1998: World Cup back to birthplace
The official World Cup trophy. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their debuts in the first World Cup that entertained 32 nations.
In the late 1920s, two Frenchmen Jules Rimet and Henri Delaunay hatched the idea of an international football tournament that would become the Fifa World Cup.
France waited after two editions: 1930 and 1934 to pass and hosted the third in 1938.
But the founding nation didn’t know they would wait for another 60 years, to host the World Cup again. And when it happened in 1998, the feeling was “finally, it’s back home.”
July 2, 1992, France beat Morocco by 12 to 7 votes in Zürich, Switzerland.
Switzerland had failed to meet Fifa’srequirements, while England withdrew in favour of hosting the UefaEuro 1996.
In 2015, investigationsby the FBI and Swiss authorities, revealed that Fifa’sexecutive committee had received bribes during the selection process of 1998 and 2010 World Cups hosts.
Interestingly, Morocco, who reportedly paid the bribes, lost the bid.
Nevertheless, France became the third country to host two World Cups, after Mexico [1970 and 1986] and Italy [1934 and 1990].
Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their debuts in the first World Cup that entertained 32 nations.
