What happened to the participants of the semi-finals of the World Cup-98.

Match legend France – Croatia in the 98th. Where are they now?

It was July 8, 1998 at the Stade de France. The vast majority of 76 thousand spectators until the last second of the match clutched their hearts, fearing for the success of their favorite team France championship hosts. Croatians were in that tournament just incomparable. In the 1/4 finals they defeated the Germans 3:0, and at the beginning of the second half they led against the French. Their leader, Davor Shuker, scored a one-on-one.

Lilian Thuram unexpectedly acted as the savior of the motherland. This defender played 142 matches for the French national team and scored only two goals in them. Amazingly, both came in the semi-finals against Croatia. Moreover, he was not distinguished by his head after the “standards”, as is usually the case with tall defenders, but first he played “wall” with Djorkaeff, and jumped out on a date with the goalkeeper, and then he personally took the ball away in the opponent’s half and brought the “tricolor” victory.

The guests had a shock ending, laying siege to the gates of the French. However, even the removal of Laurent Blanc in the 76th minute did not help them. And the red card came out scandalous. Here is an excerpt from the SE report on that match performed by Alexander PROSVETOV:

“The holiday for the French was somewhat overshadowed by Blanc’s removal. The powerful defender ran to the opponent’s goal during the play of the standard position and entered into a fight with Bilic for the position. Both clung to each other by the T-shirts, which, alas, is already the norm for modern football. pushed Bilić, so much so that he hit the Croat's face. Intentionally or not, only he himself knows. If the push had come in the chest, Blanc might not have been punished at all. But in the face – another matter. Bilic quickly played a performance: closed bruised place with his hands and picturesquely collapsed on the lawn. It was the same theater that the Argentine Simeone and the Dutchman van der Sar had previously staged. The first fell not at all because the Englishman Beckham touched him with his foot, the second received a blow from the Argentinean Ortega with his head in the chin , but not so strong as to almost lose consciousness.

On the one hand, simulation does not paint great masters. On the other hand, the stakes are high. Now the defenders have mastered the almost imperceptible captures of the opponent's T-shirts to perfection. And if you resisted after a violation on your feet, then the referee will not appoint a penalty. The indignant French press has already dubbed Bilic a bandit, but something is keeping quiet about the little tricks of his compatriots.

After the match, Bilic said bluntly that there was no blow to the face as such, but just a go-ahead. I'm sorry that Blanc has now lost the opportunity to play in the final, said the Croat. Blanc himself admitted that for him what happened was a personal disaster. “I am terribly sorry that I made such a mistake, although Bilic provoked me throughout the match.I expected a yellow card, but not a red one.

As a result, France reached the final, where they defeated Brazil and became the world champion for the first time in history. And the Croats were content with bronze, beating the Dutch in the match for 3rd place.

Twenty years have passed since then. It is interesting how the fate of each of the participants in that amazing match turned out.

But first, here are the statistics of that match from the issue of SE, published on July 10, 1998:

Goals: Shuker (Asanovich), 46 – 0:1. Thuram (Jorkaeff), 47 – 1:1. Thuram, 69 – 2:1.