France knock off Brazil 3-0 in the final in Paris with Zinedine Zidane scoring two headers as the French capture first-ever World Cup title. France, which reached the semi-finals in 1982 and 1986, joined Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), England (1966), Germany (1974) and Argentina (1978) as the sixth team to win the world title at home.
World Cup Returns To France, In Biggest Format
The football world championship returned to France for the first time since 1938. And it was back in the largest format ever for the World Cup with 32 teams. The higher number of teams meant that more spots for teams from Africa, Asia and the Concacaf confederation. The 1998 tournament saw the World Cup debuts for South Africa, Japan and Jamaica. And there were eight groups of four teams each. The opening game and the final were both played at Paris's Stade de Paris.
France Perfect, Norway Upset Brazil, Spain Fail To Advance
Aime Jacquet's French breezed through the group stage with three victories by a combined score of 9-1 in Group C. Holders Brazil beat Scotland and Morocco before getting upset by Norway 2-1 in the final game though Mario Zagallo's team won Group A. The only major upset of the group stage was Spain not advancing from Group D, with Nigeria and Paraguay moving through. And Romania topped Group G ahead of England and Colombia.
Blanc Saves French, Beckham Sent Off In Argentina Win Over England
In the Round of 16, Laurent Blanc scored in the 113th minute for the first Golden Goal in history to save France's 1-0 win over Paraguay. Cesar Sampaio and Ronaldo both scored two goals in Brazil's 4-1 victory against Chile. There was a classic in St. Etienne between England and Argentina. Four goals were scored before half-time and David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone just after the break and Sol Campbell's winner was disallowed to send the game to extra-time and penalties. And Argentina keeper Carlos Roa saved David Batty's spot kick to send Argentina to the quarters 4-3 in a shoot-out.
Elsewhere Germany beat Mexico 2-1; Edgar Davids hit two minutes into injury in the Netherlands' 2-1 win over Yugoslavia; Croatia knocked off Romania 1-0; Denmark cruised past Nigeria 4-1; and Italy held off Norway 1-0.
Framework Keeps France Perfect, Rivaldo Doubles Up On Denmark
Jacquet's troops remained without a loss thanks to the goal framework in beating Italy 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless 120 minutes. Roberto Baggio hit the post in extra time and Luigi di Biagio struck the bar in the shoot-out for the Italians - losers of three straight games in penalties. The other quarters saw Rivaldo score twice to give Brazil a 3-2 victory over Denmark; Croatia upset 10-man European champions Germany 3-0; and Dennis Bergkamp hit with a minute left for Netherlands' 2-1 victory over Argentina.
Thuram Hits First Goals For France, Brazil
In the semi-finals, Lilian Thuram scored this first two ever international goals in the second half as France came back to beat Croatia 2-1. The other semi saw Patrick Kluivert's late goal send the Dutch into extra time against Brazil. Brazilian keeper Taffarel saved two shots in the South Americans' 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory.
Golden Shoe Winner Suker Hands Croatia Third
Davor Suker scored his Golden Shoe winning sixth goal to help Croatia beat Netherlands 2-1 to take third place.
Ronaldo Drama Before Game
There was plenty of drama before the game. Ronaldo was initially not on the game list in favor of Edmundo. And it was unclear what was wrong with Brazilian superstar, who eventually was added to the starting lineup. Ronaldo, however, was a shadow of himself in the final.
Zidane Double-Header Gives France Title
Zidane struck two headers off corners in the first half for a 2-0 half-time lead. And then Emmanuel Petit made it 3-0 on a counter-attack in the final minute for France - the home nation of the father of the World Cup, Jules Rimet.
African Officiates Final
Moroccan referee Said Belqola became the first African to officiate the World Cup final.
