The 1998 Football World Cup was held in France, by the FIFA decision in July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final. This was the first World Cup title for France, who joined Brazil and five others (Uruguay, Italy, Germany, England, and Argentina) to be world champions.

The format of the competition changed from 1994: it was expanded to 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. 16 teams: eight group winners and eight second place finishers would qualify for the knockout competition.

Davor Šuker of surprise third-place finisher Croatia won the Golden Boot after scoring six goals.

Michael Owen made his World Cup debut in '98 by scoring one of his most amazing solo goals ever. Taking the ball from the halfway line, he dribbled past 3 Argentinean defenders before slotting the ball past the 'keeper.

This World Cup tournament was the first one for the countries of Croatia, Jamaica, Japan, and South Africa.

For details of the competition, see Football World Cup 1998 (match reports) article.

Venues

City	Stadium	Capacity
Saint-Denis	Stade de France	80,000
Marseille	Stade Vélodrome	60,000
Paris	Parc des Princes	49,000
Lens	Stade Félix Bollaert	41,800
Lyon	Stade Gerland	41,200
Nantes	Stade de la Beaujoire	38,500
Toulouse	Stadium de Toulouse	37,000
Saint-Étienne	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard	36,000
Bordeaux	Parc Lescure	35,200
Montpellier	Stade de la Mosson	33,900

First round

All times local (CET)
Half-time scores are in brackets

Group A

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Brazil 6 3 2 0 1 6 3 Norway 5 3 1 2 0 5 4 Morocco 4 3 1 1 1 5 5 Scotland 1 3 0 1 2 2 6

Brazil 2 - 1 Scotland Morocco 2 - 2 Norway Scotland 1 - 1 Norway Brazil 3 - 0 Morocco Brazil 1 - 2 Norway Scotland 0 - 3 Morocco

June 10, 1998

Brazil	2 - 1 (1-1)	Scotland	17:30 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: José Maria Garcia Aranda (Spain) Attendance: 80,000
César Sampaio 4'		Collins (p) 38'
Boyd (og) 73'
Morocco	2 - 2 (1-1)	Norway	21:00 - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Ref: Un Prasert (Thailand) Attendance: 29,750
Hadji 38'		Chippo (og) 45'+1'
Hadda 59'		Eggen 60'

June 16, 1998

Scotland	1 - 1 (0-0)	Norway	17:30 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Laszlo Vagner (Hungary) Attendance: 31,800
Burley 66'		H. Flo 46'
Brazil	3 - 0 (2-0)	Morocco	21:00 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia) Attendance: 35,000
Ronaldo 9'
Rivaldo 45'+2'
Bebeto 50'

June 23, 1998

Brazil	1 - 2 (0-0)	Norway	21:00 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Esfandiar Baharmast (USA) Attendance: 55,000
Bebeto 78'		T.A. Flo 83'
		Rekdal (p) 88'
Scotland	0 - 3 (0-1)	Morocco	21:00 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Étienne Ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Attendance: 30,600
		Bassir 22'
		Hadda 46'
		Bassir 85'

Group B

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Italy 7 3 2 1 0 7 3 Chile 3 3 0 3 0 4 4 Austria 2 3 0 2 1 3 4 Cameroon 2 3 0 2 1 2 5

Italy 2 - 2 Chile Cameroon 1 - 1 Austria Chile 1 - 1 Austria Italy 3 - 0 Cameroon Italy 2 - 1 Austria Chile 1 - 1 Cameroon

June 11, 1998

Italy	2 - 2 (1-1)	Chile	17:30 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Lucien Bouchardeau (Nigeria) Attendance: 31,800
Vieri 10'		Salas 45'
R. Baggio (p) 85'		Salas 49'
Cameroon	1 - 1 (0-0)	Austria	21:00 - Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Ref: Epifanio Gonzalez Chavez (Paraguay) Attendance: 33,460
Njanka 78'		Polster 90'

June 17, 1998

Chile	1 - 1 (0-0)	Austria	17:30 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Étienne Ref: Gamal Ghandour (Egypt) Attendance: 30,600
Salas 70'		Vastic 90'
Italy	3 - 0 (1-0)	Cameroon	21:00 - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Ref: Edward Lennie (Australia) Attendance: 29,800
Di Biagio 7'
Vieri 75'
Vieri 89'

