Original Adidas football shirt Spain WK 98

The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th edition of an international football match between the national men's teams of countries affiliated with FIFA. France hosted in 1998, as six years earlier, on July 2, 1992, had been decided by the FIFA meeting. 170 countries took part in the preliminary rounds, including 32 debutants. The draw for the final round took place on December 4, 1997 in Marseille. The tournament itself started on 10 June and ended more than a month later, on Sunday 12 July. The defending champion was Brazil, which had won the title four years earlier in the United States by beating Italy after penalties. For the first time, 32 countries took part in the final round.

France won the championship by beating Brazil 3-0 in the final, and captured its first world title. Two years later during Euro 2000, France also became champion, making it the first country to ever become world champion and European champion.

In 2018, Michel Platini, organizer of the 1998 World Cup, announced that the draw of the tournament was being manipulated to ensure that France and Brazil met at the earliest in the final