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
Mohamed Kader Mohamed Kader Mohamed Abdel-Kader Coubadja-Touré (born April 8, 1979) is a Togolese association football forward. A Togo international, he helped them reach the 2006 World Cup, their first World Cup ever. He further scored the team's first ever World Cup goal in a loss to South Korea. The goal was also Togo's only goal scored at the World Cup in Germany in 2006. Kader's star rose in his home country after he scored the late winner in the 1998 African Cup of Nations match against Ghana, thus securing Togo’s first ever win at the tournament. The forward later played in