June 23, 1998

Italy	2 - 1 (0-0)	Austria	16:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Paul Durkin (England) Attendance: 80,000
Vieri 49'		Herzog (p) 90'
R. Baggio 89'
Chile	1 - 1 (1-0)	Cameroon	16:00 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Laszlo Vagner (Hungary) Attendance: 35,500
Sierra 20'		Mboma 55'

Group C

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA France 9 3 3 0 0 9 1 Denmark 4 3 1 1 1 3 3 South Africa 2 3 0 2 1 3 6 Saudi Arabia 1 3 0 1 2 2 7

Saudi Arabia 0 - 1 Denmark France 3 - 0 South Africa South Africa 1 - 1 Denmark France 4 - 0 Saudi Arabia France 2 - 1 Denmark South Africa 2 - 2 Saudi Arabia

June 12, 1998

Saudi Arabia	0 - 1 (0-0)	Denmark	17:30 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Javier Castrilli (Argentina) Attendance: 38,140
		Rieper 68'
France	3 - 0 (0-0)	South Africa	21:00 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Márcio Rezende Freitas]] (Brazil) Attendance: 55,077
Dugarry 34'
Issa (og) 77'
Henry 90'

June 18, 1998

South Africa	1 - 1 (0-1)	Denmark	17:30 - Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Ref: John Toro Rendon]] (Colombia) Attendance: 33,300
McCarthy 52'		Nielsen 13'
France	4 - 0 (1-0)	Saudi Arabia	21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 80,000
Henry 36'
Trézéguet 68'
Henry 77'
Lizarazu 85'

June 24, 1998

France	2 - 1 (1-1)	Denmark	16:00 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Pierluigi Collina (Italy) Attendance: 39,100
Djorkaeff (p) 12'		M. Laudrup (p) 42'
Petit 56'
South Africa	2 - 2 (1-1)	Saudi Arabia	16:00 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Mario Sanchez Yanten (Chile) Attendance: 31,800
Bartlett 19'		Al Jaber (p) 45'
Bartlett (p) 90'+4'		Al Tunian (p) 74'

Group D

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Nigeria 6 3 2 0 1 5 5 Paraguay 5 3 1 2 0 3 1 Spain 4 3 1 1 1 8 4 Bulgaria 1 3 0 1 2 1 7

Paraguay 0 - 0 Bulgaria Spain 2 - 3 Nigeria Nigeria 1 - 0 Bulgaria Spain 0 - 0 Paraguay Nigeria 1 - 3 Paraguay Spain 6 - 1 Bulgaria

June 12, 1998

Paraguay

0 - 0 (0-0)

Bulgaria

14:30 - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Ref: Abdul Rahman Al Zaid (Saudi Arabia) Attendance: 27,650

June 13, 1998

Spain	2 - 3 (1-1)	Nigeria	14:30 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Esfandiar Baharmast (USA) Attendance: 33,257
Hierro 21'		Adepoju 25'
Raúl 47'		Lawal 73'
		Oliseh 78'

June 19, 1998

Nigeria	1 - 0 (1-0)	Bulgaria	17:30 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Mario Sanchez Yanten (Chile) Attendance: 45,500
Ikpeba 26'
Spain	0 - 0 (0-0)	Paraguay	21:00 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Étienne Ref: Ian McLeod (South Africa) Attendance: 30,600

June 24, 1998

Nigeria	1 - 3 (1-1)	Paraguay	21:00 - Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Ref: Un Prasert (Thailand) Attendance: 33,500
Oruma 11'		Ayala 1'
		Benitez 59'
		Cardozo 86'
Spain	6 - 1 (2-0)	Bulgaria	21:00 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Attendance: 38,100
Hierro (p) 6'		Kostadinov 58'
Luis Enrique 19'
Morientes 55'
Morientes 81'
Kiko 88'
Kiko 90'

Group E

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Netherlands 5 3 1 2 0 7 2 Mexico 5 3 1 2 0 7 5 Belgium 3 3 0 3 0 3 3 South Korea 1 3 0 1 2 2 9

South Korea 1 - 3 Mexico Netherlands 0 - 0 Belgium Belgium 2 - 2 Mexico Netherlands 5 - 0 South Korea Netherlands 2 - 2 Mexico Belgium 1 - 1 South Korea

June 13, 1998

South Korea	1 - 3 (1-0)	Mexico	17:30 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Günter Benkö (Austria) Attendance: 39,133
Ha 28'		Pelaez 51'
		Hernández 74'
		Hernández 84'
Netherlands	0 - 0 (0-0)	Belgium	21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Pierluigi Collina (Italy) Attendance: 75,000

