Remembering The 1998 FIFA World Cup

Brazil was the defending world champions. They boasted the formidable Ronaldo, along with the likes of Romario and Roberto Carlos. They were the pre-tournament favorites for many, and their place in the final did not come as such a surprise.

It hadn’t all been plain sailing for the Brazilians en route to the final. They had to come from behind against the likes of Denmark to squeeze into the semi-finals 3-2. In the group stages, they had lost to Norway.

In the semi-finals , they faced a fancied Dutch team, who boasted the likes of Denis Bergkamp (who scored the goal of the tournament against Argentina) and Patrik Kluivert. The game ended in a 1-1 stalemate, and Brazil was taken to a penalty shoot-out. They secured their place in the final 4-2 on penalties.

The defeated Dutch faced Croatia in the third-place playoff. In the end, this confirmed the brilliant tournament for Croatia, who won 2-1 and finished officially third. For a first World Cup, this was not a bad performance at all for the Slavic team of the former Yugoslavia.

The host nation played the defending champions in the final, which was the first time this had happened in a World Cup. France, buoyed by home advantage, had the edge with most of the supporters in blue. Brazil had concerns over Ronaldo and whether he was fit to play in the final. He did play but was largely subdued. In contrast, France had the brilliant Zinedine Zidane, who scored twice with two headers to inspire the French to victory. A third goal put the gloss on a deserved French World Cup win.

3-0 it was, and the French celebrated their win in front of an ecstatic French crowd. Captain Didier Deschamps hoisted the first World Cup for France. This was a victory for multicultural France, a French team composed of players of color like Thierry Henry. Critics of Jacquet, the French manager, ultimately had to eat their humble pie.

Was France 1998 A Great World Cup?

With a goal average of 2.67, the 1998 FIFA World Cup had a reasonable number of goals. It certainly offered a more entertaining spectacle than the 1990, 2002, 2006, and 2010 tournaments. This World Cup had a few iconic matches, such as Argentina’s encounters against England and Holland in the second round and quarter-finals. Those games included a couple of great goals from Bergkamp and Owen.

This was also an expanded World Cup that introduced the 32-team format. The 32-team format was a well-balanced one, which eliminated the spectacle of third-place teams sneaking through the group stage. That format seemingly struck the right size balance, but FIFA has now expanded the tournament to include 48 teams.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup was a decent one, but fell short of being one of the great tournaments for a few reasons. Firstly, because of the Golden Goal experiment it had for extra time (first introduced at Euro 96), which didn’t work very well. This rule actually resulted in teams playing more defensively in extra time, with the possibility of immediate elimination if they conceded then. There was only one extra-time Golden Goal in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The spectacle of soccer hooliganism also blighted this tournament. England fans went on the rampage in Marseille before the Three Lions played Tunisia in the group stage. A German hooliganism incident emerged in Lens before the Germany vs Yugoslavia match.

End Of My 1998 FIFA World Cup Rant

So, the 1998 FIFA World Cup wasn’t necessarily disappointing for entertainment value, but the Golden Goal didn’t enhance it. Soccer hooliganism also spoiled things. Nevertheless, the 1998 World Cup passed as a good show with 171 goals and a total of 2.7 million in attendance.