“The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France proved to be one of the most glorious World Cups for late chaos. From the group stage all the way through to the latter stages of the knockout phase, there were some beautiful and surreal moments. Austria got us going on just the second day of the tournament when their legendary captain Toni Polster grabbed a 91st minute equaliser to give them a draw in their opening match against Cameroon. He may scarcely have believed his luck when the ball dropped to him unmarked and about six yards from goal. The experienced striker absolutely leathered the ball and it crashed off the underside of the cross-bar and into the net to give the Austrians a point. They would repeat the trick in their next group match against Chile. In a familiar scene they trailed 1-0 from mid-way through the second half. Just as Chile thought they had seen off any danger having repelled cross after cross, Austria chose to keep the ball on the deck. This time Ivica Vastić curled a stunning strike into the top corner from just outside the box.
Two games, two injury-time equalisers and two points for the Austrians which left them with a chance of progression if they were to win their last game. Their only problem was that this game was against group favourites Italy. Incredibly, Austria would make it a hat-trick of injury time goals when Andy Herzog crashed home a 92nd minute penalty. Sadly, this time it was completely in vain as, two minutes earlier, Roberto Baggio had bagged a late goal for the Italians. His effort was Italy’s second goal of the day so Herzog’s injury-time effort was not enough to save the Austrians from a group stage exit.
Meanwhile, in group A, which contained the holders Brazil, there was an unbelievable late twist in the final round of group games. This delivered unlikely progression into the last-16 for Norway. Their underwhelming tournament to that point had delivered two draws against Morocco and Scotland. This required them to win their last game to guarantee progression. Their big issue was that they would be taking on Brazil whilst Scotland and Morocco battled it out as part of the three-way fight to finish second to the Brazilians. Scotland’s hopes evaporated as, before the second half was even a minute old, they found themselves 2-0 down to Morocco. Their eventual margin of defeat was by three goals as their disappointing tournament came to a close. Meanwhile, an already qualified Brazil were comfortably holding Norway at 0-0. Things got even better for the Moroccans when Bebeto opened the scoring with just twelve minutes left. With seven minutes to go, Norway needed two goals against the reigning world champions to keep their own tournament alive.
In the 83rd minute, what seemed like a hopeful long ball was turned into something more when Norway striker Tore Andre Flo turned and fired a crisp shot past Brazil goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel. The Scandinavians kept launching long balls forward to ensure the Brazilian defence was uncomfortable. In the last minute, a ball launched in saw Tore Andre Flo collapse in a heap inside the penalty box. Somewhat controversially, the referee pointed to the spot. From nowhere, Norway had the opportunity to keep their hopes alive and break Moroccan hearts at the same time. Kjetil Rekdal was given the responsibility and he drove his penalty hard into the corner. Despite Taffarel guessing the right way the ball hit the back of the net to the delight of the Norwegians.
England also had their own encounter with late drama in their group stage clash with Romania. Whilst it was not decisive as it came within match-day 2 and both sides would ultimately qualify, a slow-burn game exploded into life in the second half. Romania took the lead just after half-time but England substitute Michael Owen levelled after 81 minutes. A dozing Graeme Le Saux was caught out by his then Chelsea team-mate Dan Petrescu in the 90th minute. The Romanian nipped past him and tucked the ball under goalkeeper David Seaman and into the net. There was even still time for England to push for an even later equaliser and they came close when Owen’s long range drive clipped the post.
When the tournament reached the knockout phase, it was the Netherlands turn to take centre-stage. They had emerged undefeated from a tricky group containing Mexico, Belgium and South Korea. They had been responsible for one of only three 0-0 draws in the group stage but they would significantly up the excitement levels in the last-16 and quarter-final rounds. They would first face the Federal Republic (FR) of Yugoslavia who had defeated Iran and the United States in Group F alongside securing an impressive 2-2 draw with Germany. After 38 minutes, Dutch genius Dennis Bergkamp broke free in the box and fired off a quick snap-shot. He clearly surprised the Yugoslavian goalkeeper who got his hands to it but could not stop the ball rolling into the net. The lead did not last long into the second half as a firm downward header from Slobodan Komljenović brought Yugoslavia an equaliser. In a sign of a different era, television footage cut to a picture of the Yugoslavian manager on the bench lighting up a celebratory cigarette!
The Dutch were rattled and a clear shirt pull from defender Jaap Stam inside the box gave Predrag Mijatović a glorious opportunity to put them in front from the spot. His firmly struck penalty clattered the underside of the cross-bar and bounced away to safety. The game was getting pretty feisty and Bergkamp was lucky to get away with a naughty moment when he seemed to leave his foot in on a grounded Yugoslavian defender. With the clock past 90 minutes, a crisp shot from outside the box by Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids flew through a crowd of players towards goal. The only thing that stopped it was the net and the Netherlands were in front when it mattered most. The final whistle soon confirmed their progression.
In their quarter-final, the Netherlands would meet Argentina, conquerors of England via a penalty shoot-out in their last-16 tie. The game at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille soon sprang into life. A neat Dutch move gave striker Patrick Kluivert the freedom to clip home from inside the box after just 12 minutes. Yet, just five minutes later, the Dutch defence would be carved open. Claudio Lopez had all the time in the world to think about how to get the ball past Edwin van der Sar. He almost had too much time but eventually chose to just tuck it through the legs of the onrushing goalkeeper. As the game progressed it got a little tetchier and, in the last twenty minutes, the tension rose significantly. First, the Netherlands went down to ten men when Arthur Numan was sent off. With just a couple of minutes of normal time left, Argentina midfielder Ariel Ortega clashed violently with Edwin van der Sar and also received his marching orders.
As extra-time loomed, a searching long ball was fired towards Dennis Bergkamp. The striker brought the ball down beautifully, switched direction and completely wrong-footed an Argentina defender. Bergkamp then nonchalantly swept the ball into the net with the outside of his foot. He sprinted away in celebration before just collapsing in a heap on the floor. At the last, he had just scored one of the best goals of the World Cup and sent his country into the semi-final. For the second consecutive match, the Dutch had avoided extra-time with a stunning last minute winner.
They would go on to face Brazil in the semi-final but their luck was about to run out. Despite another late goal which, on this occasion, was an 87th minute equaliser from Patrick Kluivert the Dutch dream was soon to come to an end. They came up short in a penalty shoot-out, losing 4-2 as the Brazilians made it to the final. The 1998 World Cup Final would pit the holders against the hosts. After the chaos surrounding whether Ronaldo would play for the Brazilians or not, the final turned into a one-sided affair. France made history as they won the World Cup for the first time. Of course, with this being the tournament for late goals, it was rather apt that its final act was a 93rd minute goal by Emmanuel Petit to wrap up a 3-0 victory at the Stade de France.
The book, “90+2: Last Minute Moments that Changed Football History” can be bought online at Amazon. Click here to order.
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