Football World Cup 1998 / France
This article covers the French national team at the 1998 World Cup .
qualification
As the host, France, which hosted this tournament for the second time since 1938 , automatically qualified for the finals. In the preparatory games of the World Cup year, the Équipe tricolore was hardly able to convince:
- January 28, 1998 (Saint-Denis, inauguration of the Stade de France) against Spain 1-0
- February 25, 1998 (Marseille) against Norway 3-3
- March 25, 1998 (Moscow) against Russia 0-1
- April 22, 1998 (Solna) against Sweden 0-0
- May 27, 1998 (Casablanca, King Hassan II Cup) against Belgium 1-0
- May 29, 1998 (Casablanca) against Morocco 2-2 and 5-6 on penalties
- June 5, 1998 (Helsinki) against Finland 1-0
French contingent
In the weeks leading up to the finals, criticism of national coach Aimé Jacquet increased. His line-ups, the selection of opponents to prepare for the preparation, the fact that the national team played predominantly outside of France - the closer the opening game got, the more hysterical the barrage against him and also did not stop at personal attacks: he was just a provincial coach who participated the high-paid stars of Bleus in general could not avoid, some of them (like Cantona and Ginola ) actually pissed off, without a clue of the strategy and tactics of modern football and as a person too colorless.
One of his most controversial decisions was the nomination of 28 players by the last possible time. This was actually not unusual, but it shows the problems that the published opinion in particular had with this sélectionneur in the run-up to the final round . At the final reporting date, Jacquet then deleted Nicolas Anelka ( Arsenal FC ), Ibrahim Ba ( AC Milan ), Martin Djetou ( AS Monaco ), Pierre Laigle ( Sampdoria Genoa ), Sabri Lamouchi ( AJ Auxerre ) and Lionel Letizi ( FC Metz ) from the squad .
The fact that after the World Cup some of the same journalists did not want to know anything about their previous role, praised Jacquet for the green clover and agreed to choose him as France's “Coach of the Century” - which is definitely debatable - points to problems of the media, which are also not unknown in other European countries. In any case, Aimé Jacquet went the way he saw fit, and success proved him right.
number | Surname | Association at the time | birthday | Games | Gates | Space management | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
goalkeeper | ||||||||
16 | Fabien Barthez | AS Monaco | 06/28/1971 | 7th | 0 | 0 | ||
22nd | Lionel Charbonnier | AJ Auxerre | 10/25/1966 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1 | Bernard Lama | West Ham United | 04/07/1963 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Defense | ||||||||
5 | Laurent Blanc | Olympique Marseille | 11/19/1965 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||
2 | Vincent Candela | AS Roma | October 24, 1973 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
8th | Marcel Desailly | AC Milan | 07.09.1968 | 7th | 0 | 1 | ||
18th | Frank Lebœuf | Chelsea FC | 01/22/1968 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
3 | Bixente Lizarazu | FC Bayern Munich | December 9, 1969 | 6th | 1 | 0 | ||
15th | Lilian Thuram | AC Parma | 01/01/1972 | 6th | 2 | 0 | ||
midfield | ||||||||
14th | Alain Boghossian | Sampdoria Genoa | October 27, 1970 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
7th | Didier Deschamps | Juventus Turin | 10/15/1968 | 6th | 0 | 0 | ||
13 | Bernard Diomède | AJ Auxerre | 01/23/1974 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
6th | Youri Djorkaeff | Inter Milan | 03/09/1968 | 7th | 1 | 0 | ||
19th | Christian Karembeu | real Madrid | December 3rd, 1970 | 4th | 0 | 0 | ||
17th | Emmanuel Petit | Arsenal FC | 09/22/1970 | 6th | 2 | 0 | ||
11 | Robert Pires | FC Metz | October 29, 1973 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
4th | Patrick Vieira | Arsenal FC | 06/23/1976 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
10 | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus Turin | 06/23/1972 | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||
attack | ||||||||
21st | Christophe Dugarry | Olympique Marseille | March 24, 1972 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
9 | Stéphane Guivarc'h | AJ Auxerre | 09/06/1970 | 6th | 0 | 0 | ||
12 | Thierry Henry | AS Monaco | 08/17/1977 | 6th | 3 | 0 | ||
20th | David Trezeguet | AS Monaco | 10/15/1977 | 6th | 1 | 0 | ||
Trainer | ||||||||
Aimé Jacquet | 11/27/1941 |
French team games
Preliminary round
France played in Group C with South Africa, Denmark and Saudi Arabia.
