World Cup 1998 · Men

World Championship
World Cup
FRANCE 1998

FIFA World Cup

Winner / Winner:
FRANCE

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For the second time, the World Championship was held in France: in the first edition, in 1938, Italy had won. Qualifications begin in spring 1996. The playoffs were introduced in Europe, with the eight worst seconds of the nine groupings. So, France returns to the World after two editions of forced absence. The absences are not lacking: from the Czech Republic, finalist at the European Championship in 1996 and neither to play-offs, to Sweden, third four years before. Japan, South Africa and Croatia.

The favourites are Brazil, champion in charge with an extra Ronaldo in the engine, although Zagallo and Zico must cope with the bizze of Romario, which is excluded and then attacks from his country the couple without means terms; France, feared hostess; the usual Germany, champion of Europe, with the attacker Oliver Bierhoff (capannoniere of Serie A with 27 centers) in great dust. The well-informed do not underestimate Nigeria, the Olympic champion in office and on display in Usa '94.

Italy starts in the second row, with the enigma Baggio-Del Piero (who in the field between the former codino, regenerated in Bologna, and the talented juventine, dragged his team to the shield?) to take off his sleep at Cesare Maldini. Toldo takes the place of the injured Peruzzi. Bergomi returned to national after seven years. Church is summoned instead of Ravanelli out of injury. Four years after the final lost to U.S. '94 rigors against Brazil, Italy presents itself to the French World Cup with renewed hopes.

Supported, these are from an all-in-one draw favorable to the Azzurri who, in the first phase of the World Cup, must see it with Austria, Chile and Cameroon. The debut is scheduled for 1' 11 June in Bordeaux against Chile, which in '62 in the year when it was the host country, defeated Italy in a game of little bureaucratic.

And the Azzurri do not go beyond the tie (2-2): in advantage with Vieri after just ten minutes of race, Italy first gets to and then exceeds from a double of Salas, just purchased from Lazio, so he manages to match Roby Baggio on rigor five minutes from the end. b& In the next game, that with the Cameroon against which Italy drew to the World Cup of 82, changes the music: with goals of Di Biagio and Vien double that does not admit replicas.

The National conquered the passage to the quarters on Tuesday, June 23 against Austria (2-1), thanks again to the goals of Vieri and Roby Baggio. " Cesare Maldini leads a compact and efficient group, which has in Vieri the star of the team.

The goals are not lacking, seven of them mark the Azzurri in this first phase: And, after having beaten to the eighth Norway for 1 -O always with goal of Vien, in the quarters Italy must face the host team, that France that will become World Champion and that two years later will consign to the Europeans of Belgium and Holland defeating in the final just Italian National. So, against France, there is no need for regulatory and even additional times that are actually closed without goals.

The fate of the Azzurri and also that of Cesare Maldini, who, against France, lives his last blue bench. They win the French for 4-3 and the World Championship of Italy closes the curtain on a significant image: the despair of Gigi Di Biagio that has just wronged the decisive rigour.

The format of the competition was different from 1994, as the finals were expanded from 24 to 32 teams. The 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four. The eight group winners and the eight group runners-up would qualify for the knockout stage. The golden goal rule was also introduced to decide knockout matches which went into extra time.

Another change in the rules came into effect at this World Cup, stating that as regulation time was about to expire in any period of play the fourth official would use a handheld electronic display to show how many minutes of stoppage time were to be played. This practice has continued since then, after being well received by media and a spectatorslike. The tournament opened with 1994 FIFA World Cup champions Brazil's 2-1 victory over Scotland. Norway pulled the shock of Group A, topping the holders 2-1 after two late goals.

Still, both teams advanced to the next round. Italy easily won Group B, with Chile's three draws enough for them to get through. The Italy-Chile clash which ended 2-2 saw Italy's Roberto Baggio cast aside the spectre of his miss in the shootout in the final 4 years earlier: this time around his controversy highlyl spot-kick earned Italy a draw. France swept Group C, with the lone blemish being the red card expulsion and two-game suspension of Zinedine Zidane in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia. Denmark also moved on from the group.