June 20, 1998

Belgium	2 - 2 (1-0)	Mexico	17:30 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Hugh Dallas (Scotland) Attendance: 31,800
Wilmots 43'		García Aspe (p) 55'
Wilmots 47'		Blanco 62'
Netherlands	5 - 0 (2-0)	South Korea	21:00 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Ryszard Wojcik (Poland) Attendance: 55,000
Cocu 38'
Overmars 42'
Bergkamp 71'
van Hooijdonk 80'
R. de Boer 83'

June 25, 1998

Netherlands	2 - 2 (2-0)	Mexico	16:00 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Étienne Ref: Abdul Rahman Al Zaid (Saudi Arabia) Attendance: 30,600
Cocu 4'		Pelaez 75'
R. de Boer 18'		Hernández 90'
Belgium	1 - 1 (1-0)	South Korea	16:00 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Márcio Rezende Freitas (Brazil) Attendance: 45,500
Nilis 7'		Yoo 71'

Group F

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Germany 7 3 2 1 0 6 2 Yugoslavia 7 3 2 1 0 4 2 Iran 3 3 1 0 2 2 4 USA 0 3 0 0 3 1 5

Yugoslavia 1 - 0 Iran Germany 2 - 0 USA Germany 2 - 2 Yugoslavia USA 1 - 2 Iran USA 0 - 1 Yugoslavia Germany 2 - 0 Iran

June 14, 1998

Yugoslavia	1 - 0 (0-0)	Iran	17:30 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Étienne Ref: Alberto Tejada Noriega (Peru) Attendance: 30,392
Mihajlovic 72'

June 15, 1998

Germany	2 - 0 (1-0)	USA	21:00 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Said Belqola (Morocco) Attendance: 43,815
Möller 8'
Klinsmann 64'

June 21, 1998

Germany	2 - 2 (0-1)	Yugoslavia	14:30 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) Attendance: 38,100
Mihajlovic (og) 73'		Mijatovic 2'
Bierhoff 80'		Stojkovic 54'
USA	1 - 2 (0-1)	Iran	21:00 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Urs Meier (Switzerland) Attendance: 39,100
McBride 87'		Estili 40'
		Mahdavikia 84'

June 25, 1998

USA	0 - 1 (0-1)	Yugoslavia	21:00 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Gamal Ghandour (Egypt) Attendance: 35,500
		Komljenovic 4'
Germany	2 - 0 (0-0)	Iran	21:00 - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Ref: Epifanio Gonzalez Chavez (Paraguay) Attendance: 29,800
Bierhoff 50'
Klinsmann 57'

Group G

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Romania 7 3 2 1 0 4 2 England 6 3 2 0 1 5 2 Colombia 3 3 1 0 2 1 3 Tunisia 1 3 0 1 2 1 4

England 2 - 0 Tunisia Romania 1 - 0 Colombia Colombia 1 - 0 Tunisia Romania 2 - 1 England Colombia 0 - 2 England Romania 1 - 1 Tunisia

June 15, 1998

England	2 - 0 (1-0)	Tunisia	14:30 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Masayoshi Okada (Japan) Attendance: 54,587
Shearer 43'
Scholes 89'
Romania	1 - 0 (1-0)	Colombia	17:30 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius) Attendance: 37,572
Ilie 45'

June 22, 1998

Colombia	1 - 0 (0-0)	Tunisia	17:30 - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Ref: Bernd Heynemann (Germany) Attendance: 29,800
Preciado 83'
Romania	2 - 1 (0-0)	England	21:00 - Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Ref: Marc Batta (France) Attendance: 33,500
Moldovan 47'		Owen 79'
Petrescu 90'

June 26, 1998

Colombia	0 - 2 (0-2)	England	21:00 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 38,100
		Anderton 20'
		Beckham 29'
Romania	1 - 1 (0-1)	Tunisia	21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Edward Lennie (Australia) Attendance: 77,000
Moldovan 72'		Souayah (p) 10'

Group H

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Argentina 9 3 3 0 0 7 0 Croatia 6 3 2 0 1 4 2 Jamaica 3 3 1 0 2 3 9 Japan 0 3 0 0 3 1 4

Argentina 1 - 0 Japan Jamaica 1 - 3 Croatia Japan 0 - 1 Croatia Argentina 5 - 0 Jamaica Argentina 1 - 0 Croatia Japan 1 - 2 Jamaica

