World Cup moments: 98 World Cup Final
It's time to explore some iconic World Cup moments. First up, it's a flashback to the 1998 final Background to the final The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Brazil finished first in Group A, with two wins and one defeat, after which they beat Chile in the round of 16, Denmark in the quarter-finals and the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals. France finished top of Group C with three wins, before defeating Paraguay in the round of 16, Italy in the quarter-final, and Croatia in the semi-final. The match itself The final took place in front of 75,000 supporters, with an estimated 1.7 billion watching on television, and was refereed by Said Belqola from Morocco. Before the match, speculation surrounded the fitness of striker Ronaldo, who was originally left out of Brazil's starting line-up, only to be restored to the team before kick-off. Frnce dominate the early stages