1998 FIFA World Cup final
The 1998 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th edition of the quadrennial football competition organised by FIFA for the men's national teams of its member associations. The match was played at the Stade de France in Paris, France, on 12 July 1998, and was contested by Brazil and France. The tournament featured France as the hosts, Brazil as the winners of the previous World Cup and 30 other teams who emerged from the qualification tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Brazil finished first in Group A, with two wins and one defeat, after which they beat Chile in the round of 16, Denmark in the quarter-finals and the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals. France finished top of Group C with three wins, before defeating Paraguay in the round of 16, Italy in the quarter-final, and Croatia in the semi-final. The final took place in front of 75,000 supporters, with an estimated 1.3 billion watching on television, and was refereed by Said Belqola from Morocco.
Before the match, speculation surrounded the fitness of striker Ronaldo, who was initially left out of Brazil's starting line-up, only to be restored to the team before kick-off. France took the lead shortly before the half-hour mark, when Zinedine Zidane outjumped Leonardo to connect with a header from an in-swinging corner from the right taken by Emmanuel Petit. Zidane scored again, with another header from a corner, shortly before half-time to give France a 2–0 lead. Petit then added a third goal in second-half injury time, striking the ball low into the net following a pass by Patrick Vieira, to complete a 3–0 win for France.
France's win was their first World Cup title, as they became the seventh different nation to win the tournament. Zidane was named the man of the match, while Ronaldo was awarded the Golden Ball as FIFA's outstanding player of the tournament. Following the win, hundreds of thousands of French supporters celebrated in Paris throughout the night, before assembling along the Champs-Élysées the following day for an open-top bus tour by the French players. France followed up their victory by winning their next major tournament at UEFA Euro 2000. Ronaldo's fitness for the match and his initial omission and later reinstatement on Brazil's teamsheet became a subject of ongoing journalistic interest following the match, with analysis continuing more than 20 years later.
Background
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th edition of the World Cup, FIFA's football competition for men's national teams, held in France between 10 June and 12 July 1998. The finals featured 32 teams for the first time, up from 24 in the 1994 World Cup. Both France and Brazil qualified automatically for the tournament – France as hosts and Brazil because they had won the tournament in 1994. The remaining 30 spots were decided through qualifying rounds held between March 1996 and November 1997, organised by the six FIFA confederations and involving 168 teams. In the finals, the teams were divided into eight groups of four with each team playing each other once in a round-robin format. The two top teams from each group advanced to a knock-out stage. The game was played at the Stade de France, in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, an 80,000-capacity stadium which was purpose-built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup because there were no previously existing venues large enough to accommodate the final.Brazil had won the previous World Cup in the United States in 1994, defeating Italy in a penalty shoot-out in the final after the match had finished 0–0 after extra time, the first ever goalless final. They began the 1998 tournament as favourites with Mário Zagallo, their manager, having been involved with all four previous Brazilian wins – as a player in 1958 and 1962, as manager in 1970 and assistant manager in 1994. France did not qualify for the 1994 tournament because they were eliminated in their qualifying group, finishing behind Sweden and Bulgaria. However, they had followed this up with a run to the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 1996, in which they were beaten in a penalty shoot-out by the Czech Republic. France's midfielder Zinedine Zidane had been tied for third place in the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year contest and was labelled by former Brazilian forward Pelé as "one of the players to watch" at the 1998 World Cup. Before the tournament, Aimé Jacquet, the manager of France, told reporters that his team were "here to win the World Cup, nothing less". The two teams had met twice previously in the World Cup – in the semi-final of the 1958 tournament, which Brazil won 5–2, and the quarter-final in 1986 when France won in a penalty shoot-out after the game finished 1–1 after extra time. Their most recent meeting had been in the opening match of the 1997 Tournoi de France, which finished 1–1. Roberto Carlos had scored Brazil's goal in that game with a famous Banana Shot free kick, curling from a 33.13-metre distance and often considered to be one of the best in the modern game.
The match ball used at the tournament was the Adidas Tricolore, which was specifically made for the World Cup. The tricolour flag and Gallic rooster, traditional symbols of France were used as inspiration for the design. More than 20 drafts had been proposed by the Adidas design team before the definitive version was approved.
