö (Austria)

The knockout stage comprised the 16 teams that advanced from the group stage of the tournament. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by 30 minutes of extra time; if scores were still level, there was a penalty shoot-out to determine who progressed to the next round. The Golden goal rule was also used, whereby if a team scored during extra time, they would immediately win the game.

The first games were played on 27 June 1998, and the final took place on 12 July 1998 in Paris.

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 (p)

1 (4)

29 June – Toulouse

Netherlands

1 (2)

Netherlands

2

4 July – Marseille

Yugoslavia

1

Netherlands

2

30 June – Saint-Étienne

Argentina

1

Argentina (p)

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 (p)

0 (4)

France (a.s.d.e.t.)

1

8 July – Saint-Denis

Paraguay

0

France

2

29 June – Montpellier

Croatia

1

Third place play-off

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

27 June 1998

16:30 CET (UTC+1)

Italy	1–0	Norway
Vieri 18'	Report

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)

27 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Brazil	4–1	Chile
Sampaio 11', 26' Ronaldo 45+3' (pen.), 72'	Report	Salas 70'

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Marc Batta (France)

28 June 1998

16:30 CET (UTC+1)

France	1–0 (a.e.t./g.g.)	Paraguay
Blanc  114'	Report

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)

28 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Nigeria	1–4	Denmark
Babangida 77'	Report	Møller 3' B. Laudrup 12' Sand 58' Helveg 76'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

29 June 1998

16:30 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	2–1	Mexico
Klinsmann 74' Bierhoff 86'	Report	Hernández 47'

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal)

29 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	2–1	FR Yugoslavia
Bergkamp 38' Davids 90+2'	Report	Komljenović 48'

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: José María García-Aranda (Spain)

30 June 1998

16:30 CET (UTC+1)

Romania	0–1	Croatia
	Report	Šuker 45+2' (pen.)

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Javier Castrilli (Argentina)

30 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	2–2 (a.e.t.)	England
Batistuta 5' (pen.) Zanetti 45+1'	Report	Shearer 9' (pen.) Owen 16'
Penalties
Berti Crespo Verón Gallardo Ayala	4–3	Shearer Ince Merson Owen Batty

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

3 July 1998

16:30 CET (UTC+1)

Italy	0–0 (a.e.t.)	France
	Report
Penalties
R. Baggio Albertini Costacurta Vieri Di Biagio	3–4	Zidane Lizarazu Trezeguet Henry Blanc

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

3 July 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Brazil	3–2	Denmark
Bebeto 10' Rivaldo 25', 59'	Report	M. Jørgensen 2' B. Laudrup 50'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)

4 July 1998

16:30 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	2–1	Argentina
Kluivert 12' Bergkamp 90'	Report	López 17'

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)

4 July 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Germany	0–3	Croatia
	Report	Jarni 45+3' Vlaović 80' Šuker 85'

Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)

7 July 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Brazil	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Netherlands
Ronaldo 46'	Report	Kluivert 87'
Penalties
Ronaldo Rivaldo Emerson Dunga	4–2	F. de Boer Bergkamp Cocu R. de Boer

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 54,000

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)

8 July 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

France	2–1	Croatia
Thuram 47', 70'	Report	Šuker 46'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 76,000

Referee: José María García-Aranda (Spain)

Croatia beat the Netherlands to earn third place in the competition. Davor Šuker scored the winner in the 36th minute to secure the golden boot.^[31]

11 July 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Netherlands	1–2	Croatia
Zenden 22'	Report	Prosinečki 14' Šuker 36'

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay)

The final was held on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. France defeated holders Brazil 3–0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a stoppage time strike from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title, becoming the sixth national team after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina to win the tournament on their home soil. They also inflicted the second-heaviest World Cup defeat on Brazil,^[32] later to be topped by Brazil's 7–1 defeat by Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[33]

The pre-match build up was dominated by the omission of Brazilian striker Ronaldo from the starting lineup only to be reinstated 45 minutes before kick-off.^[34] He managed to create the first open chance for Brazil in the 22nd minute, dribbling past defender Thuram before sending a cross out on the left side that goalkeeper Fabien Barthez struggled to hold onto. France however took the lead after Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos conceded a corner from which Zidane scored via a header. Three minutes before half-time, Zidane scored his second goal of the match, similarly another header from a corner. The tournament hosts went down to ten men in the 68th minute as Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence. Brazil reacted to this by making an attacking substitution and although they applied pressure France sealed the win with a third goal: substitute Patrick Vieira set up his club teammate Petit in a counterattack to shoot low past goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel.^[35]

French president Jacques Chirac was in attendance to congratulate the winners and commiserate the runners-up after the match.^[36] Several days after the victory, winning manager Aimé Jacquet announced his resignation from the French team with immediate effect.^[37][38]

1998 FIFA World Cup

12 July 1998

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Final

Brazil	0–3	France
	Report	Zidane 27', 45+1' Petit 90+3'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 75,000

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

Davor Šuker received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals. In total, 171 goals were scored by 112 players:

6 goals

• Davor Šuker

5 goals

• Gabriel Batistuta
• Christian Vieri

4 goals

• Ronaldo
• Marcelo Salas
• Luis Hernández

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal