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1998 FIFA World Cup

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience

Map illustrating the 1998 FIFA World Cup locations

The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, a big soccer competition for men's national teams. It happened in France from June 10 to July 12, 1998. France was chosen to host the event. It was the longest World Cup ever, lasting 32 days with 32 teams.

Players from all over the world competed in many matches. The games took place in 10 different cities across France. France won the tournament by beating Brazil, the previous champions, in the final. This was France's first World Cup win, and they became the sixth team to win the World Cup in their own country. Some new teams, like Croatia, Jamaica, Japan, and South Africa, played in the World Cup for the very first time.

Host selection

Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts

France was chosen to host the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by FIFA during a meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They won with 12 votes to 7 against Morocco. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy. France had also hosted the World Cup in (/wiki/1938_FIFA_World_Cup). England had wanted to host but chose to support France’s bid instead.

Bribery and corruption investigations

In 2015, it was found that some members of FIFA’s group were given unfair help during the voting for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups hosts. One person said that unfair help happened for the 1998 World Cup, but the help actually came from the team that wanted Morocco to host, not France.

Voting results
CountryRound 1
France12
Morocco7

Qualification

The qualification for the 1998 World Cup began with a draw in Paris. As the host country, France did not need to go through the draw, and Brazil, the defending champion, was also exempt. A total of 174 teams took part.

Four countries qualified for the World Cup for the very first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan, and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran, after winning against Australia. Some other teams returned to the World Cup after many years, such as Chile.

List of qualified teams

See also: 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding

The following 32 teams qualified for the final tournament.

AFC (4)
 Iran (42)
 Japan (debut) (12)
 Saudi Arabia (34)
 South Korea (20)
CAF (5)
 Cameroon (49)
 Morocco (13)
 Nigeria (74)
 South Africa (debut) (24) 
 Tunisia (21)
OFC (0)
None qualified
 Jamaica (debut) (30)
 Mexico (4)
 Argentina (6)
 Brazil (holders) (1)
 Chile (9)
 Colombia (10)
 Paraguay (29)
UEFA (15)
 Austria (31)
 Belgium (36)
 Bulgaria (35)
 Croatia (debut) (19)
 Denmark (27)
 England (5)
 France (18) (hosts)
 Germany (2)
 Italy (14)
 Netherlands (25)
 Norway (7)
 Romania (22)
 Scotland (41)
 Spain (15)

Venues

France planned to host the World Cup with a big stadium that could hold 80,000 people and nine other stadiums across the country. The main stadium, called the Stade de France, was built in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris. Construction started in December 1995 and finished in November 1997.

Ten stadiums were used for the tournament. The Stade de France was used for the most matches, with nine games played there. Paris also hosted matches at the Parc des Princes, bringing the city's total to 15 matches. Other cities like Marseille, Lyon, and Lens also hosted games. Some of these stadiums had been used in the World Cup back in 1938.

Innovations

This was the first FIFA World Cup where fourth officials used electronic boards instead of cardboard signs.

It was also the first World Cup to use golden goals. This meant a match could end early if a team scored in extra time. The rules were changed to stop dangerous tackles and allowed teams to make three substitutions during a game.

Match officials

The 1998 World Cup had 34 referees and 33 assistants to help run the games. There were more referees than the 1994 World Cup because the tournament had grown to include 32 teams instead of 24.

The referees came from different parts of the world:

Caf (5 referees):

Afc (4 referees):

Uefa (15 referees):

Concacaf (3 referees):

OFC (1 referee):

Conmebol (6 referees):

Draw

The FIFA Organising Committee chose eight top teams on 3 December 1997 at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The draw was done by FIFA's general secretary Joseph Blatter. Famous players like Franz Beckenbauer, George Weah, Jean-Pierre Papin, Raymond Kopa, Georges Carnus, and Mia Hamm helped with the draw.

France, as the host country, and Brazil, as the defending champions, had special group positions. The other teams were placed into four groups based on their rankings and where they were from in the world. The draw made sure that no group had more than two teams from the same area, except for European teams.

