1998 FIFA World Cup Final

Brazil were in Group A at the World Cup, in which they were joined by Morocco, Norway and Scotland.[17] Their first game was the tournament opener at the Stade de France, on 10 June against Scotland.[18] Brazil took the lead after four minutes when César Sampaio received the ball in the penalty area from a corner taken by Bebeto, and headed the ball past Jim Leighton in the Scotland goal.[19] Scotland equalised through a penalty scored by John Collins, after Kevin Gallacher had been fouled in the penalty area.[18] Brazil took the lead again in the second half when a volley by Cafu was saved by Leighton but rebounded off Scotland's Tom Boyd for an own goal. Scotland appealed for a second penalty in the final minute, claiming that Dunga had handled the ball, but it was not given and Brazil won 2–1.[19] Their second game was against Morocco, on 16 June at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. Ronaldo gave Brazil the lead with his first World Cup goal nine minutes into the game, with Rivaldo and Bebeto also scoring to give Brazil a 3–0 win.[20] Brazil were already confirmed as winners of the group before their third game, against Norway, but Zagallo nonetheless picked most of his first-choice team, leaving out only Aldair, who had received a yellow card against Scotland and risked suspension should he receive another, and Sampaio, who was already suspended.[21] Brazil took the lead through Bebeto on 77 minutes. Norway responded with two goals in the last ten minutes – Tore André Flo scoring the equaliser and then winning a penalty when he was fouled by Gonçalves. Kjetil Rekdal scored from the penalty spot to give Norway a 2–1 win.[21]

Brazil's opponents in the round of 16 were Chile; the match was played on 27 June at the Parc des Princes in Paris.[22] Brazil took the lead on 11 minutes when a Dunga free kick was met by Sampaio, who was unmarked and headed the ball past goalkeeper Nelson Tapia. Sampaio doubled Brazil's lead on 27 minutes when he shot into the corner of the net following a long-range Roberto Carlos free kick. Ronaldo added a third from a penalty in first-half injury time, after he had been fouled by Tapia.[23] Marcelo Salas pulled a goal back for Chile in the second half, but Ronaldo then scored again to seal a 4–1 Brazilian win.[22] In the quarter-finals they played Denmark at the Stade de la Beaujoire on 3 July.[24] Denmark scored the first goal two minutes into the game through Martin Jørgensen, with Bebeto equalising eight minutes later. Brazil then took the lead with a goal by Rivaldo on 27 minutes, completing a move involving Dunga and Ronaldo. Brian Laudrup levelled the scores five minutes into the second half, but Rivaldo scored again 30 minutes before the end to seal a 3–2 win for Brazil.[25] Brazil's semi-final was against the Netherlands at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille.[26] Ronaldo gave Brazil the lead shortly after half-time, but Patrick Kluivert equalised for the Netherlands three minutes before the end. The game went to extra time, with the golden goal rule in effect.[lower-alpha 1] There was no further scoring, however, and the game was settled by a penalty shoot-out.[28] The two sides took their kicks alternately with Brazil kicking first and the first five penalties were all scored, giving Brazil a 3–2 lead.[26] Brazilian goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel then saved penalties from Phillip Cocu and Ronald de Boer with Dunga scoring again for Brazil, which meant Brazil won the shoot-out 4–2 and progressed to the final.[26][28]

France were drawn in Group C at the finals, alongside Denmark, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.[17] They began their campaign on 12 June against World Cup debutants South Africa at the Stade Vélodrome. In a match which Richard Williams of The Guardian said they "dominated throughout", France won 3–0 with a goal in the first half from Christophe Dugarry, a 77th minute own goal by South Africa's Pierre Issa and a last-minute strike by Thierry Henry.[29] Their second game was against Saudi Arabia at the Stade de France on 18 June. Henry gave France the lead in the first half, scoring from a cross by Bixente Lizarazu, before France scored three goals in the final fifteen minutes through David Trezeguet, Henry again and Lizarazu to complete a 4–0 win. Both sides had a player sent off – Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi in the 18th minute for Saudi Arabia and Zidane for France on 70 minutes for a stamp on Fuad Anwar.[30] Zidane was suspended for the next two games.[31] With progression to the knockout stage assured, Jacquet made eight changes to his team for the final game against Denmark at the Stade Gerland in Lyon on 24 June. France took the lead on 13 minutes when Youri Djorkaeff converted a penalty after Jes Høgh fouled Trezeguet. Denmark then won a penalty shortly before half-time for a Vincent Candela foul on Jørgensen which was scored by Michael Laudrup. In the second half, Emmanuel Petit scored with a low shot into the corner of the Danish goal to seal a 2–1 victory and first place in the group.[31]

