1. FIFA World Cup 1998 – Zinedine Zidane fulfills the French promise
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France beat Morocco in the bid to host the 1998 World Cup – a bid that was later revealed to have been the subject of a corruption scheme involving disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter and FIA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer. This was also the first World Cup in which 4th officials would use electronic boards instead of cardboards for injury time and substitutions.
In their opener against South Africa, Phil Dugarry and Thierry Henry scored on either side of a Pierre Issa own goal to hand the hosts a 3-0 win. In the second fixture, it finished 10 vs 10 as Zinedine Zidande and Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi both saw red in Thierry Henry-inspired 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in front of 80,000 in the Stade De France, guaranteeing France a spot in the next round. The final match against Denmark saw Emmanuel Petit and Yuri Djorkaeff seal a 2-1 win against Michael Laudrup’s Denmark.
Another brilliant piece of history was made in the round of 16 as Paraguay held the French for 90 minutes, before Laurent Blanc scored the first golden goal in the history of the World Cup with a 114th minute strike at the Stade Felix-Bollaert. The next match was also after 120 minutes of football as Roberto Baggio’s Italy took France all the way before losing 3-4 on penalties, with Di Bagio missing the crucial 5th spot-kick.
Tournament top scorer Davor Suker hit his 6th in the semi-final as Croatia came flying out of the blocks in the 2nd half of their tie – only to be pegged back again by Liliam Thuram. 20 minutes later, he completed the comeback with another goal to send host nation France through to the final.
Prior to the final, 21yr-old world beater Ronaldo 'O Fenomeno' (who had scored against Netherlands) in the semi-final was subject to a bout of illness, vomiting and convulsing prior to the game. However, the team medics kept it a secret from him , for fear of disrupting their preparations even further.
Despite ruling him out, he begged his coach to play and Mario Zagallo relented, less than one hour before the World Cup final. Alas, it was not to be for the Brazilians; it really was Zinedine Zidane and France’s day. With 2 brilliant headers, the Juventus midfielder put the hosts 2-0 up in the first half, much to the chagrin of the Brazilians.
When Marcel Desailly was sent off in the 68th minute for a second yellow, it seemed like a flcker of hope, but the French held on and finally killed the game in the 3rd minute of extra-time as Petit scored the 3rd. Captain Didier Deschamps (the current national team coach) lifted the trophy in Paris as France won their last major trophy – this year, they will be back for more.
