| Host country | France |
|---|---|
| Dates | 10 June – 12 July (33 days) |
| Teams | 32 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 10 (in 10 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  France (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Brazil |
| Third place |  Croatia |
| Fourth place |  Netherlands |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 64 |
| Goals scored | 171 (2.67 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,785,100 (43,517 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Davor Šuker (6 goals) |
| Best player | Ronaldo |
| Best goalkeeper | Fabien Barthez |
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFAfor the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process.
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| Official Logo |
Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997. For the first time in the competition, the group stage were expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the opening match and final staged at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis.
The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3–0 in the final. France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals.
France was awarded the 1998 World Cup on 2 July 1992 by the executive committee of FIFA during a general meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. They defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7. Switzerland withdrew, due to being unable to meet FIFA's requirements. This made France the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico and Italy in 1986 and 1990 respectively. France previously hosted the third edition of the World Cup in 1938.
The official mascot was Footix, a rooster first presented in May 1996. It was created by graphic designer Fabrice Pialot and selected from a shortlist of five mascots. Research carried out about the choice of having a cockerel as a mascot was greatly received: 91% associated it immediately with France, the traditional symbol of the nation. Footix, the name chosen by French television viewers, is a portmanteau of "football" and the ending "-ix" from the popular Astérix comic strip. The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's flag and home strip – blue for the jump suit, a red crest and with the words 'France 98' coloured in white.
The official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup was "The Cup of Life," aka "La Copa de la Vida" recorded by Ricky Martin.
The match ball for the 1998 World Cup, manufactured by Adidas was named the Tricolore, meaning 'three-coloured' in French. It was the eighth World Cup match ball made for the tournament by the German company and was the first in the series to be multi-coloured. The tricolour flag and cockerel, traditional symbols of France were used as inspiration for the design.
Winner: France
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