The 1998 World Cup was held in France, in several cities at once, and brought together the strongest teams from around the world, representing the honor of their countries. However, only one could win, so they all fought in full force, fighting until the last seconds for each ball. This championship was the sixteenth in history, and it took place, as usual in the summer. The Cup of Life song performed by Ricky Martin (English version of his hit La Copa de la Vida) is the official anthem of the 1998 World Cup. Was this tournament different from all previous ones? He was not only different, but was revolutionary changed, since in the final part of the tournament for the first time there were not twenty-four teams, but thirty-two. However, the 1998 World Cup was remembered, of course, not only by this, but also by a huge number of exciting matches.
Location
Everyone can imagine where the 1998 World Cup was held - this happened in France. But it is worth noting that the matches of the final part of the tournament were held immediately in ten cities of the country. At the same time, large stadiums were involved, such as Velodrome in Marseille (60 thousand spectators) or Parc des Princes in Paris (49 thousand spectators), and small ones - Lescure Park in Bordeaux and La Mosson in Montpellier (accommodating no more than 35 thousand spectators). The biggest stadium of the tournament was the “Stade de France” in Saint-Denis, which seats 80 thousand spectators. As you can see, the cities and stadiums where the championship was held were very diverse, but they were united by the spirit of the tournament, which literally lifted the whole country to its feet for a month. The French were rooting for their national team, but a huge number of people from other countries came to support their favorites.
Group stage
The 1998 World Cup, as you already know, was expanded to 32 teams, respectively, and the number of groups was increased to eight. As a result, two teams left each group, who then played among themselves in the 1/8 finals. The Brazilian championship favorites in the company of Norwegians, Moroccans and Scots were in Group A. It is expected that Brazilians and Norwegians with six and five points, respectively, left the group.
Group B included Chileans, Italians, Austrians and Cameroonians, and there were no surprises here either - Italians and Chileans left the group, unless the Chilean team did it barely, having played three matches in a draw, although much more was expected from it.
In group C there were owners of the championship, who easily went to the next stage, having won in all matches. The company was made French by the Danes, leaving behind South Africa and Saudi Arabia. But in Group D, the first surprise happened - the Spanish national team did not enter the playoffs, which lost the opening of that championship, the Nigeria national team, which eventually took first place in the group, and Paraguay was in second. Bulgaria finished with one point in last place. In group E there was a very tight fight, and until the last moment it was not clear who would enter the playoffs. As a result, with the same number of points, the Dutch and Mexicans went to the next stage, and the Belgians and North Koreans flew out of the tournament.
In group F, almost everything was clear from the very beginning - Germany and Yugoslavia were very strong, only the United States could make them at least some competition - but they failed, as did Iran. Another unexpected breakthrough occurred in Group G - the Romanian team was strong, and in the group with England, Colombia and Tunisia they were foretold a difficult struggle for survival. But in the end, the Romanians were the first, leaving Colombians overboard, as the British took second place. Well, in the last group - H - the Argentines quietly left the first place, the Croats from the second, and Japan and Jamaica remained out of the tournament. After the group stage, the 1998 World Cup went into the 1/8 finals.
1/8 finals
At this stage, the football teams, who took the first two places in their groups, played among themselves “on the fly”. One match was played, and the winner advanced to the next stage of the tournament. The favorite of the tournament, the Brazilian national team beat the national team of Chile with a crushing score 4: 1 thanks to the doubles of Sampaio and Ronaldo, and their future opponents defeated the Nigerians with the same score - Meller, Laudrup, Sand and Helveg scored. The Dutch defeated the Yugoslavs with much greater difficulty - 2: 1, Bergkamp opened the scoring, Komlenovich equalized, and only in the second added minute did Davids snatch victory for his team.
The match between the Argentines and the British turned out to be very spectacular - at the very beginning of the match, the teams exchanged scored penalties, after which Owen took England ahead, and Sanetti equalized. In the end, everything was decided in the penalty shoot-out, where the Argentines were more successful. The Italians defeated the Norwegians 1-0 in their signature katenachcho-style (the goal was scored by Vieri), and the French experienced a real shock at the Felix Bollar stadium, which they will remember for a long time - in the main time there were no goals in the match with Paraguay, and only in the second half added Blanc was able to score a golden goal. The Germans unexpectedly began to concede to the Mexicans during the match, but Klinsmann and Birhoff were able to decide the outcome in favor of the German national team. Well, the Croats beat the Romanians with a score of 1: 0 - Shuker scored the only goal from the penalty spot. In accordance with the tournament regulations, football teams already knew their opponents in the next stage.
1/4 finals
A very interesting match was presented to the fans by the national teams of Brazil and Denmark - already in the second minute, Jorgensen took the Danes ahead, but Bebeto equalized in ten minutes. Then Rivaldo scored the second goal for the Danes, who in the second half were able to equalize the efforts of Laudrup, but Rivaldo scored twice and put the Brazilians in the semifinals - 3: 2. The Dutch repeated their previous match, but with the Argentines as rivals - Kluivert scored first, but five minutes later Lopez equalized, and only in the added time, in the last third minute, Bergkamp pulled out a victory. The French also held a similar match, failing to identify the winner with the Italians both in the main and in extra time. Well, the hosts won on a penalty spot, since at the decisive moment Di Biagio hit the crossbar. But in the last match, a surprise was presented by the Croats, who defeated the Germans dry 3-0 (goals scored by Jarni, Vlaovich and Shuker).
1/2 finals
In the semi-finals there were two incredible battles, which revealed the two best teams, and also identified two teams that will play in the match for third place. In the match between the Brazilians and the Dutch, Ronaldo opened the score, and the Netherlands team was able to equalize it only three minutes before the end of the meeting - Kluivert was the author of the goal. In the penalty shootout, Taffarel became the hero of the day, the goalkeeper of the Brazilians, who beat off two of the four with a Dutch strike, while the Brazilians themselves realized all four. The first half of the match between the French and the Croats went without goals, but the second began very briskly - at 46 minutes Shuker opened an account, and at 47 Tyram equalized him. And the same Thuram, who became the hero of this match, brought France forward, so she won 2-1, reaching the final in the end.
Third place match
The match for third place was tense - Croatia came forward already in 13 minutes thanks to a goal by Prosinechka, but after eight minutes Zenden equalized. At the 35th minute, Shuker again brought the Croats ahead, and until the end of the match the score remained unchanged - 2: 1, the Croatian team received bronze medals.
The final
Well, the final between the favorites and the hosts was unexpectedly one-sided. Already in the first half, Zinedine Zidane scored a double against Taffarel, and in the third added minute Emmanuel Petit buried the Brazilians - 3: 0, and the French win the home world championship.
Top scorer
Davor Shuker from the Croatian national team became the tournament's top scorer, scoring six goals in seven matches. But it is also worth noting Christian Vieri and Gabriel Batistuta, who are only one goal behind Shuker, but have spent two games less.