1998 in association football

Events 1998 FIFA World Cup – France wins 3–0 over Brazil in Saint-Denis, France, winning their first cup. More than one million delirious fans jammed the Champs-Élysées, dancing through the night. UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid won 1–0 in the final against Juventus. This was Real Madrid's seventh European Cup title. Copa Libertadores 1998: Won by Vasco da Gama after defeating Barcelona SC on an aggregate score of 4–1. UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Chelsea beat VfB Stuttgart 1–0 in the final, winning the Cup for the second time. UEFA Cup: Inter Milan won 3–0 in the final against Lazio. This was Inter's third UEFA Cup title. UEFA Super Cup: Chelsea beat Real Madrid 1–0, winning the cup for the first time. England: FA Premier League Champions: Arsenal. February 17 – Manchester City fires manager Frank Clark and appoints Joe Royle as his successor. May 16 – Arsenal beats Newcastle United 2–0 to win the FA Cup, achieving The Double. August 16 – PSV wins the Johan Cruyff Shield, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, by a 2–0 win over Ajax in the Amsterdam Arena. September 17 – Heerenveen makes a winning European debut after defeating Poland's Amica Wronki (3–1) in the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. October 8 – Manager Artur Jorge resigns at Dutch club Vitesse and is succeeded by Herbert Neumann. October 10 – Frank Rijkaard makes his debut as the manager of the Netherlands national team, as the successor of Guus Hiddink, with a 2–0 friendly win over Peru in Eindhoven. One player makes his debut as well: striker Jeffrey Talan from Heerenveen. December 1 – Real Madrid wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo by defeating Brazil's Vasco da Gama: 2–1. The winning goal for the Spaniards is scored by Raúl in the 83rd minute. December 7 – Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam fires manager Hans van der Zee. He is replaced by Jan Everse on December 24.

Winner national club championships

Asia – Esteghlal FC – Kashima Antlers – Al-Ittihad - Suwon Bluewings - Sinthana F.C.

Europe Croatia – Croatia Zagreb – Arsenal – Lens – 1. FC Kaiserslautern – Újpest – Juventus Eredivisie – Ajax Eerste Divisie – AZ – ŁKS Łódź – Porto – Celtic – Barcelona – AIK – Galatasaray FR Yugoslavia – Obilić

North America – St. Catharines Wolves (CPSL)

Verano – Toluca Invierno – Necaxa – Chicago Fire (MLS)

South America

Clausura – Vélez Sársfield Apertura – Boca Juniors – Blooming – Corinthians – Colo-Colo – LDU Quito – Olimpia Asunción – Universitario de Deportes

International tournaments African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso (February 7 – 28 1998) Baltic Cup (April 21 – June 25, 1998) FIFA World Cup in France (June 10 – July 12, 1998)

National team results

Europe

South America

The men's national senior squad didn't play any matches in 1998

Births

January 2 – Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer January 3 – Patrick Cutrone, Italian footballer January 5 – Carles Aleñá, Spanish footballer January 8 – Manuel Locatelli, Italian footballer January 10 – Mohamed Abukar, Somali footballer January 11 – Salih Özcan, German midfielder January 16 – Odsonne Édouard, French footballer January 21 – Borna Sosa, Croatian youth international February 3 – Blás Riveros, Paraguayan footballer February 10 – Aitor Buñuel, Spanish footballer February 17 – Todd Cantwell, English footballer March 10 – Matías Zaracho, Argentinian footballer March 28 – Sandi Lovric, Austrian footballer March 31 Lucian Oprea, Romanian soccer player Hristiyan Iliev, Bulgarian soccer player May 7 – Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer May 8 – Johannes Eggestein, German footballer May 11 – Fran Villalba, Spanish footballer May 23 Ross Cunningham, Scottish footballer Luca De La Torre, American footballer Berat Özdemir, Turkish footballer June 1 – Branimir Kalaica, Croatian footballer June 22 – Javairô Dilrosun, Dutch footballer June 28 – Óscar Rodríguez Arnaiz, Spanish footballer June 30 Tom Davies, English footballer Houssem Aouar, French footballer July 8 – Yann Karamoh, French footballer September 1 – Emily Condon, Australian footballer September 19 – Jacob Bruun Larsen, Danish footballer October 21 – Benjamin Cull, English former professional footballer (died 2023) October 27 – Dayot Upamecano, French footballer November 12 – Jules Koundé, French footballer November 24 – Muhammad Rafli, Indonesian footballer December 17 – Martin Ødegaard, Norwegian footballer December 18 – Calvin Stengs, Dutch footballer December 20 – Kylian Mbappé, French footballer December 24 – Alexis Mac Allister, Argentine footballer December 29 – Victor Osimhen, Nigerian footballer

Deaths

May May 2 – Justin Fashanu (38), English footballer and the first professional footballer to come out as gay

June June 4 – Miguel Montuori (65), Argentinian-Chilean footballer June 13 – Fernand Sastre (74), French footballer

July July 13 – Pierre Garonnaire (82), French footballer

August August 6 – Henk Bosveld (57), Dutch footballer

September September 2 – Jackie Blanchflower (65), Northern Irish footballer September 23 – Héctor Vilches, Uruguayan defender, winner of the 1950 World Cup. (88)

References

Association football by year