2018 FIFA World Cup Final 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup due to the ongoing project. The renovation project cost €341 million, and the stadium officially reopened with an international friendly between Russia and Argentina on 11 November 2017. After Uruguay and Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals, a European side was ensured to win the World Cup for a fourth consecutive tournament. The match was also the ninth all-European World Cup final, which most recently occurred in 2006 and 2010. The match was the third World Cup final for France, first appearing in the 1998 final as hosts, winning 3–0 against reigning champions Brazil. France also
Oceanian nations at the FIFA World Cup "Your tears of pain, will one day be tears of joy". Just to qualify for the 1994 World Cup Australia would have had to beat Argentina, the runners-up from the 1990 World Cup, and ranked 9th in the world at that time. At 1998 World Cup qualification Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti, the four best ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Cook Islands first time participated at the FIFA World Cup qualification. Australia and New Zealand easily won in the Second Round and