98: What happened next for the winners?
Sunday 06 June 2010 11:00
For the first time in five tournaments the host nation triumphed - but what became of Les Bleus' Rainbow Warriors?
Goalkeeper: Fabien Barthez
Barthez, who holds the record for most World Cup finals clean sheets (10, joint with Peter Shilton), played for Manchester United, Marseille and Nantes, before retiring in 2008. Plays beach football and races Porsches, now that he's a man of leisure.
Defender: Lilian Thuram
The most-capped player n French football history retired in 2008 due to a heart problem. He's since been involved in politics, campaigning for Catalan independence and setting up the Lilian Thuram Foundation to promote race relations.
Defender: Marcel Desailly
'The Rock' joined Chelsea following France's triumph, and played two seasons in Qatar before retiring. He's since worked extensively in the media, for Canal Plus in France and on BBC's Match of the Day. He's also a UNICEF Ambassador to Ghana.
Defender: Frank Leboeuf
Leboeuf played at Chelsea until 2001, later turning out for Marseille and Qatari outfit Al-Sadd before retiring in 2005. Since then, he's followed in Eric Cantona's cinematic footsteps, starring in Taking Sides and Ocean Hotel. He's also recently trodden the boards on his stage debut.
Defender: Bixente Lizarazu
The most decorated player in French history picked up numerous medals with Bayern Munich, including the Champions League. He retired in 2006 and has since become a European jiu-jitsu champion.
Midfielder: Didier Deschamps (c)
The cup-winning captain joined Chelsea from Juventus in 1999, but retired two years later. He's since forged a successful managerial career, guiding Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004. Currently manager of Marseille, whom he has just led to their first title in 18 years.
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Midfielder: Emmanuel Petit
The Arsenal midfielder's third goal sealed France's win. He joined Barcelona in 2000 and Chelsea a year later, but never recaptured his Highbury form and struggled with injuries, retiring in 2005. He's currently an ambassador for Barclays Spaces for Sports and works on French TV.
Midfielder: Christian Karembeu
The Real Madrid man moved to Middlesbrough in 2000 – to his supermodel wife's dismay. He later played in Greece and Switzerland, before retiring in 2006. Has scouted for Arsenal and is a director of Grandtop International, who recently bought Birmingham City.
Midfielder: Zinedine Zidane
The mercurial playmaker retired from international football in 2004, only to return for World Cup 2006, where he infamously stuck the nut on Marco Materazzi in the final. He now works as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and as advisor to Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid.
Striker: Youri Djorkaeff
Djorkaeff moved from Inter to Kaiserslautern a year after France's triumph and joined Bolton in 2002. He later played for NY Red Bulls before retiring in 2006. He's since released a single called Vivre Dans Ta Lumiere.
Striker: Stephane Guivarc'h
The man with the random apostrophe moved to Newcastle in '98 but played only four games and was sold to Rangers. Returned to Auxerre and Guingamp, retiring in 2002. Now works as a coach and analyst for Canal Plus.
Substitute: Patrick Vieira
Vieira bagged 107 caps, won three titles with Arsenal, before joining Juventus in 2005 and Inter in 2006. Now at Man City.
Substitute: Alain Boghossian
Signed for Parma after '98 and was appointed assistant to France boss Raymond Domenech in 2008.
Substitute: Christophe Dugarry
Starred for Marseille, Bordeaux and Birmingham City before moving to Qatar. Now writes a column for L'Equipe.
Manager: Aimé Jacquet
The World Cup-winning manager retired following his crowning moment, and became technical director of the French Football Federation. Resigned in 2006.
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Tags: France, Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Aime Jacquet, Lilian Thuram, Frank LeBoeuf, Bixente Lizarazu, Emmanuel Petit, Fabien Barthez, Patrick Vieira, Youri Djorkaeff, Christian Karembeu, Stephane Guivarc'h, France 98, Marcel Desailly
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About Nick Moore
Nick Moore started his journalistic career working for his boyhood heroes, Liverpool FC, on their programme from 1999 and 2001. It's been mainly downhill for both Nick and Liverpool since – he briefly edited a pamphlet about youth hosteling – but he occasionally manages to contribute to
Q,
Army and various newspapers.
He's a regular feature writer for
FourFourTwo and has been doing
Ask A Silly Question for four years, once making national news when Peter Crouch confessed that he regularly dreamt about being a dwarf.
He combines journalism with drumming for cult psychedelic Welsh rock heroes
Howl Griff.