Route to the final
Brazil
Brazil were in Group A at the World Cup, in which they were joined by Morocco, Norway and Scotland. Their first game was the tournament opener at the Stade de France, on 10 June against Scotland. Brazil took the lead after four minutes when César Sampaio received the ball in the penalty area from a corner taken by Bebeto, and headed the ball past Jim Leighton in the Scotland goal. Scotland equalised through a penalty scored by John Collins, after Kevin Gallacher had been fouled in the penalty area. Brazil took the lead again in the second half when a volley by Cafu was saved by Leighton but rebounded off Scotland's Tom Boyd for an own goal. Scotland appealed for a second penalty in the final minute, claiming that Dunga had handled the ball, but it was not given and Brazil won 2–1. Their second game was against Morocco, on 16 June at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. Ronaldo gave Brazil the lead with his first World Cup goal nine minutes into the game, with Rivaldo and Bebeto also scoring to give Brazil a 3–0 win. Brazil were already confirmed as winners of the group before their third game, against Norway, but Zagallo nonetheless picked most of his first-choice team, leaving out only Aldair, who had received a yellow card against Scotland and risked suspension should he receive another, and Sampaio, who was already suspended. Brazil took the lead through Bebeto on 77 minutes. Norway responded with two goals in the last ten minutes – Tore André Flo scoring the equaliser and then winning a penalty when he was fouled by Gonçalves. Kjetil Rekdal scored from the penalty spot to give Norway a 2–1 win.Brazil's opponents in the round of 16 were Chile; the match was played on 27 June at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Brazil took the lead on 11 minutes when a Dunga free kick was met by Sampaio, who was unmarked and headed the ball past goalkeeper Nelson Tapia. Sampaio doubled Brazil's lead on 27 minutes when he shot into the corner of the net following a long-range Roberto Carlos free kick. Ronaldo added a third from a penalty in first-half injury time, after he had been fouled by Tapia. Marcelo Salas pulled a goal back for Chile in the second half, but Ronaldo then scored again to seal a 4–1 Brazilian win. In the quarter-finals they played Denmark at the Stade de la Beaujoire on 3 July. Denmark scored the first goal two minutes into the game through Martin Jørgensen, with Bebeto equalising eight minutes later. Brazil then took the lead with a goal by Rivaldo on 27 minutes, completing a move involving Dunga and Ronaldo. Brian Laudrup levelled the scores five minutes into the second half, but Rivaldo scored again 30 minutes before the end to seal a 3–2 win for Brazil.
Brazil's semi-final was against the Netherlands at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. Ronaldo gave Brazil the lead shortly after half-time, but Patrick Kluivert equalised for the Netherlands three minutes before the end. The game went to extra time, with the golden goal rule in effect. There was no further scoring, however, and the game was settled by a penalty shoot-out. The two sides took their kicks alternately with Brazil kicking first and the first five penalties were all scored, giving Brazil a 3–2 lead. Brazilian goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel then saved penalties from Phillip Cocu and Ronald de Boer with Dunga scoring again for Brazil, which meant Brazil won the shoot-out 4–2 and progressed to the final.
France
France were drawn in Group C at the finals, alongside Denmark, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. They began their campaign on 12 June against World Cup debutants South Africa at the Stade Vélodrome. In a match which Richard Williams of The Guardian said they "dominated throughout", France won 3–0 with a goal in the first half from Christophe Dugarry, a 77th minute own goal by South Africa's Pierre Issa and a last-minute strike by Thierry Henry.Their second game was against Saudi Arabia at the Stade de France on 18 June. Henry gave France the lead in the first half, scoring from a cross by Bixente Lizarazu, before France scored three goals in the final fifteen minutes through David Trezeguet, Henry again and Lizarazu to complete a 4–0 win. Both sides had a player sent off – Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi in the 18th minute for Saudi Arabia and Zidane for France on 70 minutes for a stamp on Fuad Anwar. Zidane was suspended for the next two games. With progression to the knockout stage assured, Jacquet made eight changes to his team for the final game against Denmark at the Stade Gerland in Lyon on 24 June. France took the lead on 13 minutes when Youri Djorkaeff converted a penalty after Jes Høgh fouled Trezeguet. Denmark then won a penalty shortly before half-time for a Vincent Candela foul on Jørgensen which was scored by Michael Laudrup. In the second half, Emmanuel Petit scored with a low shot into the corner of the Danish goal to seal a 2–1 victory and first place in the group.
France's round-of-16 opponents were Paraguay, at the Stade Félix-Bollaert in Lens on 28 June. In a match labelled a "real stinker" by Williams, with France described as "extraordinarily inept", there were no goals during the 90 minutes of normal time and the first period of extra time. With six minutes remaining, France broke the deadlock, Laurent Blanc scoring the FIFA World Cup's first ever golden goal to seal a 1–0 win and a place in the quarter-finals. There, they met Italy, the losing finalists from 1994, at Stade de France on 3 July. There were no goals during normal time and no golden goal, so the game was decided by a penalty shoot-out. With France taking the first penalty, both sides scored their openers, before goalkeepers Gianluca Pagliuca and Fabien Barthez saved a penalty each, from Lizarazu and Demetrio Albertini respectively. The next five were all scored to leave France 4–3 ahead with one Italian penalty remaining. Luigi Di Biagio struck the crossbar with his kick and France advanced to the semi-finals with a 4–3 shoot-out win. They returned to the Stade de France on 8 July for a semi-final against Croatia. After a goalless first half, there were two goals in quick succession shortly after half-time as Davor Šuker gave Croatia the lead before Lilian Thuram equalised for France. Thuram then gave France the lead on 70 minutes with his second and last goal for France. Despite Blanc being sent off five minutes later for violent conduct towards Slaven Bilić, France held on for a 2–1 win and a place in the final. Blanc's red card was the only one he received in his entire career, and meant that he was suspended for the final. Bilić's reaction implied that Blanc had struck him on the head in the incident, but video replays showed that the impact had been to his chest or chin, and the incident is often cited as one of the most controversial in the competition's history.