1998 FIFA World Cup
Association football tournament in France / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national 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.
| Coupe du Monde – France 98 (French) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| 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 | 2,785,100 (43,517 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 |
← 1994 2002 → | |
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 world cup on on home soil. As of 2022, they are most recent team to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals.