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
Haiti at the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1974. Before Haiti ever qualified for a major soccer tournament, a Haitian player earned some notable World Cup glory. Joe Gaetjens, who has been playing for a New York-based club for several years at the time, represented the United States at the 1950 World Cup and scored the winning goal in a legendary 1-0 victory over England. Head coach: Antoine Tassy Seven players have been fielded in all three of Haiti's matches at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, making them record World Cup players for their country: Both Haitian goals in FIFA World Cup history were