June 14, 1998

Argentina	1 - 0 (1-0)	Japan	14:30 - Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Ref: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Attendance: 33,400
Batistuta 28'
Jamaica	1 - 3 (1-1)	Croatia	21:00 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Vítor Pereira (Portugal) Attendance: 38,058
Earle 45'		Stanic' 27'
		Prosinečki 53'
		Šuker 69'

June 20, 1998

Japan	0 - 1 (0-0)	Croatia	14:30 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago) Attendance: 35,500
		Šuker 77'

June 21, 1998

Argentina	5 - 0 (1-0)	Jamaica	17:30 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Rune Pedersen (Norway) Attendance: 45,000
Ortega 31'
Ortega 55'
Batistuta 72'
Batistuta 80'
Batistuta (p) 82'

June 26, 1998

Argentina	1 - 0 (1-0)	Croatia	16:00 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Said Belqola (Morocco) Attendance: 31,800
Pineda 36'
Japan	1 - 2 (0-1)	Jamaica	16:00 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Günter Benkö (Austria) Attendance: 39,100
Nakayama 74'		Whitmore 39'
		Whitmore 54'

Round of Sixteen

June 27, 1998

Italy	1 - 0 (1-0)	Norway	16:30 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Bernd Heynemann (Germany) Attendance: 55,000
Vieri 18'
Brazil	4 - 1 (3-0)	Chile	21:00 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Marc Batta (France) Attendance: 45,500
César Sampaio 11'		Salas 68'
César Sampaio 27'
Ronaldo (p) 45'+1'
Ronaldo 70'

June 28, 1998

France	0 - 0 (0-0)	Paraguay	16:30 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Attendance: 38,100
after extra-time:	1 - 0 (0-0)
Blanc (GG) 113'
Nigeria	1 - 4 (0-2)	Denmark	21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Urs Meier (Switzerland) Attendance: 77,000
Babangida 78'		Møller 3'
		B. Laudrup 12'
		Sand 60'
		Helveg 76'

June 29, 1998

Germany	2 - 1 (0-0)	Mexico	16:30 - Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier Ref: Vítor Pereira (Portugal) Attendance: 29,800
Klinsmann 75'		Hernandez 47'
Bierhoff 86'
Netherlands	2 - 1 (1-0)	Yugoslavia	21:00 - Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Ref: José Garcia Aranda (Spain) Attendance: 33,500
Bergkamp 38'		Komljenovic 48'
Davids 90'+2'

June 30, 1998

Romania	0 - 1 (0-1)	Croatia	16:30 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Javier Castrilli (Argentina) Attendance: 31,800
		Šuker (p) 45'+2'
Argentina	2 - 2 (2-2)	England	21:00 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Étienne Ref: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) Attendance: 30,600
after extra-time:	2 - 2 (2-2)
Batistuta (p) 6'		Shearer (p) 10'
Zanetti 45'+1'		Owen 16'
Penalty shootout
Argentina		4 - 3	England
Berti: goal		1-1	Shearer: goal
Crespo: Seaman saved		1-1	Ince: Roa saved
Verón: goal		2-2	Merson: goal
Gallardo: goal		3-3	Owen: goal
Ayala: goal		4-3	Batty: Roa saved

Quarterfinals

July 3, 1998

France	0 - 0 (0-0)	Italy	16:30 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Hugh Dallas (Scotland) Attendance: 77,000
after extra-time:	0 - 0 (0-0)
Penalty shootout
France		4 - 3	Italy
Zidane: goal		1-1	R. Baggio: goal
Lizarazu: Pagliuca saved		1-1	Albertini: Barthez saved
Trézéguet: goal		2-2	Costacurta: goal
Henry: goal		3-3	Vieri: goal
Blanc: goal		4-3	Di Biagio: out
Brazil	3 - 2 (2-1)	Denmark	21:00 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Gamal Ghandour (Egypt) Attendance: 35,500
Bebeto 11'		Jørgensen 2'
Rivaldo 27'		B. Laudrup 50'
Rivaldo 60'

July 4, 1998

Netherlands	2 - 1 (1-1)	Argentina	16:30 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) Attendance: 55,000
Kluivert 12'		López 17'
Bergkamp 89'
Germany	0 - 3 (0-1)	Croatia	21:00 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Rune Pedersen (Norway) Attendance: 39,100
		Jarni 45'+3'
		Vlaović 80'
		Šuker 85'

