The day Senegal blindsided world champions France

France in April of 1998 were the 25^th ranked nation in world football and had not been a world power for some time. While they were the host nation, few gave them any hope of winning their maiden World Championship title. It was their first appearance at the finals in 12 years.

In the group stage they appeared strong, beating South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Denmark – scoring a 9-1 goal aggregate. Progressing to the knockout stages, they were impressive beating Paraguay 1-0. They then beat heavyweights Italy 4-3 on penalties before winning against Croatia 2-1 to progress to their first-ever World Cup Final.

They encountered Brazil, heavily favoured to add to their bevy of World Cups – however, they appeared almost to be sleeping throughout the game, and France stunned the soccer world to become the first French world champions and the seventh nation to win the most coveted trophy on the planet beating the samba boys 3-0.

They rocketed up the rankings, becoming the second-ranked nation in the world. They then embarked on a ruthless championship reign, losing only six times between 1998 and 2002.