The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the second time that France staged the competition (the first was in 1938) and the ninth time that it was held in Europe. Spanning 32 days, it is the longest World Cup tournament ever held.
 | |
|---|---|
| Host country | France |
| Dates | 10 June – 12 July |
| Teams | 32 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 10 (in 10 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  France (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Brazil |
| Third place |  Croatia |
| Fourth place |  Netherlands |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 64 |
| Goals scored | 171 (2.67 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,784,687 (43,511 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Davor Šuker (6 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Ronaldo |
| Best young player |  Michael Owen |
| Best goalkeeper | Fabien Barthez |
| Fair play award | England France |
Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997. For the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums in 10 host cities, with the opening match and final staged at the newly built Stade de France in the Parisian commune of Saint-Denis.
The tournament was won by host country France, who beat defending champions Brazil 3–0 in the final. France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals.
Match Schedule GROUP A Jun 10 Saint-Denis Brazil v Scotland 2-1 Jun 10 Montpellier Morocco v Norway 2-2 Jun 16 Bordeaux Scotland v Norway 1-1 Jun 16 Nantes Brazil v Morocco 3-0 Jun 23 Marseille Norway v Brazil 2-1 Jun 23 St Etienne Morocco v Scotland 3-0 P W D L Gls Pts BRAZIL 3 2 0 1 6-3 6 NORWAY 3 1 2 0 5-4 5 Morocco 3 1 1 1 5-5 4 Scotland 3 0 1 2 2-6 1 GROUP B Jun 11 Bordeaux Italy v Chile 2-2 Jun 11 Toulouse Cameroon v Austria 1-1 Jun 17 St Etienne Chile v Austria 1-1 Jun 17 Montpellier Italy v Cameroon 3-0 Jun 23 Saint-Denis Austria v Italy 1-2 Jun 23 Nantes Chile v Cameroon 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts ITALY 3 2 1 0 7-3 7 CHILE 3 0 3 0 4-4 3 Austria 3 0 2 1 3-4 2 Cameroon 3 0 2 1 2-5 2 GROUP C Jun 12 Lens Saudi Arabia v Denmark 0-1 Jun 12 Marseille France v South Africa 3-0 Jun 18 Toulouse South Africa v Denmark 1-1 Jun 18 Saint-Denis France v Saudi Arabia 4-0 Jun 24 Lyon Denmark v France 1-2 Jun 24 Bordeaux South Africa v Saudi Arabia 2-2 P W D L Gls Pts FRANCE 3 3 0 0 9-1 9 DENMARK 3 1 1 1 3-3 4 South Africa 3 0 2 1 3-6 2 Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 2-7 1 GROUP D Jun 12 Montpellier Paraguay v Bulgaria 0-0 Jun 13 Nantes Spain v Nigeria 2-3 Jun 19 Paris Nigeria v Bulgaria 1-0 Jun 19 St Etienne Spain v Paraguay 0-0 Jun 24 Lens Bulgaria v Spain 1-6 Jun 24 Toulouse Nigeria v Paraguay 1-3 P W D L Gls Pts NIGERIA 3 2 0 1 5-5 6 PARAGUAY 3 1 2 0 3-1 5 Spain 3 1 1 1 8-4 4 Bulgaria 3 0 1 2 1-7 1 GROUP E Jun 13 Lyon South Korea v Mexico 1-3 Jun 13 Saint-Denis Netherlands v Belgium 0-0 Jun 20 Bordeaux Belgium v Mexico 2-2 Jun 20 Marseille Netherlands v South Korea 5-0 Jun 25 St Etienne Mexico v Netherlands 2-2 Jun 25 Paris Belgium v South Korea 1-1 P W D L Gls Pts NETHERLANDS 3 1 2 0 7-2 5 MEXICO 3 1 2 0 7-5 5 Belgium 3 0 3 0 3-3 3 South Korea 3 0 1 2 2-9 1 GROUP F Jun 14 St Etienne Yugoslavia v Iran 1-0 Jun 15 Paris Germany v United States 2-0 Jun 21 Lens Yugoslavia v Germany 2-2 Jun 21 Lyon Iran v United States 2-1 Jun 25 Montpellier Germany v Iran 2-0 Jun 25 Nantes United States v Yugoslavia 0-1 P W D L Gls Pts GERMANY 3 2 1 0 6-2 7 YUGOSLAVIA 3 2 1 0 4-2 7 Iran 3 1 0 2 2-4 3 United States 3 0 0 3 1-5 0 GROUP G 15 Jun Marseille England v Tunisia 2-0 15 Jun Lyon Romania v Colombia 1-0 22 Jun Montpellier Colombia v Tunisia 1-0 22 Jun Toulouse Romania v England 2-1 26 Jun Saint-Denis Tunisia v Romania 1-1 26 Jun Lens England v Colombia 2-0 P W D L Gls Pts ROMANIA 3 2 1 0 4-2 7 ENGLAND 3 2 0 1 5-2 6 Colombia 3 1 0 2 1-3 3 Tunisia 3 0 1 2 1-4 1 GROUP H 14 Jun Toulouse Argentina v Japan 1-0 14 Jun Lens Croatia v Jamaica 3-1 20 Jun Nantes Japan v Croatia 0-1 21 Jun Paris Argentina v Jamaica 5-0 26 Jun Bordeaux Croatia v Argentina 0-1 26 Jun Lyon Jamaica v Japan 2-1 P W D L Gls Pts ARGENTINA 3 3 0 0 7-0 9 CROATIA 3 2 0 1 4-2 6 Jamaica 3 1 0 2 3-9 3 Japan 3 0 0 3 1-4 0 SECOND ROUND Jun 27 Marseille Italy v Norway 1-0 Jun 27 Paris Brazil v Chile 4-1 Jun 28 Lens France v Paraguay gg 1-0 Jun 28 Saint-Denis Nigeria v Denmark 1-4 Jun 29 Montpellier Germany v Mexico 2-1 Jun 29 Toulouse Netherlands v Yugoslavia 2-1 Jun 30 Bordeaux Romania v Croatia 0-1 Jun 30 St Etienne Argentina v England (4-3)2-2 QUARTERFINALS Jul 03 Saint-Denis France v Italy (4-3)0-0 Jul 03 Nantes Brazil v Denmark 3-2 Jul 04 Marseille Argentina v Netherlands 1-2 Jul 04 Lyon Croatia v Germany 3-0 SEMIFINALS Jul 07 Marseille Netherlands v Brazil (2-4)1-1 Jul 08 Saint-Denis France v Croatia 2-1 3rd/4th PLACE PLAY-OFF Jul 11 Paris Croatia v Netherlands 2-1 WORLD CUP FINAL Jul 12 Saint-Denis France v Brazil 3-0