The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France: Algeria 1998
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, a football world championship for men’s national teams, took place in France. It was organized from June 10 to July 12, 1998. FIFA chose France to host the event for the second time in the tournament’s history. This was the 16th world cup. It took place for the ninth time in Europe and for the second time in France. The first time a FIFA world cup oranized in France was in 1938).
The 16th Football World Cup was the longest staged, lasting 32 days. The group stage was increased from 24 teams to 32 teams for the first time in the competition.
The opening and championship game were held at the newly constructed Stade de France in the Parisian municipality of Saint-Denis. The 64 matches of the competition were played in 10 stadiums throughout 10 host towns. In this edition for the international tournament, South Africa, Jamaica, Japan, and Croatia all made their first finals appearances.
Africa in the World Cup
During the 1998 edition of the World Cup, five African nations qualified: Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia. It was the fourth appearance of the Moroccan team in the World Cup. For the Tunisian team it was the second participation.
Semi-Finals and Final game
In 1998, Croatia, France, Brazil and Netherlands arrived to the semi finals. The first two nations reached the semi-finals in the Qatar 2022 World Cup edition along with Argentina and Morocco.
France, the tournament’s host nation, defeated Brazil 3-0 in the championship match and won its first football world cup. After Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany, and Argentina, who won their first World Cup, France became the seventh country to do so and the sixth to do it on home soil. Croatia who reached the finals for the first time was ranked in the third position.
In addition to Paris and Saint-Denis, the other 8 cities that hosted the matches were Marseille, Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Montpellier, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Lens.
To commemorate this sports event, the Algerian post issued a stamp showing a Brazilian and French player competing for the ball. The upper-left corner shows also the Eiffel tower.
Catalogue Reference: Yvert & Tellier #1120.