France's round-of-16 opponents were Paraguay, at the Stade Félix-Bollaert in Lens on 28 June. In a match labelled a "real stinker" by Williams, with France described as "extraordinarily inept", there were no goals during the 90 minutes of normal time and the first period of extra time. With six minutes remaining, France broke the deadlock, Laurent Blanc scoring the FIFA World Cup's first ever golden goal to seal a 1–0 win and a place in the quarter-finals.[32][33] There, they met Italy, the losing finalists from 1994, at Stade de France on 3 July. There were no goals during normal time and no golden goal, so the game was decided by a penalty shoot-out.[34] With France taking the first penalty, both sides scored their openers, before goalkeepers Gianluca Pagliuca and Fabien Barthez saved a penalty each, from Lizarazu and Demetrio Albertini respectively. The next five were all scored to leave France 4–3 ahead with one Italian penalty remaining. Luigi Di Biagio struck the crossbar with his kick and France advanced to the semi-finals with a 4–3 shoot-out win.[35] They returned to the Stade de France on 8 July for a semi-final against Croatia. After a goalless first half, there were two goals in quick succession shortly after half-time as Davor Šuker gave Croatia the lead before Lilian Thuram equalised for France. Thuram then gave France the lead on 70 minutes and, despite Blanc being sent off five minutes later for violent conduct towards Slaven Bilić, France held on for a 2–1 win and a place in the final.[36][37] Blanc's red card was the only one he received in his entire career, and meant that he was suspended for the final. Bilić's reaction implied that Blanc had struck him on the head in the incident, but video replays showed that the impact had been to his chest or chin, and the incident is often cited as one of the most controversial in the competition's history.[38][39]

Said Belqola of Morocco was selected to referee the final. An amateur referee who worked as a customs officer professionally, he had begun officiating in 1983 before being selected to referee international matches in 1993.[41] Prior to the 1998 World Cup he had refereed two matches each at the 1996 and 1998 African Cup of Nations, including the final of the latter tournament, between South Africa and Egypt.[42][43][44][45] At the 1998 World Cup he had refereed the Argentina vs Croatia and Germany vs United States group games.[46][47] The assistant referees were Mark Warren of England and Achmat Salie of South Africa, while Saudi Arabia's Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid was the fourth official.[48]

In what was later described by writers for BBC Sport as the "great World Cup final mystery",[49] Ronaldo was omitted from the official teamsheet which Zagallo presented to FIFA at 7:48 p.m. local time (5:48 p.m. UTC), 72 minutes before kick off, with Edmundo named in his place. Reporters for the BBC and other media received the news shortly after 8 p.m. and had not expected this development, with John Motson describing scenes of "absolute mayhem and chaos" in the commentary box. At 8:18 p.m., however, Brazil submitted a modified teamsheet with Ronaldo's name reinstated.[50] It was revealed several years later that Ronaldo had suffered a convulsive fit on the afternoon of the final, had lost consciousness and spent three hours in hospital, but decided shortly before the match began that he still wished to play.[51] With the exception of Cafu, who had been suspended for Brazil's semi-final match and returned in place of Zé Carlos, Brazil therefore named an unchanged side with Edmundo on the substitutes' bench.[26][51][52] Blanc was suspended following his semi-final red card and his place in the French team was taken by Frank Leboeuf.[53] Otherwise, France named an unchanged team.[37][52]

