Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup in France by qualifying in second place in South America, behind Argentina. The first round matches were against Bulgaria (0–0), Spain (0–0), and Nigeria (3–1; goals Celso Ayala, Miguel Ángel Benítez and José Cardozo). Paraguay qualified to the second round (Round of 16) to be defeated in a thrilling match against hosts and eventual World Champions France. France only scored through Laurent Blanc in the 114th minute, during the second half of overtime (making it the first golden goal scored in a World Cup). Paraguay's central defending duo (Carlos Gamarra and Celso Ayala) and goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert were selected
1998 FIFA World Cup Group A the final two games, Morocco looked like they would take second place, because they were beating Scotland while Brazil were beating Norway. However, Norway scored two late goals to win and take the second qualifying place away from Morocco. "All times are local (UTC+2) 1998 FIFA World Cup Group A Group A of the 1998 FIFA World Cup was one of eight groups of four teams competing at the 1998 World Cup in France. The first matches were played on 10 June 1998 and the final games took place simultaneously on 23 June 1998. The group consisted of world champions