France 98 (charity association)

France 98 is an association founded by the French footballers who won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. They organise charity and testimonial matches for former players.

This article is about the charity association. For the World Cup, see 1998 FIFA World Cup.
France 98
Head coachFrance Aimé Jacquet
Top scorerRobert Pires (6)
First colours
Second colours
First international
France 98 1 - 4 Olympique de Marseille
(November 4, 2002)
Biggest win
France 98 8 - 2 Team Karembeu
(May 31, 2008)
Biggest defeat
France 98 1 - 4 Olympique de Marseille
(November 4, 2002)
France 98 1 - 4 FC Girondins de Bordeaux
(November 16, 2003)

Didier Deschamps is the president of the association. Aimé Jacquet acts as the head coach whenever there is a game. The players are for the most part those who took part in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 victorious campaigns.

Matches played

First match

Organiser: Laurent Blanc

On November 4, 2002, in Nîmes against Marseille, to raise money for the victims of the floods in south-eastern France in September 2002. The match ended up in a 1–4 loss for France 98.

Second match

Organiser: Zinedine Zidane

On October 6, 2003, in Marseille against Marseille, to raise money for the victims of the 2003 Boumerdès earthquake in Algeria and those of fires in south-eastern France. The match ended up in a 1–1 draw.

Third match

Organiser: Bixente Lizarazu

Fourth match

Organiser: Fabien Barthez

On May 30, 2005, in Toulouse against Toulouse, to raise money for the victims of the explosion of chemical factory AZF. The match ended up in a 1–2 loss for France 98, with Daniel Moreira playing for both teams during the match.

Fifth match

Organiser: Pascal Vahirua

On May 26, 2008, in Tahiti for Pascal Vahirua's testimonial match against a selection of « friends of Pascal Vahirua's », mostly Tahitian players. The match ended up in a 3–3 draw.

Sixth match

Organiser: Christian Karembeu

On May 31, 2008, in Nouméa for Christian Karembeu's testimonial match against Team Karembeu, composed for the most part of Karembeu's Melanesian friends. The match ended up in an 8–2 victory for France 98.

Seventh match

On July 12, 2008, in the Stade de France (Saint-Denis) for the tenth anniversary of the win in the World Cup final. France 98 played a World selection in front of over 80,000 spectators. The match ended up in a 3–3 draw.

Eighth match

On July 29, 2015, at the Stade Mayol in Toulon to benefit a local children's charity, France 98 played European Rugby Champions Cup winners RC Toulonnais in a match with one football half and one rugby union half. Toulon had previously played one such charity match in 2013 against Olympique de Marseille at the same venue.[1][2] France 98 won the football half 6-3, but Toulon won the rugby union half 30-20 to win 33-26 overall. Former France rugby union coach Bernard Laporte served as one of the referees.[3]

Ninth match

On June 12, 2018, at the Paris La Défense Arena (U Arena) in Nanterre for the twentieth anniversary of the World Cup victory. France 98 played a FIFA 98 team coached by Arsène Wenger and won 3–2 after Vincent Candela's winner following goals from (in order) Fernando Morientes, Henry, Zidane and Gaizka Mendieta. The match was also broadcast in full on TF1.[4]

Trophée d'honneur

On May 11, 2008, France 98 were awarded the Trophée d'honneur during the Trophées UNFP du football ceremony to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the World Cup victory.

References
  1. "Marseille play Toulon in unusual half football half rugby charity match". Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  2. BeIN Sports. "Match Caritatif Foot/Rugby RC Toulon - Olympique de Marseille [Match Entier]" [RC Toulon - Olympique de Marseille Football/Rugby Charity Match (Full Match)]. YouTube (in French).
  3. Wright, Chris (30 July 2015). "Zinedine Zidane scores immense try in strange football/rugby hybrid match". ESPN UK. ESPN. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  4. France 98 Vs. FIFA 98 – June 12th, 2018 YouTube (originally broadcast on TF1)
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