Nigeria was the surprise winner of Group D, dubbed the Group of Death, as Spain once again failed to live up to high pre-cup expecations. Nigeria beat them 3-2 in a thrilling game and moved on to the next round together with Paraguay. Netherlands and Mexico moved on from Group E, a group that saw four games end in draws. Germany and Yugoslavia made easy work of Group F. A late goal for Romania saw them beat England 2-1 and take the top spot in Group G; the English finished second.

Argentina swept Group H, joined by Croatia in the second round. In the second round, Italy beat Norway 1-0 and Brazil made easy work of Chile, 4-1. Laurent Blanc of France scored the first Golden Goal in World Cup history as the hosts beat Paraguay 1-0. Denmark surprised Nigeria, crushing them 4-1. Germany beat Mexico and Netherlands topped Yugoslavia by equivalent 2-1 scores. Croatia upset Romania 1-0 Argentina beat England on penalties after drawing 2-2 in a game that saw a goal from 18-year-old Michael Owen.

The game was marred by England's David Beckham being heard off after kicking Diego Simeone. France beat Italy in the quarter-finals on penalties after a scoreless draw. Brazil topped Denmark 3-2 in an exciting game. Croatia pulled perhaps the biggest shocker of the tournament, crushing Germany 3-0 and sparking celebrations across Europe. The Netherlands-Argentina match was marred by violence; the Netherlands was reduced to 10 early on after a tackle injured Diego Simeone and he had to be carried off the field for treatment.

Late in the match, Argentina star Ariel Ortega received a red card for head-butting Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar after van der Sar confronted Ortega on the dai's play-acting attempt to draw a penalty[1]. Shortly after Ortega's sending off, Dennis Bergkamp of the Netherlands scored a goal to eliminate Argentina, 2-1. In the semi-finals, Patrick Kluivert equalized late for the Netherlands to make it 1-1, but the Dutch couldn't pull it out in the penalty shootout, sending Brazil to the final.

They were joined by France, as defender Lilian Thuram scored two goals to offset Golden Boot winner Davor Šuker's opener for Croatia. The Croats beat the Dutch for third place. For the first time ever, the final feature the host nation and the champions. Zinedine Zidane scored two headers from corners in the 26th minute and in first half stoppage time ecc, and Emmanuel Petit added to late goal in second half stoppage time to give France a 3-0 win over Brazil.

Brazil's star player Ronaldo played poorly, having a mysterious fit the night before and many questioned his reinstatement in the starting lineup. An estimated one million people took to the Paris streets to celebrate through the night. France became the seventh world champions, joined Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England and Argentina. The official theme song for the event was La Copa de la Vida by Ricky Martin.

Italy 1998
C.T. Cesare Maldini

• Portieri / Goalkeepers: 12 Gianluca Pagliuca (Inter), 1 Francesco Toldo (Fiorentina), 22 Gianluigi Buffon (Parma)
• Defenders / Defenders: 3 Paolo Maldini (Milan) , 4 Fabio Cannavaro (Parma), 6 Alessandro Nesta (Lazio), 5 Alessandro Costacurta (Milan), 2 Giuseppe Bergomi (Inter), 7 Gianluca Pessotto (Juventus), 8 Moreno Torricelli (Juventus)
• Midfielders / Midfielders 9 Demetrio Albertini (Milan), 11 Dino Baggio (Parma), 13 Francesco Cois (Fiorentina), 16 Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea), 14 Luigi Di Biagio (Roma), 15 Angelo Di Livio (Juventus), 17 Francesco Moriero (Inter)
• Attacks / Forwards: 18 Roberto Baggio (Bologna), 10 Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), 21 Christian Vieri (Atletico Madrid), 20 Enrico Chiesa (Parma), 19 Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus)

MULTIMEDIA:

• Video: Vieri 1°, Italy - Chile 2-2 (WC1998) [300Kb] *q; Vieri 2°, Italia - Cameroon 3-0 (WC1998) [400Kb] *wmp; R.Baggio 2°, Italy - Austria 2-0 (WC1998) [500Kb] *q; Vieri, Italy - Norway 1-0 (WC1998) [1Mb] *divx; Special on the World Championship France 1998 [381Mb] *divx

