The 1998 World Cup seeding had Yugoslavia ranked in the 21st position, but the Yugoslav national team went to France as one of the shadow favourites for the World Cup. "The New York Times" stated Yugoslavia could easily be a semi-finalist in that year's World Cup. The justification for such an estimation was partially found in the names of the Yugoslav players, members of great European teams and proven footballers. The draw put the team in Group F alongside Germany, the United States and Iran. Yugoslavia won its first match 1–0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defender Siniša Mihajlović. The next match was a draw for Yugoslavia; after leading Germany 2–0, last game's hero, Mihajlović, scored an unlucky own goal following a German free-kick, and Oliver Bierhoff equalised at 2–2 with only about ten minutes to the match. Nonetheless, Yugoslavia responded in the next match against the United States and won 1–0 due to an early goal in Nantes. Yugoslavia finished second in Group F, for despite finishing level on points with Germany, Germany finished first via a superior goal difference.