France truly stunned the football world in 1998 when they lifted the World Cup. Before the ultimate prize, their best records in the tournament were at best third and fourth positions – they came in third twice in 1958 and 1986, and fourth in 1982. Even Michel Platini could not help them achieve the peak of international football, although he did lead them to the Euro 1984 triumph.
France then missed the subsequent two World Cups. While the failure to qualify for Italia ’90 was deemed due to the rebuilding efforts of the national team, the reason to miss the 1994 World Cup was far more unacceptable. The French had big names in Eric Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, David Ginola and Laurent Blanc; Papin was even the winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1991.
Needing just a point in their last two qualifying games, the French shockingly lost both matches in the final minutes, first to Israel (2-3) then followed by a heartbreaking loss against Bulgaria (1-2).
The failure to qualify for two successive World Cups lowered the pundits’ expectations of France, even though they were the hosting nation for the 1998 World Cup. The defending champion Brazil, former finalist Italy and traditional powerhouse Argentina were the bookmakers’ hot favourites, whereas the likes of the Germany, Netherlands and England were the dark horses.
Most of the world’s best footballers were gathered at this largest football tournament in the world. For many aging legends, it might also be their final World Cup. They were either approaching the twilight of their careers, or might not have the chance to participate again. Nevertheless, they gave their best on the field knowing that their legacies would be well cemented in the history.
The legendary players who had their last World Cup in 1998 included the great Bebeto, Dunga (Brazil), Roberto Baggio, Giuseppe Bergomi, Alessandro Costacurta (Italy), Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann, Jürgen Kohler, Thomas Hässler (Germany), Alan Shearer (England), Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands), Iván Zamorano (Chile), Peter Schmeichel (Denmark), Carlos Valderrama (Colombia), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Enzo Scifo (Belgium), Zvonimir Boban (Croatia) and Dragan Stojković (Yugoslavia).
While the legends made their exits, young exciting players emerged. Raul of Spain was only 20 when he made his World Cup debut. Hernán Crespo and Juan Sebastián Verón, aged 22 and 23 respectively, represented the future of Argentine national team, whereas France contributed three future stars – Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet. The trio was not more than 21 years old then. Although he did not play, 20-year-old Gianluigi Buffon had a first taste of the World Cup as a backup goalkeeper for Italy.
For France, after their failure to qualify for the USA ’94, Cantona, Papin and Ginola were dropped and a younger bunch of players were called up. France then managed to assemble a strong team of veterans and youngsters, but the real beauty was that the national team was now made up of players of different backgrounds and descents.
These players were bonded together with a common goal to win international glories for their adoptive country. For example, Zidane, Desailly and Lizarazu were of Algerian, Ghanaian and Basque descents respectively. Henry was of Antillean heritage, whereas Thuram was born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies and Karembeu was from New Caledonia’s Lifou, a French overseas territory in the Pacific Islands.
The unifying success of a multicultural nation in a way altered global football as many other countries started accepting young talented immigrants with the hope of them developing into world class players and turning out for their national teams.
Although underrated, France arguably had the strongest defense among the teams. The back four was made up of the consistent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu and Lilian Thuram. Fabien Barthez, the French goalkeeper who was deemed eccentric and not tall enough, surprised the critics with his agility and quick reflexes. France’s strict defence proved to be a big factor to their eventual World Cup victory, as they conceded only two goals in open play in the entire tournament.
French captain Didier Deschamps. with over 60 caps, was the most experienced player in the squad along with Blanc. Unspectacular yet composed, Deschamps’ role was to play just in front of the back four and command the team, providing sufficient defensive cover and linking up with the offense. Emmanuel Petit and Christian Karembeu played alongside with him as the defensive midfielders.
If Deschamps was the engine, then Zinedine Zidane was like the orchestra conductor for the team. The elegant playmaker was only 25 then, and was quickly becoming one of the best in the world. Zidane was given all the freedom to showcase his creativity on the biggest stage in football.
The forward position remained as France’s main weakness since Cantona and Papin’s retirements. Christophe Dugarry and Stéphane Guivarc’h were rotated for the sole striker role but neither had convincing goalscoring records for France. Hence, Youri Djorkaeff, Robert Pires and Henry were tasked to drift from winger to forward positions from time to time.
At the group stage, France won all the three games easily. But in the round of 16, they struggled to get past Paraguay who was rallied by their goalkeeping captain José Luis Chilavert to put up a stiff resistance. It had to take a golden goal winner from Blanc, after a goalless draw in the normal time, to disqualify the Paraguayans.
Next at the quarter-finals, France and Italy battled to another 0-0 stalemate in both normal and extra times. The intense penalty kicks followed, where France came out top with a 4-3 aggregate. The young Henry and Trezeguet stepped up under the extreme pressure and calmly put their penalties into the net.
France met dark horse Croatia in the semi-finals. A Davor Šuker’s goal in the early second half unsettled the French, but an unlikely hero in Thuram scored two goals to rescue France with an amazing 2-1 comeback victory.
Even as France charged into the World Cup final, they remained heavily as the underdog. Brazil, defending World Cup champion and led by the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos, was the hot favourite to retain their trophy. 21-year-old Ronaldo was then a global phenomenon and already had four goals in the tournament.
Then one of the biggest mysteries in football happened in the World Cup final when Ronaldo was reportedly sick just before the game. He was cleared to play anyway, but it was obvious that he was not his former self. Zidane then headed France ahead in the 27th minute, but many fans were still confident that Brazil would win the game.
Zidane scored with another header in the stoppage time of the first half, leaving Brazil with a tall order. After the halftime break, Brazil threw everything forward, introducing two more attackers in Denilson and Edmundo.
Desailly’s red card in the 68th minute gave the Brazilian fans some hope, but Petit put the game beyond doubts with France’s third goal in the final minute. The French had won their first ever World Cup, much to the surprise of the world.
What happened next was that France went on to win the Euro 2000 with a similar team of players, cementing their legacies as the golden generation of French football and elevating France to become one of the world’s football powerhouses.
But in the 2002 World Cup, France, like many before them, fell to the traditional curse for defending champions, and was knocked out in the group stage. They would, however, redeem themselves four years later in 2006 when they narrowly lost to Italy in the final, a game that was better remembered for Zidane’s headbutt and moment of madness.
It would then take more than a decade for France to finally lift their second World Cup trophy in 2018, this time by a new generation of stars in Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Raphaël Varane and Kylian Mbappé.
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