Semifinals

July 7, 1998

Brazil	1 - 1 (0-0)	Netherlands	21:00 - Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Attendance: 54,000
after extra-time:	1 - 1 (1-1)
Ronaldo 46'		Kluivert 87'
Penalty shootout
Brazil		4 - 2	Netherlands
Ronaldo: goal		1-1	F. de Boer: goal
Rivaldo: goal		2-2	Bergkamp: goal
Emerson: goal		3-2	Cocu: Taffarel saved
Dunga: goal		4-2	R. de Boer: Taffarel saved

July 8, 1998

France	2 - 1 (0-0)	Croatia	21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: José Garcia Aranda (Spain) Attendance: 76,000
Thuram 47'		Šuker 46'
Thuram 69'

Third place match

July 11, 1998

Netherlands	1 - 2 (1-2)	Croatia	21:00 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Epifanio Gonzalez Chavez (Paraguay) Attendance: 45,500
Zenden 21'		Prosinecki 13'
		Šuker 35'

Final

July 12, 1998

Brazil	0 - 3 (0-2)	France	21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: Said Belqola (Morocco) Attendance: 75,000
		Zidane 27'
		Zidane 45'+1'
		Petit 90'

World Cup Champions: FRANCE (First title)

Goal Scorers

6 goals

• Davor Šuker

5 goals

• Gabriel Batistuta
• Christian Vieri

4 goals

• Ronaldo
• Marcelo Salas
• Luis Hernandez

3 goals

• Bebeto - Rivaldo - César Sampaio
• Thierry Henry
• Oliver Bierhoff - Jürgen Klinsmann
• Dennis Bergkamp

2 Goals

• Ariel Ortega
• Marc Wilmots
• Robert Prosinečki
• Brian Laudrup
• Alan Shearer - Michael Owen
• Emmanuel Petit - Lilian Thuram - Zinedine Zidane
• Roberto Baggio
• Theodore Whitmore
• Ricardo Pelaez
• Salaheddine Bassir - Abdeljalil Hadda
• Ronald de Boer - Phillip Cocu - Patrick Kluivert
• Viorel Moldovan
• Shaun Bartlett
• Fernando Hierro - Kiko - Fernando Morientes
• Slobodan Komljenovic

1 Goal

• Claudio López - Hector Pineda - Javier Zanetti
• Andreas Herzog - Toni Polster - Ivica Vastic
• Luc Nilis
• Emil Kostadinov
• Pierre Njanka - Patrick Mboma
• José Sierra
• Leider Preciado
• Robert Jarni - Mario Stanic - Goran Vlaovic
• Thomas Helveg - Martin Jørgensen - Michael Laudrup - Peter Møller - Allan Nielsen - Marc Rieper - Ebbe Sand
• Darren Anderton - David Beckham - Paul Scholes
• Laurent Blanc - Youri Djorkaeff - Christophe Dugarry - Bixente Lizarazu - David Trézéguet
• Andreas Möller
• Mehdi Mahdavikia - Hamid Estili
• Luigi Di Biagio
• Robert Earle
• Masashi Nakayama
• Cuauhtémoc Blanco - Alberto García Aspe
• Moustafa Hadji
• Edgar Davids - Pierre van Hooijdonk - Marc Overmars - Boudewijn Zenden
• Mutiu Adepoju - Tijani Babangida - Victor Ikpeba - Garba Lawal - Sunday Oliseh - Wilson Oruma
• Dan Eggen - Harvard Flo - Tore André Flo - Kjetil Rekdal
• Celso Ayala - Miguel Benitez - José Cardoso
• Adrian Ilie - Dan Petrescu
• Sami Al Jaber - Youssef Al Tunian
• Craig Burley - John Collins
• Benni McCarthy
• Ha Seok-Ju - Yoo Sang-Chul
• Luis Enrique - Raúl González
• Skander Souayah
• Brian McBride
• Siniša Mihajlovic - Dragan Stojkovic

Own Goals

• Youssef Chippo (1)
• Thomas Boyd (1)
• Pierre Issa (1)
• Siniša Mihajlovic (1)

Trivia

• A change in the rules came into effect at the 1998 World Cup, stating that as regulation time was about to expire in any period of play the fourth official would use a handheld electronic display to show how many minutes of stoppage time were to be played. This practice has continued since then, after being well received by media and spectators alike.

• An attempt to revive ancient ballgame of La Soule to celebrate the Football World Cup (1998), fell through.