The draw happened at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on 4 December 1997 and was watched by 38,000 people in the stadium and about 1 billion viewers on TV. The draw was done by FIFA secretary general Sepp Blatter and famous football players Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto Parreira, George Weah, and Raymond Kopa.

Each group had three teams that played each other once. The two teams with the most points in each group moved on to the next round. This was a new way to play the World Cup after it grew from 24 teams in 1994. In total, 64 games were played, including the final and a game for third place.

Pot A
Top-seeded teams
(DC + Host + Top7 seeds)
Pot B
Europe
(UEFA)
Pot C
Asia & South America
(AFC & CONMEBOL)
Pot D
Africa & North America
(CAF & CONCACAF)
 Brazil (1994 winner, group A1)
 France (host, group C1)
 Germany (1)
 Italy (3)
 Spain (4)
 Argentina (5)
 Romania (6)
Group stage schedule
MatchdayDatesMatches
Matchday 110–15 June 19981 v 2, 3 v 4
Matchday 216–22 June 19981 v 3, 2 v 4
Matchday 323–26 June 19984 v 1, 2 v 3

Squads

Each team in the 1998 World Cup had 22 players. All teams had to tell FIFA their final team by June 1, 1998.

Most players, about 447, played for clubs in Europe. Others came from Asia, South America, North and Central America, and Africa. The youngest player was 17 years old from Cameroon, and the oldest was almost 40 from Scotland.

Group stage

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

Group A

Brazil won Group A after beating Scotland and Morocco. Norway beat Brazil in the last game, which sent them to the knockout stage for the first time.

Norway's win meant Morocco could not move on, even though they beat Scotland 3–0. This was only Morocco's second ever win at a World Cup.

Scotland only managed one point in a draw with Norway and did not advance.

Source: FIFA

Group B

Italy and Chile moved to the next round, while Austria and Cameroon did not advance.

Source: FIFA

Group C

France, the host nation, won Group C and went on to win the tournament. Denmark also advanced, while Saudi Arabia and South Africa did not.

Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts

Group D

Nigeria and Paraguay advanced, while Spain, the top seed, was eliminated. Bulgaria did not move on either.

Source: FIFA

Group E

The Netherlands and Mexico advanced. Belgium and South Korea did not, even though Belgium had three draws.

Source: FIFA

Group F

Germany and Yugoslavia advanced, while Iran and the United States did not.

Source: FIFA

Group G

Romania finished first, followed by England. Colombia and Tunisia did not advance.

Source: FIFA

Group H

Argentina led the group. Croatia followed, while Jamaica and Japan did not advance.

Source: FIFA

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Brazil320163+36Advance to knockout stage
2 Norway312054+15
3 Morocco31115504
4 Scotland301226−41
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Italy321073+47Advance to knockout stage
2 Chile30304403
3 Austria302134−12
4 Cameroon302125−32
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 France (H)330091+89Advance to knockout stage
2 Denmark31113304
3 South Africa302136−32
4 Saudi Arabia301227−51
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Nigeria32015506Advance to knockout stage
2 Paraguay312031+25
3 Spain311184+44
4 Bulgaria301217−61
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Netherlands312072+55Advance to knockout stage
2 Mexico312075+25
3 Belgium30303303
4 South Korea301229−71
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Germany321062+47Advance to knockout stage
2 FR Yugoslavia321042+27
3 Iran310224−23
4 United States300315−40
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Romania321042+27Advance to knockout stage
2 England320152+36
3 Colombia310213−23
4 Tunisia301214−31
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Argentina330070+79Advance to knockout stage
2 Croatia320142+26
3 Jamaica310239−63
4 Japan300314−30

Knockout stage

The knockout stage had 16 teams that advanced from the group games. If a game was tied after 90 minutes, they played 30 more minutes called "extra time". If it was still tied, they had a "penalty shoot-out" to decide who would move on. There was also a special rule called the "Golden goal rule". If a team scored during extra time, they would win right away.

The first knockout games were on June 27, 1998, and the final game was on July 12, 1998, in Paris.

