France ’98 simultaneously saw the inauguration of the hosts as a great footballing power and the slide of the erstwhile holders, Brazil, into the ranks of the mediocre. The home side’s facile victory expunged the foul memories of 1982 and 1986, when the French fell at the penultimate hurdle, and ignited scenes of celebration all along the Seine. The main toast of France was Zinedine Zidane, a quiet marseillais of Algerian origin who began his voyage to hero status with a red card against Saudi Arabia but culminated it with two goals in the final.

Back in Brazil, fans, shocked at the team’s spiritless display in a 3-0 defeat, demanded to know what befell their "phenomenon" – 21 year-old striker Ronaldo collapsed and lost consciousness on the morning of the match and played in the final despite being visibly dazed. Vasca da Gama striker Edmundo, who was named as Ronaldo’s replacement until, just 45 minutes before kick-off, the official teamsheet was retracted and changed, muttered dark allegations as to why Ronaldo was risked and, months later, Brazilian congress ordered an investigation. But its findings were inconclusive.

Even in the earlier rounds with a fully fit Ronaldo, Brazil had not played with their traditional flamboyance. They needed an own-goal to overcome Scotland in the competition’s opener, and went on to lose, to Norway, a group match for the first time in their history. Moments of magic against Chile and Denmark lit up long spells of mediocrity and when they reached the semi-finals most people had their opponents, Holland, down as favourites.

The Dutch had just beaten the other South American giants, Argentina, with a performance full of panache. They duly dominated the semi-final, but, as usual, failed to fulfill their promise, letting Brazil off the hook in a clumsy penalty shoot-out.

Holland then lost in the third/fourth place play-off to the tournament surprise package, Croatia. The Croatian team was the fruit of an exceptionally gifted generation of footballers, including Zvonimir Boban, Robert Proscinecki, and eventual Golden Boot winner Davor Suker. Marshalled by charismatic manager Miroslav Blasevic, the men from the newly-formed nation kicked off their campiagns by conquering two other teams who were attending the World Cup for the first time, Japan and Jamaica.

In the quarter-finals, the Croatians came up against Germany … and administered a 3-0 beating, one of the most severe in that country’s proud World Cup history. When Suker shot them into the lead in their semi-final against France, it seemed Croatia were about to make an improbable appearance in the final, but French full-back Lillian Thuram sent the home fans into raptures with two extraordinary late goals. The Croatians returned home content with their well-deserved bronze medal.

Spain, meanwhile, went home with habitual feelings of failure. Again touted as dark horses for glory, Raul and co were stunned in their first match as they went down 3-2 to Nigeria. Though they then hammered Bulgaria 6-1, the Spaniards were eliminated in the first round. Nigeria took over their mantle of favourite outsider, but the Super Eagles believed the hype and promptly had their wings clipped by Denmark.

It was a disappointing World Cup all round for Africa, as Tunisia finished bottom of their group, and South Africa disgusted their optimistic fans with a lacklustre display against France and an inept draw with Saudi Arabia. Cameroon also had an early exit, after controversially having two late goals against Chile ruled out by the Hungarian referee, and Morocco, despite walloping Scotland 3-0, left at the end of round one after Norway nabbed their shock win over Brazil.

France ’98 will also be remembered for Iran meeting (and beating) the USA for the first time in any sport since the Islamic revolution of 1982, and 18-year-old Michael Owen’s accession to stardom with a wonderful goal against Argentina. David Beckham, meanwhile, became English public enemy number one after manager Glen Hoddle cited his red card in the same match as the reason for England’s exit.

Fans too made an impression. English fans, of course, barged into the headlines for fighting with locals on the beaches of Marseille, while a band of German hooligans became a focus of universal scorn when they beat a French policemen to paralysis in Metz. But the Japanese showed the other side of the soccer fan as they stayed behind after their matches to tidy up the stadium. And Jamaicans traveled from near and far with spectacular costumes and fun customs, dancing enthusiastically even when losing. But it was the French fans – of all colours – who were the last to sit down.