France's 1998 World Cup victory: Key stats and stories

France's triumph at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, their first title, is remembered for Zinedine Zidane's two headers and Emmanuel Petit's late goal. But behind the scenes, the tournament was filled with intriguing statistics and untold stories. From a slot machine jackpot to a coach nearly sacked, here are the numbers that defined Les Bleus' historic victory.

Emmanuel Petit's slot machine win

After France's 3-0 final victory over Brazil, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger gave Emmanuel Petit an unexpected five extra days off. Petit, who had begun his career under Wenger at Monaco, used the time to stay at a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo. There, he inserted a ten-franc coin into a slot machine and won 170,000 francs (approximately $28,000). He donated the entire sum to charity.

A poll that nearly cost the coach his job

In April 1998, a national television poll found that 92% of French fans wanted coach Aime Jacquet sacked. France had failed to win a game at the pre-tournament Le Tournoi, finishing behind England and Brazil. They also went winless in friendlies against Norway, Russia, and Sweden, and had not won a match by more than one goal since January 1997. By 2000, however, Jacquet was named French coach of the century in a France Football poll, beating Albert Batteux and Michel Hidalgo.

Lowest-ranked World Cup winners

France entered the tournament ranked 18th on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, below teams like Egypt, Morocco, Norway, Japan, and the United States. No team has won the World Cup from a lower starting position since the ranking's launch in 1993. For comparison, Brazil were third in 1994 and second in 2002, Italy were 13th in 2006, Spain second in 2010, and Germany second in 2014.

Thirteen-second counterattack

France's third goal in the final was a lightning-fast counterattack. Christophe Dugarry received the ball inside France's box, and just 13 seconds later, Emmanuel Petit finished from inside Brazil's box. Patrick Vieira's pass set up his Arsenal teammate, making it the sixth World Cup final goal since 1950 where the scorer was assisted by a club-mate. Previous examples include Bobby Moore to Geoff Hurst (1966, West Ham), Pele to Carlos Alberto (1970, Santos), and Claudio Gentile to Paolo Rossi and Gaetano Scirea to Marco Tardelli (1982, Juventus).

Six players cut at the last minute

Jacquet initially assembled a 28-player squad at Clairefontaine. Late one Friday night, he cut six players: Lionel Letizi, Martin Djetou, Pierre Laigle, Sabri Lamouchi, Ibrahim Ba, and Nicolas Anelka. While Letizi was hopeful rather than expectant, the others expressed disbelief. Anelka had been tipped to lead the French attack.

Diverse squad origins

Four members of France's 1998 squad were born outside its borders: Marcel Desailly (Ghana), Christian Karembeu (New Caledonia), Lilian Thuram (Guadeloupe), and Patrick Vieira (Senegal). This was the second-highest number of foreign-born players in a World Cup-winning squad, behind Italy's seven in 1934. Several others grew up overseas, including Bernard Lama in Guyana and David Trezeguet in Argentina.

Post-football careers

Three members of the 1998 squad went on to compete in other sports after retiring from football, though their names and disciplines are not specified in the source.