The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th edition of the tournament, held in France from June 10 to July 12. It marked the second time France hosted the event, having previously done so in 1938.
As in 1994, Spain was again forced to play one of their World Cup games in white and this time it was a real cracker: African powerhouse Nigeria took on the seleccion in their opening encounter in Nantes.
For 1998 Adidas again equipped Spain with a unique shirt, but this time it was one of the least ingenious ways of incorporating three stripes into a jersey by simply moving them from the shoulders down onto the sleeve. It looks a bit funny, although the design is somewhat salvaged by the patches on the underarms and the sides of the jersey in the same color.
For the away jersey, the red of the home jersey was just replaced by white giving us a white jersey with dark blue (black?) accents. With the Adidas logo being in the center of the shirt, the number had to move to the left, which in itself is not a bad move.
Given the sizes of the number and the crest (this time without any shield - I like it!) it makes everything look balanced. The font used for the number however, is a bit odd since it looks a bit like created by a paintbrush. While this jersey manages to incorporate both change colors, I feel it lacks identity.
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Group D at the 1998 World Cup
Match Summary
Spain largely dominated the proceedings, still the game was tied at half-time. When Raul put Spain ahead just after the break everything seemed settled, but an incredible error by goalkeeping legend Andoni Zubizarreta and incredible long-range volley from Sunday Oliseh turned the game around and inflicted quite some damage on the Spanish team which was considered (once again) among the fancied teams.
They could not recover in their next dodgy game against Paraguay and in their last game a 6-1 victory over Bulgaria was not enough. Spain continued a trend that started in 1982 and continues to this day: a disappointing World Cup (not reaching the quarter final) is followed by a successful one (quarter final or more).
The final tournament was expanded from 24 to 32 teams for the first time, divided into eight groups of four. Host nation France won the tournament, defeating Brazil 3-0 in the final.
Four nations qualified for the first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a two-legged tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, Chile qualified for the first time since 1982, after serving a ban that saw them miss out on the two previous tournaments. Paraguay and Denmark returned for the first time since 1986. Austria, England, Scotland and Yugoslavia returned after missing out on the 1994 tournament, with the Balkan team now appearing under the name of FR Yugoslavia.
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Map of FIFA World Cup 1998 teams
Tournament Details
The choice of stadium locations was drafted from an original list of 14 cities. FIFA and CFO monitored the progress and quality of preparations, culminating in the former providing final checks of the grounds weeks before the tournament commenced. Montpellier was the surprise inclusion from the final list of cities because of its low urban hierarchy in comparison to Strasbourg, who boasted a better hierarchy and success from its local football team, having been taken over by a consortium. Montpellier however was considered ambitious by the selecting panel to host World Cup matches.
Some of the venues used for this tournament were also used for the previous World Cup in France in 1938. 10 stadiums were used for the finals; in addition to nine matches being played at the Stade de France (the most used stadium in the tournament), a further six matches took place in Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes, bringing Paris's total matches hosted to 15.
France played four of their seven matches in the national stadium; they also played in the country's second and third largest cities, Marseille (hosting 7 total matches) and Lyon (hosting 6 total matches), as well as a Round of 16 knockout match in the northern city of Lens (also hosting 6 total matches).
The FIFA Organising Committee announced the eight seeded teams on 3 December 1997 at Marseille's Stade Vélodrome. For the draw, the 32 teams were allocated into four pots. The eight top-seeded teams were allocated in pot A and would be drawn/selected into the first position of the eight groups playing in the group stage.
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For the first time in history, the draw event took place in a football stadium, with 38,000 spectators and an estimated 1 billion TV viewers. The draw was officiated by FIFA secretary general Sepp Blatter.
In each group, the teams played three matches, one against each of the other teams. Three points were awarded for each win, while a draw was worth one point. After completion of the group stage, the two teams with the most points in each group would advance to the knockout stage, with each group winner facing the runner-up from one of the other groups in the round of 16.
As with the preceding tournament, each team's squad for the 1998 World Cup finals consisted of 22 players. Out of the 704 players participating in the 1998 World Cup, 447 were signed up with a European club; 90 in Asia, 67 in South America, 61 in Northern and Central America and 37 in Africa. 75 played their club football in England - five more than Italy and Spain.
France, the host nation, swept Group C when the start of their path to their first FIFA World Cup trophy culminated with their 2-1 win over Denmark, who despite their loss, progressed to the second round. Saudi Arabia, after a good performance four years earlier, finished bottom with only one point. The Netherlands and Mexico advanced with the same record, with the former placing first on goal difference. Belgium and eventual 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts South Korea failed to advance, although Belgium were undefeated with three draws. Germany and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia advanced, each with 7 points (Germany took 1st on goal difference). Argentina finished at the top of Group H against three debutants.
Croatia beat the Netherlands to earn third place in the competition. The final was held on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. France defeated holders Brazil 3-0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a stoppage time strike from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title, becoming the sixth national team after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina to win the tournament on their home soil.
France however took the lead after Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos conceded a corner from which Zidane scored via a header. Three minutes before half-time, Zidane scored his second goal of the match, similarly another header from a corner. The tournament hosts went down to ten men in the 68th minute as Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence.
World Cup France 98 Final
Davor Šuker received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals.
The World Cup matches were broadcast in 200 countries. 818 photographers were credited for the tournament. In every match, a stand was reserved for the press.
Sunday Oliseh on incredible goal vs Spain | 1998 FIFA World Cup
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