The team line-up is one for eternity. Barthez; Thuram, Desailly, Leboeuf, Lizarazu, Karembeu (57 mins Boghossian), Deschamps, Petit, Zidane, Djorkaeff (76 mins - Vieira), Guivarc‘h (66 mins - Dugarry). Millions of Frenchmen and women can’t and won’t forget those 14 names as the side sent the “Grande Nation” into rapture on 12 July 1998. France had become World Cup winners for the first and only time up to now. About 75,000 people minus the downhearted Brazilians celebrated the wonderful victory in the Stade de France, the gigantic arena on Paris’ doorstep.

The French are very successful in many sports but winning the World Cup filled them with special pride. Hundreds of thousands rejoiced in the streets of the capital and millions gathered all over the country to celebrate the 3-0 win against Brazil. President Jacques Chirac stood by the railing of the honorary guest’s box in the stadium. He was wearing the Equipe Tricolore shirt over his suit – No 23.

He clapped his hands when one man held the trophy. The player holding the cup wasn’t however a member of the line-up that had become legendary. Laurent Blanc, the leader of the defence, was forced to sit on the bench and watch his team-mates controlling the Brazilian team on the pitch in a way virtually nobody had felt even remotely possible. Blanc had been given the red card in the hard-fought 2-1 semi-final win against the eventual third placed team Croatia. Will things turn out all-right against Ronaldo and Rivaldo, the top class Brazilian striking duo, without the fighter Blanc? That was the question on the nation’s mind and they were soon given an answer.

Things did. The team seemed to be so relaxed in contrast to the other games during the tournament. They dominated the conjurers and strategists from the Sugarloaf Mountain. The defence had everything under control. Nothing was seen of Ronaldo, who was the subject of a lot of confusion as to whether he would be able to play at all. Zinedine Zidane handed them a comforting lead before half-time. Two headed goals turned “Zizou”, the son of Algerian immigrants, into a national hero. Emanuel Petit, the busy-bee midfielder with long, flowing blonde hair put an end to the final in the last minute when making the score 3-0. Shortly afterwards the French team’s captain and strategist Didier Deschamps was presented with the golden FIFA World Cup. Mission accomplished.

It was a difficult mission as every Frenchman and woman expected them to win the title. It was already obvious in the group matches that the pressure was having a negative effect, even though, when looking at the results, Aimé Jacquet’s team had apparently progressed without much trouble to the next round. South Africa (3-0), Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Denmark (2-1) were defeated. But the engine was stuttering. Jacquet had planned everything meticulously. Individual class and magic were overshadowed by the functioning collective. What later turned out to be perfect professional planning gave rise at first to fierce discussions. Not only amongst the fans but also the players, or so it’s said. Zidane was given the red-card in the match against Saudi Arabia. It was evidence of their strained nerves.

The big test for every Frenchman’s nerves followed at the knock-out stage. Paraguay were the opponents in the last 16. The team that contained little known players – with the exception of the flamboyant goalkeeper Luis Chilavert – forced the French into extra time. The golden goal rule made everybody nervous. One goal and everything was over. The fear seemed to paralyse the French. But then Blanc stormed forwards with long strides, a one-two, powerful shot, goal and the favourite was in the quarter finals.

The next opponents were Italy. What appeared to be a potential classic turned out to be more of a bore. It went to penalties, and France won. Blanc kissed his goalkeeper’s – Fabien Barthez – bald head. Was that the inspiration they needed? Would their game start to relax? The French hoped but things didn’t go as wished in the semi-final against Croatia. Davor Suker, the FIFA World Cup 1998 Golden Boot winner, put the surprise team in front. Questions were now asked of Messrs Zidane, Djoerkaeff and Guivarc’h. But it was Lilian Thuram, the man on the right of the four man defence, that turned things around by scoring two goals. They were his first and only goals in his 103 games for the national team.

France had finally made the final and they’d also freed the chains. After the rousing victory against Brazil, Barthez kissed President Chirac. The France Soir newspaper wrote: “Tricolore orgasm! It’ll come at the right time for those that can wait. A World Cup that began almost in general apathy ended in an intensity and collective fervour, like France has  seldom experienced before.” After all, it was also the first time the 1984 European Champions had appeared in a World Cup final. Their best previous placings were third in 1958 (6-3 against Germany) and 1986 (4-2 against Belgium). A second European Championship was added to the World Cup victory two years later. But after the disappointment of the FIFA World Cup 2002 ™ in Japan and South Korea, the team now finds itself in a rebuilding phase – but a top level one.