Who won the World Cup in 1998? | Goal.com

France hosted the World Cup for the second time in 1998…

The 16th edition of the World Cup – football’s greatest tournament -was held in the year 1998. 32 teams from five confederations – Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and North America – took part in the competition.

Who were the hosts of the 1998 FIFA World Cup?

France was selected as the host for the 1998 World Cup for the second time in the country’s history. The last time France hosted the tournament was back in 1938.

Four nations, France, Switzerland, England and Morocco had placed bids for the hosting rights but eventually, the votes went in France’s favour as they defeated Morocco by 12 votes. Switzerland and England had withdrawn their bids before the voting took place.

Getty Images

What was the format of the 1998 FIFA World Cup?

The number of teams from the previous edition increased in 1998 as the World Cup saw the participation of 32 teams instead of 24. The number of groups were expanded from six to eight and the top two teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage.

Which teams participated in the qualifying round?

A total of 174 teams from six confederations entered the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying round. France as the host nation and Brazil as reigning World Cup champions were granted automatic qualification, with the remaining 30 places divided among the continental confederations.

14 places were available for UEFA (Europe), 4 for CONMEBOL (South America), 5 for CAF (Africa), 3.5 for AFC, 0.5 for OFC (Asia/Oceania), and 3 for CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean).

The teams who eventually played in the World Cup were – Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan (AFC), Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa (CAF), USA, Mexico, Jamaica (CONCACAF), Argentina, Brazil (defending champions), Paraguay, Colombia, Chile (CONMEBOL), Denmark, England, Austria, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Scotland, Croatia, Italy, France (host), Belgium, Romania, Norway, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia (UEFA).

Getty

Who won the 1998 FIFA World Cup?

Les Blues won the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history beating four-time World Cup winner Brazil in the final. A brace by Zinedine Zidane and a goal from Emmanuel Petit helped the hosts outclass the most successful team in the competition’s history and keep the trophy in Paris.

There were many firsts in this edition of the World Cup. For the first time in history, an electronic display – instead of the manual one – was used in the tournament to signal substitutions and added time.

There was also a crackdown on harsh tackles from behind in this edition. On March 6, 1998, in its 112th meeting, FIFA decided to make an addition to Law XII. A tackle from behind which endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

Acts of serious foul play are punishable by a red card. The same law was implemented in the 16th edition of the World Cup.

The ‘Golden Goal’ rule was also brought into practice at the World Cup for the first time in this edition.

Who were the top goalscorers at the 1998 FIFA World Cup?

Legendary Croatian forward Davor Suker was the Golden Boot winner, scoring six goals in the tournament.

Player

Country

Goals

Davor Suker

Croatia

6

Gabriel Batistuta

Argentina

5

Christian Vieri

Italy

5

Ronaldo

Brazil

4

Marcelo Salas

Chile

4

Luis Hernandez

Mexico

4

The 22-man 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning France squad

Player

Position

Club

Bernard Lama

Goalkeeper

PSG

Fabien Barthez

Goalkeeper

AS Monaco

Lionel Charbonnier

Goalkeeper

Auxerre

Vincent Candela

Defender

AS Roma

Bixente Lizarazu

Defender

Bayern Munich

Laurent Blanc

Defender

Marseille

Marcel Desailly

Defender

AC Milan

Lilian Thuram

Defender

Parma

Frank Leboeuf

Defender

Chelsea

Patrick Vieira

Midfielder

Arsenal

Youri Djorkaeff

Midfielder

Inter Milan

Didier Deschamps (Captain)

Midfielder

Juventus

Zinedine Zidane

Midfielder

Juventus

Robert Pires

Midfielder

Metz

Bernard Diomède

Midfielder

Auxerre

Alain Boghossian

Midfielder

Sampdoria

Emmanuel Petit

Midfielder

Arsenal

Christian Karembeu

Midfielder

Real Madrid

Stéphane Guivarc’h

Forward

Auxerre

Thierry Henry

Forward

AS Monaco

Christophe Dugarry

Forward

Marseille

David Trezeguet

Forward

AS Monaco