France kicked off the match at 9 p.m. local time, in front of an attendance of 75,000 and an estimated global television audience of 1.7 billion.[54][17][52][55][56] The weather at Charles de Gaulle Airport, 17 kilometres (11 mi) from the stadium,[lower-alpha 2] was recorded as fair at the time of kick-off, with a temperature of 23 °C (73 °F) and 50% humidity.[59] France had a chance to score in the opening minute, when the ball was passed upfield towards Stéphane Guivarc'h, who attempted a bicycle kick which went over the cross bar and landed on the top of the Brazilian net.[60] Guivarc'h had another opportunity three minutes later, when he received a pass from Zidane on the edge of the penalty area and was one-on-one with Taffarel, but his shot under pressure from Júnior Baiano was stopped by the goalkeeper.[60][61] On 5 minutes, Rivaldo hit a long cross to the far corner of the penalty area towards Leonardo, who could not reach it; the ball went out for a goal kick.[62] France won a free kick a minute later when Cafu fouled Lizarazu, which Zidane curled into the penalty area. It reached Djorkaeff, who was unmarked; he attempted to score with a header, but it went high and wide of the goal.[63] On 17 minutes, Djorkaeff hit a long-range shot from the right-hand side, but it went wide of the Brazilian goal.[64] Five minutes later, Ronaldo received the ball near the touch-line and started running towards goal; from the left-hand edge of the penalty area he passed it to his right. Barthez almost tipped the ball into his own goal but was able to catch it before it crossed the line.[60][65] Brazil won a corner on 23 minutes, which was taken by Leonardo into the penalty area.[66] Sampaio directed a powerful header towards the goal, but it was aimed straight at Barthez who saved it.[60]

Zidane gave France the lead just before the half-hour mark, outjumping Leonardo to connect with a header from an in-swinging corner from the right taken by Petit.[67] Four minutes later, Ronaldo received the ball following a long pass from Dunga, but Barthez punched his shot clear. Ronaldo and Barthez collided with each other during the incident; both needed assistance from medics but were able to continue the game.[68] Baiano received the first yellow card of the match on 33 minutes for a foul on Djorkaeff.[69] French captain Didier Deschamps was then shown a yellow card four minutes later for a diving challenge on Rivaldo.[70] On 41 minutes, Petit had a chance to score from 12 yards (11 m) when a pass forward by Christian Karembeu rebounded to him in space after hitting the back of Baiano's feet. Baiano recovered, however, to deflect the Frenchman's shot wide of the goalpost.[60][71] Shortly before first-half injury time, Thuram sent the ball upfield from deep within his own half, which was missed by the Brazilian defenders and reached Guivarc'h, one-on-one with Taffarel. The goalkeeper blocked his shot behind for a corner, however.[72] France won another corner a minute later, which was taken on the left by Djorkaeff into the penalty area, where Zidane once again headed the ball into the goal, through the legs of Roberto Carlos, to give France a 2–0 half-time lead.[60][73][74]

The second half began with a Brazil substitution as Denílson replaced Leonardo.[75] Marcel Desailly received a yellow card in the 49th minute for dissent, after the referee had penalised him for a foul on Cafu.[60][76][77] On 51 minutes, Bebeto took a corner from the right-hand side which reached Denílson, who fell down as his attempted shot went wide of the goal while Deschamps was also challenging for the ball. Brazil's players appealed for a penalty, but Belqola did not award it.[78] A minute later, Dunga had a shot from outside the penalty area which went wide of Barthez's goal.[79] Karembeu was shown a yellow card on 55 minutes for a foul from behind on Cafu.[80] Rivaldo took the resulting free-kick short towards Roberto Carlos, who ran to the left edge of the penalty area before crossing it in, where it reached Ronaldo.[81] He shot from close range but Barthez saved.[60] On 57 minutes, France made a change when Alain Boghossian came on in place of Karembeu.[82] Three minutes later, Roberto Carlos took a long throw-in from the left-hand side, which Barthez failed to catch near the edge of his penalty area, allowing Bebeto to take a shot, but Desailly blocked it.[83]

On 63 minutes, Guivarc'h was one-on-one with Taffarel following what FIFA commentators described as a "mistake" by the Brazilian defence, but he fired his shot wide of the goal.[60][84] Three minutes later Guivarc'h was taken off, as Jacquet brought on Dugarry in his place.[85] On 68 minutes, Desailly made a sliding tackle on Cafu which was given as a foul by the referee. Belqola showed him a second yellow card, which meant he was sent off and France had to play the last 20 minutes with only 10 men.[60][86] After 74 minutes, Edmundo was brought on by Zagallo, replacing César Sampaio.[87] A minute later, France made a defensive substitution, bringing on Patrick Vieira in place of Djorkaeff.[60] On 82 minutes, Dugarry was through on goal with only Taffarel to beat, but his shot went wide of the goal.[88] Brazil had a chance to score in second-half injury time when Denílson's shot hit the crossbar.[89] Two minutes later, Petit scored a third for France after receiving a pass up the field from his Arsenal teammate Vieira, striking the ball low into the net.[90] That was the final action of the game, as France completed a 3–0 victory.[77]