1st Round / 1st Round GROUP/GROUP A 10-06-1998, Saint-Denis
Brazil-Scotland 2-1
4’ Cesar Sampaio (B), 37’ Collins (S) rig., 73’ aut. Boyd (S)
10-06-1998, Montpellier
Morocco-Norway 2-2
37’ Hadji (M), 46’ aut. Chippo (M), 59’ Hadda (M), 60’ Eggen (N)
16-06-1998, Bordeaux
Scotland-Norway 1-1
46’ H. Flo (N), 66’ Burley (S)
16-06-1998, Nantes
Brazil-Morocco 3-0
9’ Ronaldo, 45’ Rivaldo, 50’ Bebeto
23-06-1998, Saint-Etienne
Scotland-Morocco 0-3
22’ Bassir, 47’ Hadda, 85’ Bassir
23-06-1998, Marseille
Brazil - Norway 1-2
78’ Bebeto, 83’ T.A. Flo (N), 89’ Rekdal (N) rig. GROUPS/GROUP B 11-06-1998, Bordeaux
Italy-Cile 2-2
10’ Vieri (I), 45’ e 49’ Salas (C), 85’ R. Baggio (I) rig.
11-06-1998, Toulouse
Cameroon-Austria 1-1
77’ Njanka (C), 91’ Polster (A)
17-06-1998, Saint-Etienne
Chile 1-1
70’ Salas (C), 92’ Vastic (A)
17-06-1998, Montepellier
Italy-Cameroon 3-0
7’ Di Biagio, 75’ e 89’ Vieri
23-06-1998, Saint-Denis
Italy - Austria 2-1
48’ Vieri (I), 90’ R. Baggio (I), 91’ Herzog (A) rig.
23-06-1998, Nantes
Chile-Cameroon 1-1
20’ Sierra (C), 55’ Mboma (C) GROUP/GROUP C 12-06-1998, Lens
Saudi Arabia-Denmark 0-1
69’ Rieper
12-06-1998, Marseille
France-Sudafrica 3-0
34’ Dugarry (F), 77’ aut. Issa (S), 89’ Henry (F)
18-06-1998, Toulouse
South Africa-Denmark 1-1
12’ Nielsen (D), 52’ McCarthy (S)
18-06-1998, Paris
France-Saudi Arabia 4-0
36’ Henry, 67’ Trezeguet, 77’ Henry, 84’ Lizarazu
24-06-1998, Lyon
France-Denmark 2-1
12’ Djorkaeff (F) rig., 41’ M. Laudrup (D) rig., 56’ Petit
24-06-1998, Bordeaux
South Africa-Saudi Arabia 2-2
18’ Bartlett (S), 45’ Al Jaber (AS) rig., 72’ Al Turian (AS) rig., 90’ Bartlett (S) rig. GROUP/GROUP D 12-06-1998, Montpellier
Paraguay-Bulgaria 0-0
13-06-1998, Nantes
Spain-Nigeria 2-3
21’ Hierro (S), 25’ Adepoju (N), 47’ Raul (S), 73’ aut. Zubizarreta (S), 78’ Oliseh (N)
19-06-1998, Paris
Nigeria-Bulgaria 1-0
27’ Ikpeba
19-06-1998, Saint-Etienne
Spain-Paraguay 0-0
24-06-1998, Lens
Spain-Bulgaria 6-1
4’ Hierro (S) rig., 18’ Luis Enrique (S), 52’ Morientes (S), 56’ Kostadinov (B), 80’ Morientes (S), 88’ aut. Batchev (B), 90’ Kiko (S)
24-06-1998, Toulouse
Nigeria-Paraguay 1-3
1’ Ayala (P), 11’ Oruma (N), 59’ Benitez (P), 86’ Cardozo (P) GROUP/GROUP AND 13-06-1998, Lyon
South Korea- Mexico 1-3
28’ aut. Davino (M), 51’ Pelaez (M), 74’ e 84’ Hernandez (M)
13-06-1998, Saint-Denis
Netherlands 0-0
20-06-1998, Bordeaux
Belgium-Mexico 2-2
43’ e 48’ Wilmots (B), 56’ Garcia Aspe (M) rig., 63’ Blanco (M)
20-06-1998, Marseille
Netherlands-South Korea 5-0
37’ Cocu, 41’ Overmars, 71’ Bergkamp, 79’ Van Hooijdonk, 83’ R. De Boer
25-06-1998, Paris
Belgium-South Korea 1-1
7’ Nilis (B), 75’ Sang Chul (CS)
25-06-1998, Saint-Etienne
Netherlands 2-2
4’ Cocu (O), 18’ R. De Boer (O), 75’ Pelaez (M), 94’ Hernandez (M) GROUPS/GROUP F 14-06-1998, Saint-Etienne
Yugoslavia - Iran 1-0
73’ Mihajlovic
15-06-1998
Germany 2-0
9’ Möller, 65’ Klinsmann
21-06-1998, Lens
Germany-Jugoslavia 2-2
13’ Mijatovic (J), Stojkovic (J), 73’ aut. Mihajlovic (J), 79’ Bierhoff (G)
21-06-1998, Lyon
USA-Iran 1-2
40’ Estili (I), 79’ Mahdavikia (I), 87’ McBride (SU)
25-06-1998, Montpellier
Germany 2-0
50’ Bierhoff, 58’ Klinsmann
25-06-1998, Nantes
Yugoslavia-USA 1-0
3’ Komljenovic GROUPS/GROUP G 15-06-1998, Marseille
England-Tunisia 2-0
42’ Shearer, 90’ Scholes
15-06-1998, Lyon
Romania-Colombia 1-0
45’ Ilie
22-06-1998, Montpellier
Colombia-Tunisia 1-0
84’ Preciado
22-06-1998, Toulouse
Romania 2-1
47’ Moldovan (R), 83’ Owen (I), 91’ Petrescu (R)
26-06-1998, Saint-Denis
Romania-Tunisia 1-1
9’ Souayah (T) rig., 71’ Moldovan (R)
26-06-1998, Lens
Colombia 0-2
21’ Anderton, 30’ Beckham GROUPS/GROUP H 14-06-1998, Toulouse
Argentina-Japan 1-0
28’ Batistuta
14-06-1998, Lens
Jamaica-Croatia 1-3
27’ Stanic (C), 45’ Earle (G), 52’ Prosinecki (C), 68’ aut. Gardner (G)
20-06-1998, Nantes
Japan-Croatia 0-1
77’ Suker
21-06-1998, Paris
Argentina-Jamaica 5-0
31’ e 54’ Ortega, 72’, 79’ e 83’ rig. Batistuta
26-06-1998, Lyon
Japan-Jamaica 1-2
39’ e 54’ Whitmore (Giam), 75’ Nakayama (Giap)
26-06-1998, Bordeaux
Argentina-Croatia 1-0
36’ Pineda