Round of 16

27 June 1998 (1998-06-27)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)


27 June 1998 (1998-06-27)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Marc Batta (France)


28 June 1998 (1998-06-28)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)


28 June 1998 (1998-06-28)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)


29 June 1998 (1998-06-29)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier

Attendance: 29,800

Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal)


29 June 1998 (1998-06-29)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: José María García-Aranda (Spain)


30 June 1998 (1998-06-30)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Javier Castrilli (Argentina)


30 June 1998 (1998-06-30)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne

Attendance: 30,600

Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

Quarter-finals

3 July 1998 (1998-07-03)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)


3 July 1998 (1998-07-03)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)


4 July 1998 (1998-07-04)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)


4 July 1998 (1998-07-04)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)

Semi-finals

7 July 1998 (1998-07-07)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 54,000

Referee: Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates)


8 July 1998 (1998-07-08)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 76,000

Referee: José María García-Aranda (Spain)

Match for third place

Croatia beat the Netherlands to earn third place in the competition. Davor Šuker scored the winner in the 36th minute.

11 July 1998 (1998-07-11)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay)

Final

The final was held on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. France defeated Brazil 3–0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a goal from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title. They became the sixth nation to win the tournament on their home soil.

French president Jacques Chirac was in attendance after the match.

12 July 1998 (1998-07-12)

21:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 75,000

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
              
27 June – Paris
 Brazil4
3 July – Nantes
 Chile1
 Brazil3
28 June – Saint-Denis
 Denmark2
 Nigeria1
7 July – Marseille
 Denmark4
 Brazil (p)1 (4)
29 June – Toulouse
 Netherlands1 (2)
 Netherlands2
4 July – Marseille
 FR Yugoslavia1
 Netherlands2
30 June – Saint-Étienne
 Argentina1
 Argentina (p)2 (4)
12 July – Saint-Denis
 England2 (3)
 Brazil0
27 June – Marseille
 France3
 Italy1
3 July – Saint-Denis
 Norway0
 Italy0 (3)
28 June – Lens
 France (p)0 (4)
 France (g.g.)1
8 July – Saint-Denis
 Paraguay0
 France2
29 June – Montpellier
 Croatia1Match for third place
 Germany2
4 July – Lyon11 July – Paris
 Mexico1
 Germany0 Netherlands1
30 June – Bordeaux
 Croatia3 Croatia2
 Romania0
 Croatia1

Statistics

Davor Šuker scored the most goals with six. In total, 171 goals were scored by 112 different players.

Goalscorers

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Own goals

Awards

Players who were red-carded during the tournament

All-star team

The All-star team is a squad consisting of the 16 most impressive players at the 1998 World Cup, as selected by FIFA's Technical Study Group.

Final standings

After the tournament, FIFA published a ranking of all teams that competed in the 1998 World Cup finals based on progress in the competition and overall results.

RTeamGPWDLGFGAGDPts.
1 FranceC7610152+1319
2 BrazilA74121410+413
3 CroatiaH7502115+615
4 NetherlandsE7331137+612
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5 ItalyB532083+511
6 ArgentinaH5311104+610
7 GermanyF531186+210
8 DenmarkC521297+27
Eliminated in the round of 16
9 EnglandG421174+37
10 FR YugoslaviaF421154+17
11 RomaniaG421143+17
12 NigeriaD420269−36
13 MexicoE412187+15
14 ParaguayD412132+15
15 NorwayA41215505
16 ChileB403158−33
Eliminated in the group stage
17 SpainD311184+44
18 MoroccoA31115504
19 BelgiumE30303303
20 IranF310224−23
21 ColombiaG310213−23
22 JamaicaH310239−63
23 AustriaB302134−12
24 South AfricaC302136−32
25 CameroonB302125−32
26 TunisiaG301214−31
27 ScotlandA301226−41
28 Saudi ArabiaC301227−51
29 BulgariaD301217−61
30 South KoreaE301229−71
31 JapanH300314−30
32 United StatesF300315−40

Marketing

Tournoi de France

Main article: 1997 Tournoi de France

A year before the big football event, a small special tournament called the Tournoi de France happened in France. Only a few teams were invited: Italy, Brazil, England, and the host country, France.

