France 1998
France hosted the World Cup in the summer of 1998. The FIFA World Cup expanded the event to 32 teams for the first time. Nigeria and Paraguay advanced at the expense of Spain. Holders Brazil topped their group as did France. Croatia were the dark horses with the intelligent Davor Suker in their ranks. England’s bad luck in penalties continued as they bowed out to traditional rivals Argentina- goalkeeper Carlos Roa came up with the heroics. But not before young Michael Owen had scored one of the goals of the tournament. David Beckham would face the wrath of English fans as he was shown the red card in the same game. Laurent Blanc scored the first golden goal in history to oust Chilavert’s impressive Paraguay. France beat Italy on penalties before meeting Croatia in the semi-finals. Suker put the Croats ahead, but two match winning goals from right-back Lilian Thuram sent the hosts into the final. But skipper Blanc would miss the final as he was sent wrongly sent off. Meanwhile, Netherlands beat Argentina in the quarters after a beautiful three touch goal from the sublime Dennis Bergkamp. They met Brazil in the semi-finals- a game which was locked at 1-1 after goals from Ronaldo and Kluivert. Brazil survived the shoot-out to set up a date with France at the Stade de France. Drama surrounded the final as Ronaldo was omitted from the team sheet mysteriously before finally taking the field. Ronaldo had an unstoppable tournament but he only looked a shadow of his usual self. Meanwhile, it was another great player who came into limelight with his two headers- Zinedine Zidane around whom the team was built by France coach Aime Jacquet. Emmanuel Petit scored a third to spark celebrations at the Champs Elysees. France became champions for the first time in their history.
 |
| © AP Images |
Winners: France
Runners -Up: Brazil
Golden Boot: Davor Suker (Cro)