France 1998, Turkey 2013 – 15 years, 2 World Cups

On Saturday evening, the French Under-20 team achieved World Cup glory in Istanbul. This victory came exactly 15 years and a day after the full squad secured France’s biggest footballing triumph at the Stade de France.  This allows us to celebrate this anniversary with a look back at a memorable 1998 World Cup.

Going into the tournament, France had a fairly settled squad with the solid defensive line of Fabien Barthez, Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu, captain Didier Deschamps partnered Emmanuel Petit, Youri Djorkaeff and Zinedine Zidane in the midfield.  The squad was fleshed out with the likes of Emmanuel Petit, Stephane Guivarc’h, Frank Leboeuf, Christophe Dugarry, Christian Karembeu and young attackers Theirry Henry and David Trezeguet among others. However, it was fair to say that the French public were not overwhelmed with optimism for Les Bleus to achieve success in their home tournament, after a series of unconvincing performances and constant run-ins between l’Equipe and national coach Aime Jacquet.

Ten stadia were chosen to host matches; Bordeaux, Lens, Marseille, Montpellier, Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Nantes, and both the Parc des Princes and the newly opened Stade de France in Paris.  The tournament kicked off with holders Brazil playing Scotland in the new national stadium.

France had to wait until matchday 3 for their opening game, against South Africa in Marseille. France comprehensively won the game 3-0 with goals coming from Dugarry and the unfortunate Pierre Issa, who managed to score two own goals, although the second would later be awarded to Henry.

Their second game was against Saudi Arabia and although they strolled to a 4-0 victory. It came at a price as Zidane was sent off for a stamp which would keep him out of the next two games.  Goals in this game came from Henry (2), Trezeguet and Lizarazu with only his second goal for his country.

With qualification to the knockout rounds secure, France started with a much changed team for their final game against Denmark with the likes of Vincent Candela, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Bernard Diomede and Trezeguet all starting.  Against a spirited and skilful Denmark, France came out victors by two goals to one – Djorkaeff and Petit opening their accounts for the tournament.

The second phase began with the round of 16 clash against Paraguay.  The South Americans, captained by the free kick taking goalkeeper Jose Chilavert, proved tough opponents for the French.  A goalless 90 minutes brought about extra time and with a little over five minutes remaining, the tournament’s first golden goal was scored with Blanc the unlikely hero. The ball was chipped in by Pires, Trezeguet provided an excellent cushioned header and Blanc was in the right place at the right time to blast home past Chilavert. France had overcome their first major challenge of the tournament and although it was an incredibly nervy affair, belief was growing both in and out of the squad, with the team’s progress beginning to capture the public’s imagination.

Next up for the French was a quarter final against the previous tournament’s runner-up, Italy. Both teams proved difficult to break down with a real defensive battle taking place on the Stade de France pitch as les Bleus’ back four went head to head against the likes of Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Costacurta.  With even more nerves on display than against Paraguay, 90 minutes came and went without a goal, as did extra time, meaning that a penalty shootout would determine who would make it into the semi finals. Neither team had had particular success when it came to penalty shootouts in the past. However Lizarazu’s miss was cancelled out by Demetrio Albertini and the unfortunate Luigi di Biagio was the unlucky player who blasted his crucial penalty against the crossbar.  France had scraped through and were now in the final four.

Tournaments such as these always produce an unlikely hero and he came to the fore for France in the semi final against the surprise team of the tournament, Croatia, who had comprehensively knocked out Germany in the previous round.  After a goalless first half, poor defending from Lizarazu allowed Davor Suker through to fire past Barthez and put Croatia in the lead.  Step forward the unlikely hero: within a minute, Thuram had atoned for his mistake by firing in his first goal for his country, latching onto a cute Djorkaeff throughball.  With the French pressure growing, it was left to Thuram to again score with an even better goal, curling a shot in with his left foot from the edge of the area.  France did not let that slip, and reached a World Cup final for the first time. The match however finished on a downside as, during a scuffle in the Croatian penalty area, Slaven Bilic and Blanc had a “coming together”, with the Croatian collapsing to the floor claiming a punch from Blanc.  Replays showed that there was nothing more than a tap, but unfortunately for the second most experienced member of the team he was shown a red card and would miss the final.

Putting that disappointment aside, expectations had reached fever pitch and even though they would be up against holders and the number one ranked team Brazil in the final, victory was seen as France’s destiny. The build up to the final was eventful to the say the least with the now famous will he play/won’t he play saga surrounding Ronaldo.  With all sorts of rumours flying around, he eventually did start but proved hugely ineffective.  The French sensed this was their time and after 27 minutes Zidane (after escaping his marker – a certain Leonardo) headed in the opening goal from a Petit corner.  On the stroke of half time, a Djorkaeff corner from the other side, led to Zidane repeating his efforts and doubling their lead. Ronaldo and his teammates had  no answer and proved just as blunt in attack during the second half. Even the dismissal of Desailly in the 68^th minute, becoming the third player sent off in a World Cup final (following Monzon and Dezotti for Argentina in 1990), could not change the outcome of the game.  A perfect final for the French was rounded off in style as a lightning break led by Dugarry and Vieira allowed Petit to slide in the third past Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel in injury time. With that the game was up, the final whistle blown and France were world champions for the first time. The famous images of Deschamps lifting the trophy and the Champs Elysees in raptures with the Arc de Triomphe lit up are memories that people will never forget.

The month-long tournament was a feast of football, with many memorable moments including Dennis Bergkamp’s injury time wonder goal winner against Argentina, Michael Owen’s goal against Argentina and David Beckham’s subsequent red card.  There were surprises including Croatia’s run to 3^rd place and Nigeria beating Spain in the group stages.  Superstars such as Zidane, Suker and Rivaldo were thrust into the limelight. All in all it was a glorious summer of football, one which will live long on the memory.

If you have any memories of the tournament, we’d love to hear from you!