By Fidel Ozugha
It was the 16th edition of the 1998 FIFA World Cup final between ‘the almighty’ Brazil – as some football fanatics refer to them – and France. Both countries had automatic qualifications – Brazil as the defending champion and France as the host country.
In all, there were 32 teams competing in group stages from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. The tournament started in June 10 and ended gloriously in July 12, 1998.
To get to the final, Brazil, in group A, finished first with two wins and one defeat. When she met Chile in round 16, Chile submitted while Demark was eliminated in quarter finals. In the semi-finals, Netherlands proved stubborn but a penalty shoot-out proved Brazil to be superior in the semi-finals.
Stade de France in Paris venue of the final between France and Brazil
France, in group C, finished top with three wins. Advancing further, she beat Paraguay in the round of 16. Italy, in quarter-final and hard fighting Croatia in the semi-final could not cage France. And thus the stage was set for Brazil and France to hold a duel, and it took place. With Sai Belgola from Morocco as the referee, 75,000 supporters were in the stadium watching it live while an estimated 1.3 billion people were watching on television The final took place in front of 75,000 supporters, with an estimated 1.3 billion watching on television.
Can France withstand the fire work of ‘the almighty’ Brazil – the defending champion for that matter? The stuff Ronaldo was made was not and could not be found in the French squad. Didier Deschamps as the captain, dangerous Zinedine Zidane, unpredictable Emmanuel Petit, Christian Karembeu, Youri Djorkaeff, among others stood with confidence in themselves. It was a cracker!
Fitness of Brazilian joker, Ronaldo worried everybody as the match was about to kick off. There was a loud silence surrounded the ability of the dreaded striker who was initially left out of Brazil’s starting line-up, only to be restored to the team before the match would start.
Deputy Captain of the Rivers United FC, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Paul Inaelugwu Odeh releasing a missile of a short from his lethal left leg.
The void his absence created made France to toke the lead shortly before the half-hour mark through Zinedine Zidane’s header which was a severe headache to the Samba boys. To score the goal, Zidane outjumped Leonardo to connect with a header from an in-swinging corner that was taken by Emmanuel Petit from the right.
Zidane scored again, with another header from a corner, shortly before half-time to give France a 2–0 lead. The third goal by Petit compounded the headache of the Brazilians came in second-half during an injury time. Through a pass by Patrick Viera, Petit just stroke the ball low into the net to complete a 3–0 win for France.
Thus France became the seventh different nation to win the tournament, and that was the first World Cup title for her. Zidane was named the man of the match while Ronaldo was awarded the Golden Ball as FIFA’s outstanding player of the tournament.
Thierry Henry rejoicing over the trophy won by France
After France won the 1998 World Cup against Brazil, French player Thierry Henry managed to get the jersey of “El Fenómeno” Ronaldo. When he went up for the trophy presentation, he was wearing Ronaldo’s jersey. When the press asked him why he was celebrating in a Brazil jersey, and after facing anger from French fans, he responded, “I won two prizes: the World Cup and the jersey of the best player in the world.”
In 2023, Henry put Ronaldo’s jersey up for sale in an auction. It was bought by an Indian businessman for $250,000, who gifted it to his grandson, a Brazil national team fan, on his birthday
