History of the FIFA World Cup as earning the Bronze Ball award. He led Bulgaria to a shock 2-1 win over defending champions Germany in the quarter-finals, before losing 2–1 to Italy and losing the third place play-off to Sweden, 4–0. The 1998 World Cup was held in France, and had an expanded format featuring 32 teams. Iran beat the Maldives in qualification by the widest margin in World Cup history – 17–0. In the finals, the second round match between France and Paraguay witnessed the first golden goal in World Cup history, as Laurent Blanc scored to give the hosts a 1–0 victory. Hosts France
Iceland at the FIFA World Cup play-offs four years earlier. Despite finishing bottom of the group, Iceland drew against Argentina national football team 1-1 in the opening match of the group. These nine players have been fielded all three of Iceland's FIFA World Cup matches in 2018. In the match v Argentina on 16 June 2018, Alfreð Finnbogason scored the first goal for Iceland in FIFA World Cup history. Iceland at the FIFA World Cup After 12 failed qualification campaigns, Iceland qualified for the FIFA World Cup, for the first time, in 2018. The 2018 FIFA World Cup was Iceland's second major international tournament, having also