Broadcasting

Many TV channels around the world showed the 1998 FIFA World Cup matches. In the United Kingdom, BBC and ITV broadcast the games. The matches were shown in 200 countries, and many photographers took pictures. Reporters had special seats at every game.

Coca-Cola was one of the sponsors of FIFA World Cup 1998.

Sponsorship

The sponsors for the 1998 FIFA World Cup were split into two groups: FIFA World Cup Sponsors and France Supporters.

One sponsor, Budweiser, could not be shown because of a French law.

Video games

The official video game for the World Cup was World Cup 98 made by EA Sports. It came out for computers and game consoles like Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy. In Japan, different companies made their own World Cup games.

CountryBroadcasterTelevision
AlbaniaTVSH
ArgentinaArtear, Televisión Federal, Grupo América, Telearte, SNMP, Teletreinta, Argentina Televisión, Lujan Cable Visión S.A., Holding Córdoba de radio y televisiónEltrece, Telefe, América TV, Canal 9, ATC, Channel 30, Argenvisión, Channel 23, El CW
AustraliaSBS
AustriaORFORF eins and ORF 2
Arab LeagueArab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), Orbit NetworkOrbit ESPN
BelgiumDutch:
VRT
Dutch:
Eén and Canvas
French:
RTBF
French:
La Une and La Deux
BangladeshBTV
BoliviaTVB, Bolivisión, Unitel and Unovisión
BrazilGlobo, SBT, RecordTV, Manchete, SporTV and ESPN Brasil
BruneiRTBRTB Perdana, RTB Aneka
BulgariaBNTChannel 1 and Efir 2
CambodiaTVKChannel 7
CanadaEnglish:
CBC
English:
CBC Television
French:
Société Radio-Canada
French:
Télévision de Radio-Canada
ChileTVN, Chilevisión, UCTV and Megavisión
ChinaCCTVCCTV-1
ColombiaInravisiónCanal Uno:
PUNCH and JES
Canal A:
RTI and Datos y Mensajes
Caracol Televisión and RCN Televisión
Corsica2France TF1, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV2
Italy RAI
France TF1, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV2 and 1998 FIFA World Cup TV32
Czech RepublicCzech TelevisionČT1 and ČT2
DenmarkDRDR1 and DR2
EstoniaETV
FinlandYLE, MTV3YLE TV2
France2TF1, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV2TF1, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV2, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV3, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV4, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV International and 1998 FIFA World Cup TV News2
GeorgiaGPB1TV
GermanyARD and ZDFDas Erste and ZDF
GreeceERTET1, NET and ET3
HungaryMTVMTV1 and MTV2
Holy SeeItaly RAIItaly RAI 1, RAI 2 and RAI 3
Hong KongTVBCantonese:
TVB Jade
English:
TVB Pearl
IndiaDoordarshanDoordarshan National Channel
Indonesia1TVRI (Programme 1), RCTI, SCTV, TPI, ANteve, and Indosiar (all matches in live television)1
IranIRIBChannel 1 and Channel 2
IrelandRTÉRTÉ One and RTÉ Two
IsraelIBAHebrew:
Channel 1
Arabic:
Channel 33
ItalyRAIRAI 1, RAI 2 and RAI 3
JapanNHK, Fuji Television, TBS, Nippon Television, TV Asahi and TV TokyoNHK General TV, Fuji Television, TBS Television, Nippon Television, TV Asahi and TV Tokyo
LaosLNTV
MacauTVBCantonese:
TVB Jade
English:
TVB Pearl
Latin AmericaBein TV, DirecTVChannels 530 and 532 of Bein TV
Channels 610 and 612 of DirecTV
Malaysia2RTM, STMB, NTV7TV1, TV2, TV3, NTV7
MexicoTelevisa, TV AztecaCanal de las Estrellas, XHDF-TDT
Monaco2France TF1, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV2
Italy Telemontecarlo
France TF1, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV2, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV3, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV4, 1998 FIFA World Cup TV International and 1998 FIFA World Cup TV News (all matches of international broadcast signal)2
Italy Telemontecarlo
MyanmarMRTVChannel 5
NetherlandsNPONederland 1, Nederland 2 and Nederland 3
New ZealandTVNZTV1 and TV2
NorwayNRKNRK1 and NRK2
ParaguayTV Acción, TV Cerro Corá, Tevedos, Teledifusora Paraguaya, SICOM TV, Hispanoamérica TV, Canal 5 TV Color, Caacupé Cable Visión S.A., Holding Paraná de radio y televisiónTelefuturo, SNT, Red Guaraní Canal 13, Paraguay TV, La Tele, Paravisión, Canal 25, RTV
PeruAmérica Televisión and Panamericana Televisión.
PhilippinesGMA Network and Sky Cable
PolandTVPTVP1 and TVP2
PortugalRTPRTP1 and RTP2
RussiaVGTRK, ORTRossiya 1, Channel One Russia
San MarinoItaly RAIItaly RAI 1, RAI 2 and RAI 3
SingaporeSingapore International MediaPremiere 12
SlovakiaSTVSTV1 and STV2
South AfricaSABCSABC 1, SABC 2 and SABC 3
South KoreaKBS
SpainRTVETVE (TV1 and TV2)
SwedenSVTSVT1 and SVT2
 SwitzerlandSRG SSRSF 1 (German), TSR 2 (French) and TSI 2 (Italian)
TaiwanTTV, CTV, CTS and FTV
ThailandTelevision Pool of Thailand
TurkeyTRTTRT 1, TRT 2 and TRT 3
United KingdomBBC and ITVBBC One and ITV3
United StatesABC, ESPN (English) and Univision (Spanish)
UkraineUT-1 and 1+1
UruguayTevetres, Monte Carlo Televisión, Sociedad Anónima Emisora de Televisión y Anexos, Sociedad Televisora Larrañaga, SODRE, Franco-Hispano TV, Canal 8 TV Color, Canelones Cable Visión S.A., Holding Rivera de radio y televisiónChannel 3, Channel 4, Channel 10, Teledoce, UTC, Uruvisión, Canal 27, STV
VietnamVietnam Television, Ho Chi Minh City TelevisionVTV1, VTV3, HTV7, HTV9
VenezuelaVenevisión, RCTV, VTV