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Finals / 1/8 of Final

27-06-1998, Marseille
Italy-Norway 1-0
18’ Vieri

27-06-1998, Paris
Brazil-Chile 4-1
11’ e 27’ Cesar Sampaio (B), 45’ Ronaldo (B) rig., 69’ Salas (C), 70’ Ronaldo (B)

28-06-1998, Lens
France-Paraguay 1-0 t.s.
113’ Blanc

28-06-1998, Saint-Denis
Nigeria-Denmark 1-4
2’ Möller (D), 11’ B. Laudrup (D), 58’ Sand (D), 76’ Helveg (D), 78’ Babangida (N)

29-06-1998, Montpellier
Germany-Mexico 2-1
47’ Hernandez (M), 75[ Klinsmann (G), 86’ Bierhoff (G)

29-06-1998, Toulouse
Netherlands - Yugoslavia 2-1
37’ Bergkamp (O), 48’ Komljenovic (J), 90’ aut. Komljenovic (J)

30-06-1998, Bordeaux
Romania-Croatia 0-1
47’ Suker rig.

30-06-1998, Saint-Etienne
Argentina-England 6-5 reg. (2-2)
6’ Batistuta (A) rig., 10’ Shearer (I) rig., 16’ Owen (I), 46’ Zanetti (A)

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Final Quarters / 1/4 of Final 03-07-1998, Saint-Denis
France - Italy 4-3 rig (0-0)

03-07-1998, Nantes
Brazil-Denmark 3-2
2’ Jörgensen (D), 11’ Bebeto (B), 26’ Rivaldo (B), 50’ B. Laudrup (D), 60’ Rivaldo (B)

04-07-1998, Lyon
Germany-Croatia 0-3
45’ Jarni, 80’ Vlaovic, 85’ Suker

04-07-1998, Marseille
Argentina - Netherlands 1-2
12’ Kluivert (O), 18’ Lopez (A), 90’ Bergkamp (O)

