1998 FIFA World Cup Final

1998 FIFA World Cup Final

The 1998 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that was played on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to determine the winner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The final was contested by Brazil, who were the defending champions having won the previous FIFA World Cup four years earlier in 1994, and the host nation France, who had reached the final of the tournament for the first time. France won the match 3–0 to claim the World Cup for the first time, with the timing of the match two days before Bastille Day adding to the significance of the victory. Zinedine Zidane, who was named man of the match, scored twice before half-time and Emmanuel Petit added a third goal in the last minute. The match had an attendance in the region of 75,000.

Both sides had suffered mixed fortunes on the route to the final. Brazil made it out of the group stage with 6 points from three matches, with one defeat at the hands of Norway. After a 4–1 win over Chile and a 3–2 success against Denmark, they reached the final with a penalty-shootout victory over the Netherlands. As for France, they sailed through the group stages with three victories and defeated Paraguay in the knockout stages on golden goals. They had a penalty-shootout with Italy in the quarter-finals, and defeated recently-formed Croatia to reach the final.

The match also saw speculation on the condition of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who suffered a convulsive fit on the eve of the match. After initially being left out of the team sheet, in spite of his physical state, it was announced just 72 minutes before kick-off that he was going to play. In the match, he sustained an injury in a clash with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Although it was believed that the decision to play Ronaldo had backfired, it was understandable as the player had been a crucial member of the side throughout the tournament, having scored four goals and created three more.

France followed up their victory by qualifying for and winning UEFA Euro 2000 held in the Netherlands and Belgium. Brazil took the Copa America title in 1999, and then won the next FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002. Ronaldo went on to set the record for goals in World Cups.