1998 FIFA World Cup Final penalties after Italy's Luigi Di Biagio struck his penalty onto the crossbar. In the semi-finals, France faced tournament surprise Croatia. After a goal-less first half, Croatia took the lead in the first minute of the second half through Davor Šuker, his fifth goal of the tournament. France responded immediately with Lilian Thuram scoring his first international goal. Thuram then added a second twenty minutes from time to send France to their first ever World Cup final. The match ended in controversy however when Laurent Blanc was sent off after a skirmish with Croatia's Slaven Bilić. Bilić had sunk down to
South Africa at the FIFA World Cup Cup in South Africa, they beat France 2–1 and drew 1–1 to Mexico, but lost 0–3 to Uruguay. They lost out on progression to the round of 16, on goal difference. Head coach: Philippe Troussier Benni McCarthy scored South Africa's first ever goal in the World Cup when he received the ball on the edge of the penalty box before shooting low left footed through the legs of Peter Schmeichel to level the match. Head coach: Jomo Sono Siyabonga Nomvethe scored the only goal of the game, in the fourth minute. A free kick from Quinton Fortune on the left