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
Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup of the penalty area. In the second match, against Croatia, a late Davor Šuker goal ensured a 1–0 Croatia victory and his nation's progression to the next round, simultaneously eliminating Japan from the tournament. Japan's World Cup campaign officially ended with an unexpected 2–1 defeat to rank outsiders Jamaica. Two goals from Theodore Whitmore gave Jamaica their first ever win in the World Cup finals, although Masashi Nakayama had the honour of scoring Japan's first-ever goal at the World Cup finals, which came in the 74th minute. Iran's first game of Group F was played against Yugoslavia, a 1–0 loss