rank | country | Gates | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | France | 9: 1 | 9 |
2 | Denmark | 3: 3 | 4th |
3 | South Africa | 3: 6 | 2 |
4th | Saudi Arabia | 2: 7 | 1 |
France | - | South Africa | 3: 0 (1: 0) |
France | - | Saudi Arabia | 4: 0 (1: 0) |
France | - | Denmark | 2: 1 (1: 1) |
Match reports
Against South Africa on June 12, 1998 at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille in front of 55,075 spectators; SR: Rezende de Freitas (Brazil):
1-0 Dugarry (34th) - 2-0 Issa (77th, ET), 3-0 Henry (90th)
Against Saudi Arabia on June 18, 1998 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis in front of 80,000 spectators; SR: Brizio Carter (Mexico):
1-0 Henry (36th) - 2-0 Trezeguet (68th), 3-0 Henry (77th), 4-0 Lizarazu (85th); Expulsion: Zidane (70.)
Against Denmark on June 24, 1998 in the Stade Gerland in Lyons in front of 44,000 spectators; SR: Collina (Italy):
1: 0 Djorkaeff (12th, FE), 1: 1 M. Laudrup (42nd, FE) - 2: 1 Petit (56th)
Round of 16
France - Paraguay 1-0 (0-0, 0-0) after a golden goal
On June 28, 1998 at the Stade Félix-Bollaert in Lens in front of 42,000 spectators; SR: Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates):
1: 0 Blanc (114.)
Quarter finals
France - Italy 0: 0 aet, 4: 3 i. E.
On July 3, 1998 in the Stade de France of Saint-Denis in front of 77,000 spectators; SR: Dallas (Scotland):
Penalty takers: for France Zidane, Lizarazu (missed), Trezeguet, Henry, Blanc; for Italy R. Baggio , Albertini (missed), Costacurta, Vieri , Di Bagio (missed)
Semifinals
France - Croatia 2: 1 (0: 0)
On July 8, 1998 in the Stade de France of Saint-Denis in front of 80,000 spectators; SR: García Aranda (Spain):
0: 1 Šuker (46th), 1: 1 Thuram (47th), 2: 1 Thuram (69th); Expulsion: Blanc (74.)
Endgame
France - Brazil 3: 0 (2: 0)
On July 12, 1998 in the Stade de France of Saint-Denis in front of 75,000 spectators; SR: Belqola (Morocco):
1-0 Zidane (27th), 2-0 Zidane (45th) - 3-0 Petit (90th); Expulsion: Desailly (68.)
France played with Barthez - Thuram, Lebœuf, Desailly, Lizarazu - Djorkaeff (from 70th Vieira ) , Deschamps, Zidane, Petit, Karembeu (from 57th Boghossian ) - Guivarc'h (from 66th Dugarry )
Conclusion
68 years after their first World Cup participation and 40 years after their third place at the World Cup in Sweden , the Équipe tricolore succeeded in winning the long-awaited title. The film "Les Yeux dans les Bleus" (Eng. "The view of the blues" ), which documents this success longed for by an entire nation, naturally became a cult film in France. The most famous scene in it: the kiss of French President Jacques Chirac on the "divine bald head" of goalkeeper Barthez after the World Cup final, who took up the gesture introduced by Laurent Blanc, who was suspended in the final.