History of the 1998 World Cup: The Mark of France and Croatia

With stars like Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc, and Youri Djorkaeff, the French national team truly had a balanced and high-quality generation for decades. And on home soil, they made the most of those strengths to win the World Cup for the first time.

The French first

Before the tournament, Zinedine Zidane declared, "I will win the World Cup this time." However, he didn't play well in the early stages. He nearly lost his chance to shine when he tripped over an opponent, Saudi Arabia, in the group stage, resulting in a red card and a two-match suspension. Nevertheless, without this playmaker, his teammates stepped up and shone, leading France to the knockout stage as group winners.

They won all their matches, and like Brazil, they swept through every obstacle to meet again in the final. In the semi-finals, Brazil beat the Netherlands 4-2 while France conquered the "dark horse" Croatia 2-1. France and Brazil faced each other for the third time at the World Cup, but this time it was the ultimate reunion.

On June 12th, the whole world turned its attention to Paris, waiting to see Zidane compete against Ronaldo, Rivaldo against Trezeguet... But controversy erupted from there. On the eve of the final, Ronaldo, a player who had been in superb form since the beginning of the tournament, suffered an epileptic seizure, witnessed by Roberto Carlos.

The whole of Brazil was worried about Ronaldo's health. And indeed, he was still on the field in the final, but the star was not 100% fit. Ronaldo could only come on as a substitute and played far worse than in previous matches. He had to watch Zidane shine with two powerful headers before Petit sealed the match with a 3-0 victory.

This was truly an outstanding performance from "The Bald Guy," elevating him to world-class status. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pitch, Ronaldo and his teammates were completely helpless .

With a 3-0 victory, France claimed their first World Cup title. France became the sixth national team to win the World Cup as the host nation. They also became the fourth nation to win all their matches before winning the World Cup.

Ronaldo was completely overshadowed by the French stars.

In contrast, Brazilians lived in sadness and doubt. They believed there had been a conspiracy to sabotage Ronaldo, preventing him from playing in the final. But decades passed, and that theory was never proven. In fact, Brazilians no longer dwelled too much on the incident because in the very next World Cup, they ended their title drought, and Ronaldo became the top scorer.

Strange winds

The 1998 World Cup was the first tournament to feature 32 teams instead of the previous 24. It also marked the first time five countries participated: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan, South Africa, and Yugoslavia.

Among these teams, Croatia stood out the most. With players like Davor Suker, Prosinecki, Dario Simic, and Zvonimir Boban, the Balkan team embarked on a miraculous journey, overcoming the big names to reach the semi-finals before finishing the tournament in third place.

The group stage was relatively easy for them. Croatia beat Jamaica and Japan, but lost to Argentina. However, in the quarter-finals, they caused a shock by defeating Germany 3-0. Croatia only bowed out after a loss to host nation France in the semi-finals. In their third-place match against the Netherlands, Croatia continued their excellent form with a 2-1 victory.

Croatia was the second team after Portugal in 1966 to finish third in their very first World Cup appearance. The 1998 tournament propelled members of Croatia's golden generation to great heights. Suker achieved great success with Real Madrid, Dario Simic moved to Inter, and Igor Tudor was signed by Juventus and enjoyed successful years with the powerful club.

To this day, Croatia's miraculous journey in 1998 is still remembered. They became an exemplary role model for those considered smaller and lighter at the World Cup.

The 1998 World Cup also marked several other "firsts." It was the first tournament to implement the golden goal rule. Thanks to this, Laurent Blanc became the first and only player to score a golden goal in a World Cup finals (in the 113th minute of the match against Paraguay in the round of 16).

Robert Prosinecki became the first and only player to date to score for both teams at the World Cup. He had previously scored for Yugoslavia at Italia 90 and for Croatia in 1998. Marcel Desailly became the first player on the winning team to receive a red card in a World Cup final.

Rigobert Song was the first player to be sent off in two World Cups: 1994 and 1998. Fabien Barthez was the first goalkeeper to concede only two goals before becoming world champion... These remarkable firsts made France 98 a memorable event, not only for the French but also for fans worldwide.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/lich-su-world-cup-1998-dau-an-cua-phap-va-croatia-post1848452.tpo