Symbols

Mascot

The official mascot was Footix, a rooster. It was created by a designer named Fabrice Pialot. The name Footix was chosen by French TV viewers. It combines the word "football" with the ending "-ix" from the Astérix comic strip. The mascot's colors match France's flag.

Match ball

Main article: Adidas Tricolore

The official match ball for the 1998 World Cup was made by Adidas. It was called Tricolore, meaning "three-coloured" in French. It was the eighth World Cup ball made by the company. The design was inspired by France's flag and rooster symbol.

Music

Main article: Music of the World Cup: Allez! Ola! Ole!

The official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup was "The Cup of Life," also known as "La Copa de la Vida," performed by Ricky Martin.

The official anthem was "La Cour des Grands (Do You Mind If I Play)" by Youssou N'Dour and Axelle Red.

Legacy

Two important people talked about how great it was that France hosted the 1998 World Cup. One of them, João Havelange, said the tournament would always stay in his memory. Lennart Johansson said France did a good job, and the whole world was excited to watch.

Later, in 2000, a special group from the French government looked back on how the World Cup was organized.

Images

A football match during the 2011 Coupe de France Final between Lille LOSC and Paris SG.
Fans watching a football match at the stadium.
Interior view of Parc des Princes stadium in Paris
A view of Stade de Gerland during an Olympique Lyonnais vs OGC Nice football match.
A photo of Stade Bollaert-Delelis, a large sports stadium in France.
A busy soccer stadium during a match between Toulouse FC and LOSC Lille in 2013.
A view of Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Étienne, France, during renovations for Euro 2016.
Stade Chaban-Delmas, home of Girondins de Bordeaux football club.
The stadium of La Beaujoire during the 1998 World Cup in Nantes.

Related articles

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on 1998 FIFA World Cup, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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