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Semifinal / 1/2 of Final

07-07-1998, Marseille
Brazil-Netherlands 5-3 rig. (1-1)
46’ Ronaldo (B), 87’ Kluivert (O)

08-07-1998, Saint-Denis
France-Croatia 2-1
46’ Suker (C), 47’ e 70’ Thuram (F)

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Final 3rd place / Final 3rd place 11-07-1998, Paris
(Parco dei Principi)
Croatia-Netherlands 2-1
goal: 13’ Prosinecki, 21’ Zenden, 36’ Suker
Croatia: Ladic, Bilic, Stimac, Soldo, Stanic, Prosinecki (78’ Vlaovic), Boban (86’ Tudor), Asanovic, Jarni, Jurcic, Suker
Netherlands: Van Der Sar, Stam, F. De Boer, Numan, Zenden, Seedorf, Jonk, Davids, Cocu (46’ Overmars), Kluivert, Bergkamp (58’ Van Hooijdonk)
Referee: Gonzales Chavez (Paraguay)

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Final / Final 12-07-1998, Saint-Denis
(Stadio Saint-Denis)
France-Brazil 3-0
goal: 27’ and 45’ Zidane, 90’ Petit
France: Barthez, Thuram, Leboeuf, Desailly, Lizarazu, Karembeu (58’ Boghossian), Deschamps, Zidane, Petit, Djorkaeff (75’ Vieira), Guivarc’h (66’ Dugarry)
Brazil: Taffarel, Cafu, Junior Baiano, Aldair, Roberto Carlos, Leonardo (46’ Denilson), Cesar Sampaio (74’ Edmundo), Dunga, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Bebeto
Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

MARCATORI / TOP SCORER 5 goal: Vieri (Italy), Suker (Croatia, 1 rigor), Batistuta (Argentina, 2); 4 goals: Ronaldo (Brazil, 1), Salas (Cile), Hernandez (Mexico); 3 goals: Henry (France), Bebeto, Cesar Sampaio and Rivaldo (Brazil), Bierhoff and Klinsmann (Germany), Bergkamp (Netherlands); 2 goals: Ortega (Argentina), Wilmots (Belgium), Prosinecki (Croatia), B. Laudrup (Denmark), Petit, Zidane and Thuram (France), Whitmore (Giamaica), Shearer (1) and Owen (England), R.

Baggio (Italia, 1), Komljenovic (Jugoslavia), Bassir e Hadda (Marocco), Pelaez (Messico), Cocu, R. de Boer e Kluivert (Olanda), Moldovan (Romania), Hierro (1) e Morientes (Spagna), Bartlett (Sudafrica, 1); 1 goal: Al Jaber (1) e Al Thyniyan (Arabia Saudita, 1), Lopez, Pineda e Zanetti (Argentina), Herzog (1), Polster e Vastic (Austria), Nilis (Belgio), Kostadinov (Bulgaria), Mboma e Njanka (Camerun), Sierra (Cile), Preciado (Colombia), Yoo Sang-Chul (Corea del Sud), Jarny, Stanic e Vlaovic (Croazia), Helveg, Jørgensen, M. Laudrup (1), Möller, A.

Nielsen, Rieper and Sand (Denmark), Blanc, Djorkaeff (1), Dugarry, Lizarazu and Trezeguet (France), Möller (Germany), Earle (Giamaica), Nakayama (Japan), Anderton, Beckham and Scholes (England), Estili and Mahdavikia (Iran), Di Biagio (Italy), Mihajlovic A. Flo, H. Flo and Rekdal (Norway, 1), Davids, Overmars, Van Hooijdonk and Zenden (Netherlands), Ayala, Benitez and Cardozo (Paraguay), Ilie and Petrescu (Romania), Collins (1) and Burley (Scotland), Kiko, Luis Enrique and Raul (Spain), McBride (USA), McCarthy (Sudafrica), Souaya

Autogoal/Owngoal 1: Issa (Sudafrica), Gardener (Giamaica), Mihajlovic (Jugoslavia), Chippo (Marocco), Davino (Mexico), Boyd (Scotland), Zubizarreta (Spain), Batchev (Bulgaria)